In 2006, Glenn Murray, Emily Garcia and Kelly Lamborn (tech founders in Sydney) left secure corporate careers to start a software company.
They had deep technical experience, a clear vision for how technology should work, and no way of knowing how much the industry would change. Twenty years later, they share the lessons that have endured through every technology shift.
It was 2006. Emily’s dining room table was the boardroom, the brainstorming space and the lunch room. The three founders had left secure corporate roles with a simple belief: there was a better way to build software and work with clients.
Today, Conn3cted is a Sydney-based software development company celebrating two decades of helping organisations solve complex business problems through custom software, AI, integration and digital solutions. With a multidisciplinary team of strategists, designers and engineers – and a proprietary AI platform, conn3ctedAI – the business continues to evolve alongside the technology it builds.
The path from that dining room table to today wasn’t always straightforward. Along the way, some lessons have changed, while others have stood the test of time. These are the lessons the founders say they’d happily share with their 2006 selves.
The principles behind the progress.
01. Culture comes first.
Culture was never an afterthought at Conn3cted – it was the first thing the founders got right. From the very beginning, fun, energy and happiness at work were baked into the DNA of the company.
Over 20 years, that foundation has quietly become one of their greatest strengths: a team that genuinely loves what they do, and clients who feel the difference.
02. Simplicity takes discipline.
The Conn3cted philosophy — technology should be simple and designed to transform your business — sounds straightforward. In practice, it’s one of the hardest things to achieve.
Every software project faces the same temptation: add another feature, another workflow, another “just in case” requirement.
Simplicity demands discipline. It means asking difficult questions, challenging assumptions and being willing to say no, even when the easier path is to keep adding more. Over the years, we’ve learned that the most successful products aren’t the ones with the longest feature lists. They’re the ones that solve the right problem, exceptionally well.
03. Relationships outlast technology.
Over the past two decades, the technology has changed almost beyond recognition. Frameworks have evolved, cloud platforms have emerged, mobile ecosystems have transformed, and AI is now reshaping software development once again.
What hasn’t changed is how lasting partnerships are built.
Technology creates opportunity, but trust creates longevity. The strongest client relationships are built on honesty, reliability and a shared commitment to solving the right problems. While the tools continue to evolve, those principles have carried Conn3cted through every technology shift over the past two decades.
04. Start with people.
Long before UX became a standard part of software delivery, Conn3cted believed the best technology started with understanding the people who would use it. Design thinking – understanding the human before writing a single line of code – has always been central to the way the team works.
Over time, that philosophy evolved into one of Conn3cted’s core strengths: a user-centred UX and design process that starts with people, not technology. The projects that have delivered the greatest business impact all share one thing in common; they began with listening, observing and understanding real users, rather than simply building to a list of requirements.
What 20 years built: conn3ctedAI
In 2024, nearly two decades of experience became conn3ctedAI — an AI-powered platform that automates the foundations of enterprise application development.
Built on years of delivering custom software, conn3ctedAI addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges: turning business requirements into a scalable architecture. Through a structured conversation, it generates data models, user roles, security layers and core system logic, helping clients move from concept to working software dramatically faster.
conn3ctedAI doesn’t replace experience, it captures it. Every project, every lesson and every architectural decision has shaped the platform, embedding proven engineering practices into the earliest stages of software delivery. The result is a stronger foundation, faster delivery and better outcomes before a single line of code is written.
What’s next
The dining room table is long behind them, but the enthusiasm that started Conn3cted hasn’t faded. If anything, it’s grown.
”Technology keeps evolving, and that's genuinely exciting. AI isn't a threat to what we do - it's an amplifier. It helps us solve bigger problems, move faster and deliver more value to our clients. The fundamentals haven't changed: understand the person, keep things simple and always act with integrity. The tools have changed. The principles haven't.
Glenn MurrayCTO & Co-Founder at Conn3cted
The philosophy that shaped Conn3cted remains remarkably simple: do great work, build genuine relationships and never lose sight of the people behind the technology. Platforms, programming languages and AI tools will continue to evolve, but those principles have endured through every technology shift.
That’s why, after two decades, Conn3cted still believes trust, simplicity and genuine relationships are the strongest foundations for lasting success.
