This year, Grassfish celebrates two decades of driving change in the digital in-store space. What began as a bold idea in Vienna in 2005 has grown into a category-defining platform that powers customer experiences for some of the world’s leading brands.

To mark the occasion, we sat down with Grassfish founder and current CSO of Vertiseit, Roland Grassberger, to reflect on how the company has evolved, why challenging conventions still matters, and what’s next for in-store experience management.

Grassfish just turned 20. Roland, what does this milestone mean to you?

Roland: “It’s incredibly rewarding. When we started Grassfish in 2005, digital in-store wasn’t even a category. We believed the physical store could be reimagined for a digital age, not through technology alone, but by putting people and experiences first. And we’ve spent 20 years proving that right. Seeing Grassfish evolve from an idea, which was to bridge the digital and physical customer meeting with strategy, concept and scalable solutions, to an industry benchmark is something I’m deeply proud of.”

Grassfish has always positioned itself as a challenger. How has that mindset shaped the company?

Roland: “Challenging the status quo is in our DNA. From day one, we aimed to push boundaries in technologies and in digital concepts. We didn’t want to build “just” a signage solution. 10 years ago, I spoke about Digital Signage evolving from isolated systems to enterprise communication tools. Today, we’ve gone even further. We’re not just integrating, we’re orchestrating experiences across ecosystems and we’ve created a category: In-Store Experience Management (IXM). That challenger spirit is still what drives us today: to think bigger, move faster, and redefine what’s possible in retail.”

What has been one of Grassfish’s proudest moments?

Roland: “Honestly, it’s not a single moment, it’s the continuous evolution. We’ve stayed relevant in a fast-changing landscape, always focusing on the customer journey. There are of course moments we’ll never forget – from winning the first big global projects and successfully rolling them out to merging with Vertiseit to be Europe’s Nr. 1 Digital In-Store Platform company. We’ve kept innovating, stayed curious and true to our purpose.”

What excites you most about the future of Grassfish?

Roland: “There’s so much untapped potential. With AI, retail media, and smarter integrations, digital in-store is becoming more strategic than ever. Being part of Vertiseit enables us to scale that impact globally. Together, we’re building the kind of integrated, sustainable, and customer-first ecosystem that modern retail demands. What excites me most is seeing Grassfish continue to lead that charge and being at the forefront, just as we’ve done for the past 20 years. We’re not just celebrating a milestone today; we’re stepping into the next chapter.”

From pioneering the early days of digital signage to shaping the future of in-store experience management, Grassfish has spent 20 years moving the industry forward by design, by strategy, and by staying relentlessly curious.

And as Roland reminds us, the work is far from done. Grassfish isn’t just looking back at a milestone, it’s stepping boldly into its next chapter: building smarter ecosystems, unlocking new value for retailers, and continuing to challenge what’s possible in physical retail.

Here’s to the next 20.