Shifting expectations: CEO Dennis van Marle on what customers really want now

When we started rb2 back in 2005, the world of tech looked very different. There weren’t that many developers around, good ones were even harder to find, and digital projects were mostly small, fixed-price, fixed-scope deals. We built things from scratch, often with little more than an idea and a deadline. And honestly, that was enough back then.

But things have changed. A lot.

Getting with the times

Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen the digital landscape evolve in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Today’s customers are more informed, more demanding, and far less patient. Expectations around digital experiences have shifted dramatically too and that’s putting pressure not just on our clients, but on us as digital partners as well.

The knowledge that customers have today is way beyond what we saw even five years ago. They come in knowing what they want –and sometimes they’ve already built a version of it themselves. That shift in knowledge means clients expect more from their digital agencies. Not just in terms of execution, but in terms of collaboration, strategic input, and speed. At rb2, that’s changed how we operate, from how we scope projects to how we build teams.

From agile as a method to agile as a mindset

The early 2010s brought a huge wave of change with the rise of agile. It became the standard with clients wanting to work in sprints, agencies embraced the flexibility, and suddenly it wasn’t about fixed prices or deadlines anymore. It was about long-term delivery, adaptability, and trust. That was a luxury situation for agencies. It meant the client shared responsibility and we worked together to define and adjust the scope along the way. But recently, we’ve noticed a shift back. Clients want more structure again with clearer timelines, defined budgets, and fixed deliverables. 

That’s not a bad thing. It forces us to understand the scope better from the start. That way, we can approach it in the right way making sure everyone is happy with the end result. We’ve never believed in taking on projects at too low a price just to win the work. No one wins in that situation. The better approach, and one we stick to, is to under-promise and over-deliver. The real irony though is that we’ve been preaching agile development for over a decade, but right now, agencies themselves need to be agile as businesses. The speed of technological change, especially with AI, is staggering. The demands from clients and end users keep accelerating.

While every tech shift creates new development opportunities, it also raises expectations. Agencies have to keep up, or they’ll fall behind. We’re in a place now where clients want us to own more responsibility again. They want answers. They want things delivered fast, small, and smart. And, they want us to challenge them when their wishlist outweighs the budget. Pushing back isn’t a bad thing. It’s something we like. It helps us focus. We’d rather build something small and great than big and half-baked.

What really creates a competitive advantage?

A lot of digital experiences that even a few years ago would have felt fresh and new for users, today are just the cost of entry. Good search, fast checkout, and smooth UX, customers expect these things to just work. There’s no extra credit for getting the basics right, but there’s a huge penalty when you don’t.

For example, take a look at the travel industry. One thing that still surprises me is how traditional many travel booking platforms feel when you use them. You fill in a form, hit search, and scroll through the results. But imagine being able to just talk to the platform, have a conversation with a bot about your ideal holiday, get smart recommendations, and actually enjoy the process. With the tools we have today, there’s no reason that in the near future you shouldn’t be able to just tell the system what kind of trip you want and have it figure the rest out. That’s where the real differentiation happens. When digital becomes intuitive and as close to a human experience as possible.

At rb2, we’re not here to chase every trend or say yes to every request. We’re here to help clients make the right choices and guide them through that change. And above all else: to keep building stuff people actually want.

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