An exclusive interview with the powerhouse trio behind Advancis Austria’s regional success – Sergej Piculin, Slavoljub Stevanovic, and Nikolai Landa – about their team’s strategic approach, evolving technology, and expanding partner network
By: Damir Muharemović
a&s Adria: Thank you for joining us! Advancis Austria has become increasingly visible across Southeast Europe this year. What’s driving this development?
Pičulin: Thank you – it’s a pleasure! The Balkans are a dynamic and fast-growing region when it comes to digital transformation, particularly in integrated safety and security solutions. There’s growing awareness of how powerful unified, open and scalable platforms can be. This is where WinGuard comes in. The platform enhances situational awareness, reduces complexity and simplifies operations across diverse systems. We’re responding to this growing demand from both public and private sectors by investing in not just technology, but in relationships – building local partnerships, enhancing technical support, and creating tailored solutions that genuinely address regional needs.
Stevanović: It’s about being relevant and reliable, not just present. We’ve participated in key events throughout the region and listened to local stakeholders for understanding the pressing needs. What we see is a clear demand for trust, continuity, and technical depth. Our ability to deliver on all three fronts makes a real difference.
Landa: The feedback has been incredibly positive. Our open approach – vendor-neutral integration, modular systems, and future-ready architecture – is being well received. Clients appreciate that we’re not simply selling software. We’re enabling long-term solutions and give them with WinGuard the independence, flexibility and control to integrate systems from the vendors of their choice, combined with strong support.
a&s Adria: What does this increased regional presence look like in practice?
Pičulin: Over the past 18 months, our focus has been on building a strong presence in Southeast Europe – including the Balkans but also Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary as well as Bulgaria and Romania. 2025 marked a turning point with greater visibility and deeper engagement. We’re expanding and strengthening relationships with local integrators and end users, empowering them with technical knowledge to confidently implement complex PSIM solutions. This is more than expansion – it’s about creating a community around our platform.
Stevanović: Through on-site training, demos, and workshops, we show how developer-friendly, flexible and powerful WinGuard is.
Landa: Having experts like Slavoljub with his deep technical expertise and Sergej with his knowledge about the local market onboard means we can support technically demanding projects in the local language, with cultural sensitivity and market understanding. That fosters faster, closer collaboration with consultants, integrators and end customers and helps us to develop customized solutions and provide tailored advice.
a&s Adria: Slavoljub, you joined Advancis Austria just six months ago with a strong technical background. How has that shaped your role and approach?
Stevanović: My role has been very hands-on from day one. I focus heavily on live technical workshops and demonstrating how WinGuard integrates everything from access control and video systems to fire alarms, building management and more. And how it enables customizable, intelligent workflows and dynamic interfaces. I joined Advancis to help partners build robust solutions that solve real-world challenges and provide a lasting value.
a&s Adria: Sergej, you are leading the Balkan expansion since early 2024, building up a wide spread network of professionals and expanding operations – could you share your perspective?
Pičulin: Our mission is to build trust and brand awareness through active engagement. Leveraging my regional network, I connect directly with integrators and end users. Regional events boost visibility, while a certified partner ecosystem ensures real traction. We aim for sustainable growth through strong partnerships and continuous support.
a&s Adria: How is Advancis Austria positioning itself in the region in 2025?
Pičulin: We are the regional hub for one of the world’s most trusted PSIM platforms. We translate advanced technology into local value. With WinGuard and AIM, we support digital transformation and modernize and optimize control infrastructures across public and private sectors. Especially in critical infrastructure, our scalable, high-availability solutions enable smarter operations.
Stevanović: Our strength also lies in our implementation expertise. We provide a powerful software but we also help with successful integration through certification, support, and close technical cooperation.
a&s Adria: Nikolai, as the youngest member of the sales team, what is your focus?
Landa: Though new to sales, I’ve been with Advancis Austria for several years. Growing up in the security industry – my father Günter Landa has led Advancis Austria for 15 years – I began in a back-office role and now lead sales in Romania and Bulgaria while supporting the wider region. My background gives me insight into both customer needs and internal operations, bridging sales and coordination.
a&s Adria: How do your roles complement each other within the team?
Pičulin: I handle strategic development, building up long-term partnerships and brand awareness. Slavoljub provides technical depth, and Landa ensures operational flow and follow-up.
Landa: We each bring different strengths – strategic, technical, and operational – and that makes us a well-balanced team.
a&s Adria: The team in Vienna seems to be growing. Tell us more about it and its role within the Advancis Group.
Stevanović: Our Executive Director Günter Landa brings decades of experience and strategic oversight. Michael Breuer leads our Sales Team – which also covers Austria, Italy, Greece, and Malta –, while Nadine Landa supports with marketing. Roman Zaccaria’s Support & Services team ensures strong technical support and smooth implementations. Their combined expertise turns promises into results.
Landa: We are an established regional hub but tightly connected with the global Advancis network. We work closely with Advancis headquarters and also have a regular and deep exchange with Advancis subsidiaries all over the world.
a&s Adria: On a global scale, how is Advancis evolving?
Pičulin: Advancis is clearly positioning itself as a global PSIM leader and has operations across Europe, – our newest colleagues are from Spain, France and Italy –, the Middle East and the U.S., and is expanding into Southeast Asia. This gives us global reach and insight while allowing us to focus locally.
Stevanović: Technologically, that means faster development, broader integration support, and more flexibility in deployments. We now offer over 550, and more are being added constantly. The global network helps us bring best practices to local markets.
a&s Adria: How does Advancis balance global ambition with local needs and adaption?
Stevanović: Through modularity and adaptability. We follow global standards but adapt to local needs – language, compliance, deployment models. Our architecture supports that balance.
Pičulin: Growth is only valuable if backed by trust and expertise. The strength of Advancis internationally gives us stability but our local execution is what earns us trust. From Malaysia to Madrid, our promise remains: reliability, openness, and technical excellence.
a&s Adria: It’s great to see the synergy among your roles and entities. Let’s dive into technology: WinGuard is Advancis’ core platform – what makes it such a strong solution for our region?
Stevanović: Clearly it’s openness and vendor-neutral architecture. It connects multiple subsystems like video, fire, access, building management from different vendors into one intuitive interface. That gives clients independence to choose best-of-breed solutions, while still having centralized control.
Pičulin: In the Balkans, system diversity is huge. WinGuard’s ability to act as a central layer across heterogeneous technologies solves a major challenge many organizations face and enables scalable growth. That makes it ideal for complex multi-site environments and supports long-term investment protection. By integrating existing systems instead of replacing them, it also significantly improves ROI.
Landa: But WinGuard is far more than a common PSIM platform. Beyond system integration it provides customized intelligent workflows and real-time automations. We don’t automate critical decision-making, but operators are guided through pre-defined processes based on dynamic system states. This not only reduces errors and reaction time but also boosts operational efficiency – which translates into measurable cost savings.
a&s Adria: What’s new in the latest WinGuard version X5?
Landa: WinGuard X5 is for the first time built on the Advancis Open Platform (AOP), allowing partners to develop their own adapters and customize integrations using modern APIs. It’s a game-changer for smart cities, utilities, and critical infrastructure, just to name a few.
Stevanović: We also improved visualization, data handling, alarm processing, and reporting tools. In increasingly complex environments, it’s essential to simplify how data is aggregated and presented. We are continuously working on adapting to the evolving needs of the market.
a&s Adria: NIS2 puts stronger emphasis on cybersecurity and resilience. How can platforms like WinGuard help meeting these new requirements?
Stevanović: NIS2 isn’t just about digital systems, it requires securing physical infrastructure. WinGuard supports this by unifying diverse security systems into one intelligent platform, enabling centralized monitoring and control. This improves visibility and situational awareness and leads consequently to faster, more informed decisions in critical situations. In addition, predefined workflows guide operators, which is minimizing errors and ensuring a structured response.
Landa: But it also supports one of the most overlooked aspects of NIS2: documentation. Every event, every action, every response is automatically logged – so audits and compliance checks become much easier and reliable, and less time-consuming.
Pičulin: Prevention and preparedness are just as important. WinGuard enables organizations to detect anomalies early and respond proactively. Routines and responses in security incidents are guided, repeatable, and well-documented. This kind of transparency and accountability is essential for NIS2 compliance.
a&s Adria: AIM, your second platform, is also gaining traction. What is it and how does it complement your core PSIM solution WinGuard?
Stevanović: AIM, our Advanced Identity Manager, synchronizes access rights across physical and IT systems. It ensures consistent and centralized identity control and automates onboarding, role changes, and de-provisioning. This helps reducing errors and increases compliance and security.
Landa: Especially in critical infrastructure or large enterprise environments, this is becoming essential. Being shortlisted for the 2025 GIT Security Award highlights its relevance.
Pičulin: AIM strengthens governance and auditability. Combined with WinGuard, it delivers full-spectrum security management. But WinGuard remains the integration backbone. That’s where most of our current momentum lies in the Balkans.
a&s Adria: You’ve attended several local events. How important are they?
Pičulin: They’re crucial. Trust is built face-to-face. This spring, we focused on smaller events like the A&S Roadshow, Security Managers Conference in Budva, and partner events with Avitech in Romania. These formats enable personal engagement and tailored discussions with integrators and end users.
Stevanović: From a technical and pre-sales point of view, these more intimate events allow us to dive deep into technical requirements and pain points across sectors. This helps understand how WinGuard can really support their day-to-day operations.
Landa: We always bring the latest WinGuard version with us for demonstrations. It makes a big difference when people can see it in action.
a&s Adria: Which events are you focusing on in autumn 2025?
Landa: We’re preparing for a strong presence at the Adria Security Summit in Skopje, the inaugural Romanian Security Summit in Bucharest, SecuriForum in Budapest, and Sicurezza in Milan. With an expanded sales and technical team, we’ll use these platforms to showcase our latest innovations.
Pičulin: Beyond our booth presence, we also contribute to the agenda through panel discussions and speeches.
a&s Adria: How important is technical expertise in your regional strategy?
Pičulin: It’s central. Our technology is powerful, but it only delivers full value when it’s configured and applied correctly. That’s why we work closely with our partners to support them through the entire project lifecycle, from project design to training, and commissioning.
Stevanović: As someone with a technical background, I enjoy working with partners on complex integration scenarios. Where it’s about much more than “connecting systems”, but about usability and operational efficiency.
a&s Adria: Tell us more about the strategic value and your approach to partnerships.
Pičulin: Partnerships are at our core. As a vendor-neutral provider, we rely on skilled integrators who know their local markets. We offer the platform, training, and support – they deliver tailored solutions. Our partner ecosystem is growing across all markets, with certified integrators in some countries and ongoing expansion in others.
Stevanović: Our technological and local integration partners are like an extension of our team. Many have worked with us across multiple projects. We spend a lot of time supporting them, for example with trainings, proof-of-concepts, technical support or helping build demonstration environments. It’s a mutual exchange of knowledge.
Landa: Our partners with their knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm help us to ensure consistency and quality. We want to empower them to create the best solutions for the end users.
a&s Adria: What makes Advancis a reliable partner, especially for this region?
Landa: We’re committed to long-term success. With WinGuard X5, AIM, and a strong local team, we’re fully equipped for the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Pičulin: We listen closely to market’s needs to make sure to deliver relevant, high-impact solutions with a sustainable value for the users.
Stevanović: We collaborate, train, and support. Our local teams and partners are fully certified, and we work closely with them from project design to implementation and beyond.
a&s Adria: What can security professionals expect next?
Pičulin: More regional engagements – local events, workshops, tech days, customer visits and trainings. We’re focused on building knowledge and relationships that last.
Stevanović: Continuous product innovation: new functionalities, modules, integrations and intelligent automation features, designed to make daily operations safer and more efficient. And we’ll also continue to support complex integration projects, ensuring that both the technology and the implementation meet the highest standards.
Landa: Innovation in both product and partner support. The future is integrated, intelligent, and user-centered – and we’re ready to lead.
a&s Adria: What are your goals for the near future?
Pičulin: To be the go-to partner for integrated security management – trusted, locally present, and technically strong. And of course finalizing key projects and developing sector-specific solutions. This is the foundation for growth beyond 2025.
Stevanović: Expanding and empowering our partner network by equipping them to lead their own WinGuard deployments. Our goal is to train and certify at least 50 more engineers – ensuring solutions are not just sold but fully understood and expertly implemented. That’s how customers unlock the full potential of WinGuard X5 – reduce complexity and gain real control. In the end, that is what motivates and drives us forward.
Landa: We’re excited about our new demo showroom in Vienna opening later this year. That’s a great opportunity for technical workshops and customer events.
a&s Adria: Final thoughts – why choose Advancis Austria now?
Pičulin: The time is right. The region needs open, integrated, and future-ready security solutions. WinGuard X5 and AIM offer exactly that. They bring clarity, control and adaptability to complex security environments.
Landa: We are committed to long-term, trusted collaboration. At the end of the day, it’s about people – inside the company, with our partners, and with our customers.
Stevanović: We combine technical innovation and expertise with deep local understanding. Let’s build smart, secure operations together!
Advancis Austria heads into autumn 2025 with an expanded team, major trade-show visibility, cutting-edge products and a partner-driven growth strategy. With WinGuard X5 based on AOP as the integration backbone and AIM enabling advanced identity management, Advancis is setting a new standard in control room technology. Behind it all stands a passionate team – strategic, technically strong, and deeply customer-focused. Together, they represent a holistic approach to security, integration, and sustainable partner collaboration across Southeast Europe.
