Thoughtworks' chief scientist, Martin Fowler, co-wrote the Agile Manifesto in 2001. That short document changed how much of the world builds software. Thoughtworks was the consulting firm that practiced it. Its teams of developers built custom systems for large companies, and its staff wrote books that other programmers learned from. When it went public in September 2021, companies were rushing to rebuild their old systems for the digital age.

A Chicago Basement Start

Roy Singham started the business in a Chicago basement as a management consultancy in the late 1980s. It took the name Thoughtworks in 1990 and incorporated in 1993. Fowler joined in 1999. The bet was that small teams of strong engineers, shipping working code often, beat the long, rigid projects of big consultancies. Thoughtworks also published its Technology Radar twice a year. In 2017 Singham sold the firm to Apax Partners for $785 million.

Apax Comes Back

Thoughtworks priced at $21 a share, above its range, in September 2021. It listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker TWKS on September 15 and rose 40 percent on its first day. The stock then fell for most of the next three years. Guo Xiao stepped down as chief executive in 2024. In November 2024 Apax took Thoughtworks private again, paying $4.40 a share.

Cover: The Philosopher, Ferdinand Bol. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a philosopher at his desk (thought at work).