BairesDev Acquires AI Upskilling Startup Modal, Taps Darren Shimkus as President of North America

Through this acquisition and appointment, BairesDev is accelerating its expansion and building the foundation for sustained AI-driven growth

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BairesDev®, a leading nearshore software development company, today announced the acquisition of Modal Learning, the high-impact AI upskilling platform. As part of the acquisition, Modal® founder Darren Shimkus joins BairesDev as President of North America, deepening its executive bench.

This move follows a year of sustained momentum for BairesDev, which reported an 18% increase in hires and continued demand from enterprise clients, who now represent over half of the company’s total revenue.

The addition of Modal strengthens BairesDev’s service capabilities and technology assets, enhancing its ability to meet rising enterprise needs, including AI-enabled delivery and high-impact engineering partnerships. It also supports BairesDev’s strong double-digit compound annual growth rate and increasing footprint across North America. This further positions the company to support mission-critical software initiatives, accelerate digital transformation, and drive measurable business outcomes across industries.

“I am delighted to welcome Darren, whose expertise in technology upskilling and enterprise delivery enhances our team as we continue to grow to meet market demand,” said Nacho De Marco, CEO and Co-founder of BairesDev. “Together with Modal’s learning engine and our top 1% talent, we’re even better equipped to deliver complex, cutting-edge AI projects as the technology rapidly accelerates.”

Modal brings a proven track record in advanced technical upskilling, combining live instruction, cohort-based learning, and one-on-one coaching. The platform has delivered a 90% upskilling success rate across skills, machine learning, and data engineering, an advantage increasingly sought by enterprises undergoing rapid AI transformation.

Shimkus brings deep expertise in the learning and enterprise technology sectors. Before founding Modal, he served as President of Udemy for Business, where he helped scale one of the world’s leading enterprise learning platforms. His appointment expands BairesDev’s senior leadership bench as the company enters a new phase of market expansion and executive investment in North America.

“Every client conversation now touches AI, both as a technology challenge and an organizational one,” said Darren Shimkus. “Modal gives BairesDev the ability to meet that moment by continually upskilling our engineers in the most advanced tools and methods available. It’s how we’ll stay ahead of client needs and keep redefining what world-class delivery looks like.”

Upskilling has long been a cornerstone of BairesDev’s talent strategy. Existing proprietary programs, such as Circles—the company´s peer-led development platform—have driven consistent technical and leadership growth across its distributed engineering workforce. With Modal now part of its capabilities, BairesDev strengthens its commitment to building an AI-driven, continuous-learning ecosystem that evolves with enterprise needs.

About BairesDev
BairesDev provides nearshore software development services to some of the world's largest and most respected companies, like Abbot, Adobe, Coca-Cola, eBay, Google, HP, and Rolls-Royce. Backed by 4,000+ engineers across LATAM, BairesDev has delivered high-quality software in over 130 industries.

Join BairesDev's team by applying to https://jobs.bairesdev.com/. Or recommend a candidate in the Talent Referral Program https://applicants.bairesdev.com/external-referral

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