In our December blog post we talked about the evolution of programming from the 1950s to today. For February we’re discussing the continuing rapid evolution of agent-based programming and what differentiates a skilled developer leveraging AI as a tool from the uninitiated vibe-coder. But, in this post we’re connecting the past with the future by highlighting a very special milestone. Coretechs turned 40! So, sit back and travel down memory lane with me as I hit a few of the highlights in celebrating this momentous event.

In 1986, only a few years out of college, I was working at IIT Research Institute (IITRI) as an associate engineer. Having graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science it quickly seemed that computers had more of a pull for me than engineering. While at IITRI I built a terminate and stay resident assembly language system to manage incoming client calls and track requests. It was actually considered for a patent but ultimately did not make it. However, it did whet my appetite for more software development.

In 1986, given my passion for all things computer and a burgeoning desire for entrepreneurship, I started building a side-business in custom software development and technical support called Coretechs. Given all the variations in spelling C – O – R – E – T – E – C – H – S that people seemed to come up with AAA Consulting might have been a better choice! Eventually, in 1989, I left IITRI to pursue my dream full-time.

Throughout the 1980s and into the mid 1990s I helped numerous clients with their office computers, server management, local area networks, cabling and custom software development. Mostly I was writing code in Microsoft Access and Visual Basic (cutting edge in those days!). I had some help in both IT maintenance and software development from a revolving group of 2-3 team members.

In the mid 1990s, in addition to my Coretechs clients, I started helping out my friend Will Moore at Acorn Enterprises International with clients such as Travisa (now CIBT and still a client 28 years later!) and Navigant Consulting (now Guidehouse). In late 1999 Will decided to leave the United States for extended travel and also to pursue his passion project of Peoplese. In the process I bought Acorn Enterprises International, merged it into Coretechs Consulting and proceeded to prepare for Y2K. Newsflash: No jets fell from the sky.

Now armed with a growing clientele and focused on Perl, I started to form the core of our operations, our team! In the early 2000s my partner James Bloomer joined me to take on the 21st century. Other stalwarts who also joined the team around that time were Matt, Jon & Bobby who’ve each been here 20 years or more!

Others joined a little later and have been here 15 years or so like Kiko, Dipin, Ryan, Jawad, Ricarda and Susan. It’s so much fun here no one wants to leave and thank goodness! ;). I jest but I’m truly honored that so many of the team have elected to stay with us for so long. As we started to reach our stride we determined that keeping our focus on custom software development was where our true strength lay so we slowly whittled down our IT maintenance work to sharpen our focus on custom software development.

As we moved into the 2010s with so many long-term clients it was inevitable that as private equity acquisitions became a trend some of our clients would be acquired by larger companies. To our credit, in many cases the new companies saw the value in continuing to work with our seasoned, long-tenured team of incredible developers and project managers and often stayed with us even long after the transition. As the needs of our clients grew more varied and our capabilities (Python, PHP, .Net, Java, Coldfusion) increased we continued to grow the team bringing on Vinod, Jonathan, Louis, Keith, Fabrice, Hariz, Samuel, Manos, Nebu, Alex and Arthur.

Now here we are in 2026 and it’s been 40 years since I started this crazy ride! Hard to believe… Through every decade we’ve tried to follow a few simple truths:

• Treat your team well and they’ll return the favor ten-fold
• Operate your business with honor and integrity
• Always provide clear, honest advice to your clients and you’ll never go wrong

So, if you’ve worked with us in the past we’re still here and we’d love to hear from you. And if you’re new to Coretechs we’d love to hear from you as well. Please give me a call at 202 540 0002, drop us a message on our Contact Page OR check out our Pricing Guide page!

Thanks for the opportunity to serve you.

Gil