How KGL Accucoms Helps Publishers Navigate Change: A Conversation with Simon Boisseau
With 25 years of experience in scholarly publishing, Simon Boisseau has seen the industry evolve through significant change. Since joining Accucoms in 2012, first as Director of Institutional Sales and later as Managing Director in 2020, he has led the business through a global pandemic, shifting business models, geopolitical uncertainty, and an acquisition.
Now serving as VP Publisher Market Development, Simon speaks candidly with Tracy Gardner about what makes Accucoms special, how the company continues to adapt, and what lies ahead.
In scholarly publishing, the pace of change can feel relentless: new business models, new expectations, new technologies, and increasing pressures on budgets (which is not new!). Yet the power of knowledge, trust and maintaining good relationships has remained constant. In this interview with Simon Boisseau, he reflected on how Accucoms has built its reputation as a trusted, long-term partner to publishers by combining extensive local market knowledge with the adaptability to respond to change.
From disruption to opportunity
If we take a little step back, when Plan S arrived on the scene, it raised an existential question for many organisations built around subscriptions: what happens if the model changes fundamentally? Simon shared that, at the time, there was a real fear that the shift to open access fuelled by significant policy changes could “spell the end” for parts of the traditional subscription ecosystem.
Accucoms took a different view. Rather than stepping back, the team thought about how they could still support their customers in a period of great change, treating disruption as an opportunity to help publishers communicate, sell, and put in place new models in markets.
As the landscape became more fragmented and more complex (read-and-publish, publish-and-read, subscribe-to-open, transformative agreements) Accucoms positioned itself as a steadying hand, distilling the complex detail that comes from dealing with many publishers and their differing models and translating policies and models into clear, locally relevant conversations.
“We have seen a lot of disruption in our industry over the past 10 years, but in times of change we didn’t step back – we asked how we could help our customers navigate what was coming next.”
Technology helps but nothing can replace the human touch
Across the whole of publishing, organisations are concerned about cost, and that is unlikely to change. Workflows are being streamlined and budgets scrutinised, and every organisation is being asked to do more with less. With constant budget pressures, it can be tempting to assume that sales and marketing will become more automated. But as Simon put it, there is still no substitute for a relationship, especially when the “product” and the business models are complex, the market is nuanced, and trust is essential. Accucoms’ value lies in its people on the ground: building networks, visiting customers, speaking the language (literally and culturally), and helping publishers stay close to institutional customers and, increasingly, researchers.
“There’s still no substitute for relationships, especially when the models themselves are complex. You can automate processes, but you can’t automate trust.”
That local insight matters because culture, needs, and operations differ dramatically across regions. Purchasing processes, cultural expectations, policy, governments and even what “good value” looks like can vary from one country to the next. This is precisely where Accucoms’ longevity and regional expertise become strategic strengths: the organisation has spent years building the knowledge and relationships that help publishers navigate complexity confidently.
Adaptability and navigating nuance
Adaptability is a very real day-to-day operating model at Accucoms. Simon explained how even a single negotiation can require careful, locally informed communication when publishers are asking customers to engage with unfamiliar concepts or business models.
“What works in one country simply doesn’t work in another, and that’s where local knowledge becomes critical. You can’t force a global model onto markets that operate in completely different ways.”
In practice, this often means bridging cultural gaps, helping publishers explain value propositions clearly, and helping customers understand why a new model exists and how it works. It also means being comfortable with complexity: combining market knowledge, policy awareness, and commercial skill to support discussions that are rarely “one size fits all”.
Longevity and stability matters
One of the most striking themes from the conversation was how much of Accucoms’ market reputation is rooted in its people, and in how long those people stay with the company. Simon noted that many team members have been with the Accucoms for more than a decade, with some exceeding 15 and even 20 years. That depth of experience is rare in fast moving sales organisations, and so it brings continuity that customers and partners notice. Publishers often note that the Accucoms sales team feels like an extension of their own sales team, a culture, Simon notes the company strives hard to cultivate.
“Our people are our biggest strength, and many have been with us for over a decade and in many cases, our teams feel like an extension of the publisher’s own team.”
Stability matters because markets are always changing. Economic pressures, policy shifts, and geopolitics can all influence budgets and decision-making. When teams are constantly rebuilding, organisations spend time “fighting fires” rather than building long-term value. By contrast, Accucoms’ consistent, trustworthy regional presence helps publisher clients weather tougher periods and be ready to move when conditions improve. It is no surprise to learn that a number of clients have been with Accucoms for well over 10 years, and some since the company formed in 2004.
That longevity comes from the culture of the organisation the leadership team has nurtured since its inception in 2004. Accucoms has always fostered an entrepreneurial culture where regional leaders have the freedom to own their territories and tailor approaches to local conditions. With that ownership comes agility and adaptability: teams can test ideas, learn quickly, and focus investment where it genuinely works, Simon notes that there is no point forcing a global approach onto fundamentally different markets.
“There’s no such thing as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach in this market.”
Partnership built on transparency
Integrity and trust are tenets of scholarly publishing and so it’s important that Accucoms has built its approach around transparency. Simon emphasised the importance of sharing market feedback, both good and bad, quickly and clearly, so publisher partners can adapt their strategy with realistic insights rather than optimism or guesswork.
“When markets are uncertain, transparency becomes incredibly valuable. There’s no value in sugar-coating feedback; publishers need the real picture.”
This transparency supports the valuable tenant of partnership. Accucoms doesn’t view relationships as purely transactional; publisher clients are treated as long-term partners. That mindset shows up in how expectations are managed, how progress is reported, and even in how new relationships are approached, with due diligence on both sides to ensure the work is set up for success. Sales cycles are long in this market, it takes time to understand a publisher’s mission, products and models and so trust in the partnership has to be there on both sides, from the start.
“Some of our partnerships go back more than 10 years, that says a lot.”
A new chapter
Accucoms’ story is also one of growth. Simon described the company’s acquisition by Knowledgeworks Global Ltd. (KGL) as a milestone, a recognition that Accucoms has built a business with clear value, and an opportunity to scale its strengths within a broader end-to-end services environment.
“The acquisition was a recognition of the value we’ve built, and an opportunity to scale it.”
What’s important is not change for its own sake, but continuity of what made Accucoms successful: local market expertise, strong relationships, and an entrepreneurial culture. With the backing of a larger organisation, Accucoms can invest more confidently in people, in new territories, and in the tools that help its teams and partners stay ahead.
Understanding the publisher
Publisher expectations are broadening. Alongside subscription and licensing expertise, publishers increasingly need support with author engagement, market intelligence, in-country marketing, and strategic growth. As Simon noted, open access has accelerated a shift in many cases from purely business-to-business models toward engagement with end users including researchers, authors, and communities.
“Publishers need more than sales support now—they need insight, engagement, and local execution.”
Accucoms supports publishers by running targeted, locally informed activity, helping grow submissions, improve submission quality, and build awareness in ways that resonate within each region. The principle is simple: marketing is more effective when it is created with local context, not merely translated and deployed from a central team thousands of miles away.
Looking ahead: AI licensing and the next wave of change
If open access defined the last decade or so of transformation, AI licensing is emerging as the next defining moment and can be seen as both an opportunity and a challenge. Simon shared that interest in AI licensing has grown significantly over the past year, with the whole industry still learning how best to participate, protect value, and create sustainable models.
Here again, Accucoms’ pattern is tried and tested: get up to speed quickly, translate complexity into practical guidance, and help publisher partners make informed decisions. Whether the goal is revenue, discoverability, or driving traffic back to trusted publisher platforms with clear attribution, the focus is on solutions that work in the real world and that maintain the standards and integrity scholarly communication depends on. That is what Accucoms excels at.
“The focus has to stay on solutions that work in the real world.”
What industry leadership looks like now
Industry leadership today isn’t just about having the biggest footprint or the loudest voice. It’s about being dependable through change, credible across markets, and proactive about what’s next. In Simon’s view, Accucoms has earned that position by combining three things: trusted local relationships, the ability to adapt to new models, and a culture of transparency that strengthens trust with partners.
“Leadership today is about being dependable through change.”
As scholarly communication continues to evolve, commercially, technologically, and culturally, Accucoms’ role remains clear: to help publisher partners bridge complexity and build sustainable growth, market by market, relationship by relationship.