The marketing team at ProServeIT Corporation with the organization's teddy bear mascots, Hope and Hugo.Supplied
If our people are thriving, our clients will be too,” says Eric Sugar, president of ProServeIT Corporation. That belief shapes how the company develops leaders and delivers complex digital and AI initiatives across cloud, data, security and modern work. The result is a culture where curiosity is rewarded, growth is intentional, and care is embedded in daily operations.
ProServeIT, headquartered in the Greater Toronto Area with offices in Charlottetown, Chicago, Paris and Ho Chi Minh City, is guided by three core values: “people matter,” “be like Gumby,” and “do it right.” These values shape employee hiring, development, and support.
At the centre of that culture is one defining trait, says Sugar. “The key trait is curiosity.” He explains that it’s how people grow, build confidence and thrive in a fast-moving technology environment.
“It’s not technical skills or experience in technology,” he adds. “It’s ‘Are you curious and can you apply that curiosity and care to our customers?’ Because customer service and curiosity are the only two things that are important. Everything else we can teach and build and coach people through.”
This mindset shapes how ProServeIT approaches growth and innovation, he says. When the company’s AI practice began expanding, a project manager expressed interest in joining and leadership was more than ready to support their growth.
“So, we helped them with Microsoft course material and collaborative training,” recalls Sugar. “We put them through our client-facing AI training. They transitioned into an AI consulting role because they were curious, they had questions. They were willing to invest their own time as well as company time to learn and grow.”
ProServeIT fosters internal growth by prioritizing internal hires and developing leadership through mentorship, project ownership and shadowing. “Motivated and curious hires, even from non-IT fields like banking or legal, can grow into IT roles here,” says Sugar.
That same philosophy shapes the company’s internship program. Marketing assistant Kaavya Shah, who joined as an intern and works full time on the marketing team, describes the program as one of the most supportive she has experienced.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been part of an internship program that gave you that much access to others,” Shah says. “You really see how people built their careers here.”
Another cultural touchpoint Shah shared is the company’s Passion Talk initiative, where team members present informal talks about personal interests to colleagues. “You can talk about anything you’re passionate about,” says Shah. “You present to everyone and although it’s casual, it’s a great way to build presentation skills when the stakes aren’t super high.”
These simple rituals reflect ProServeIT’s core vision for its company culture. “We describe ourselves as people first,” says Shah. “When people think of tech companies, they picture something cold or detached. We want to make tech feel a lot more approachable, warm and friendly.”
That spirit even shows up in the company’s two teddy bear ambassadors, Hope and Hugo, lighthearted reminders that technology doesn’t have to feel cold.
This approach shapes how ProServeIT works with clients, says Sugar. While the tech industry often focuses on systems and security, ProServeIT values culture and hospitality alongside technical skills. Sugar believes this is key to building trust.
“There’s formal learning, certifications, and technical training,” he says. “But your best training is curiosity. Real growth happens when people care enough to ask questions and understand both the technology and the client.”
For ProServeIT, says Sugar, innovation is about adopting new technologies in an environment where people are encouraged to explore and build careers around them, and deliver them in a way that feels human.
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Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.