Loosing shine and loosing to competition fast. - Senior Software Engineer Guidewire Employee Review

1.0
Aug 21, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some smart people, Benefits are decent, company has a good cash balance to burn.

Cons

The company is in the space of providing software to P&C insurers, it has undergone major changes especially in product development, they wish to accelerate stagnated growth by executing too many things too quickly --SAAS, Cloud, 3 months release cycles (from 18 months). All recent initiatives are new to the company that does not have any expertise, experience, or ideas in the technologies they are venturing into, the management is not cognizant of that fact, they need to bring in tech experts from outside, they tried to an extent, but are resisted internally by old timers who do not cooperate with new talent. The middle and first level management is terrible, they play favorites, manage by bullying and giving bad reviews. Managers thrive by managing up and don't help the team members, they take care of themselves first and cover their backs first, as an employee you are left alone and you need fight alone. The other pain points for the company are -- the core products are built on monolithic architecture, competition is catching up fast by providing cheaper and better insurance software, this has sent alarm bells ringing to the top management. The P/E ratio of the stock is 498, which indicates that the company is grossly overvalued, investors are anticipating higher growth, and the earnings are meager when compared to the stock price. If you are looking to work on exciting applications, cutting edge technologies, this is not the place to be. But, if you want to play politics, use flattery, work on boring insurance software and do some minimal work to get through, this maybe the company for you.

avatar
Guidewire Response
9y
Thank you for sharing your misgivings. Guidewire strives to have an open culture where people can provide feedback safely. I would encourage you to share your concerns with your manager or anyone on the senior leadership team. You are correct about things moving quickly at Guidewire, although many of us see these changes as invigorating improvements in our direction. Guidewire is embracing the cloud, where it is normal to release product updates on a continuous basis. Moving from 18-month major releases to a 3-month planning cadence is just the start. Of course, a lot of what we are attempting is new to us. We are headquartered in Silicon Valley for a reason – to stay on the leading edge. I would encourage anyone with cloud experience to apply to one of our open positions. This is a great opportunity to influence our next generation of technology to serve P&C Insurance, one of the bedrock industries of society. Go Guidewire!

Explore other reviews about Guidewire

5.0
May 16, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Internal education and freedom to learn about the industry

Cons

Fully remote means less time spent with other team members

4.0
May 27, 2026
Anonymous intern
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I gained a lot of experience

Cons

* I wish they offered me a full time role after graduation

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All