I've helped "bring software dev in-house" a few times in my career. Never in the domain of logistics. My (biased) perspective. If you don't already have an exi

I've helped "bring software dev in-house" a few times in my career. Never in the domain of logistics. My (biased) perspective. If you don't already have an existing (and talented) development team, it's still possible to kickstart things, but be careful how you go about it. Imo, the ideal early team in this context is small and multi-faceted. I'd look for good pragmatic coders with an entrepreneurial streak (e.g. experience having worked as part of an early stage startup, or having started one, even as a solopreneur). Why? Because although this type understands tech, they also have genuine concerns for business goals, not just with playing with cool toys. There's a lower risk of painting your company into a corner and racking up technical debt, because of unnecessary complexity and a propensity for shiny stuff. You want people that can look at your org, its goals, and make good technical trade-offs for the next year, the 5 after that, and beyond. The result will probably be a simpler and unsexy tech stack, that still works great. You want good coders that can make stuff, but can also recommend that you use an Excel spreadsheet, or subscribe to an API, where it strategically makes sense. That's the kind of profiles I'd look for as my first hires. You can certainly reach a successful outcome with non-entrepreneurial coders too and I'll be the first to admit that my outlook is biased. But having been around this particular block a few times, it'd be difficult to change my mind that at least one adult must be present that understands both the tech and the business concerns. Now here comes the caveat. This type of profiles will likely not stay for the long haul... and frankly it's perfectly fine if they give you 6 months to a year. You just need to be up-front about it. Having devs who aren't looking to become dependencies in your org, if approached openly, also insures that there's a stronger focus on replaceability and long term maintainability as a core concern. You'll get people that are genuine in their interest to see you succeed, but maybe not looking to be passengers in your ship, or members of your tribe, or whatever. That's ok. They'll still give you their best to get you to your moat, even establishing the baseline and readying you for a smooth transition. Just another perspective. Good luck.