Support Worker to CEO: One Man's 14-Year Journey at Hostinger

Fourteen years ago, Giedrius Zakaitis spent his days helping frustrated small business owners wrestle their websites online, one support ticket at a time. Today, he's running the entire company as Hostinger's new CEO.

Zakaitis climbed from customer support specialist to Chief Executive Officer at the Lithuanian tech company, which now serves over 5 million users across 150 countries. He replaces Daugirdas Jankus, who isn't leaving but staying on to drive strategic projects in what both leaders describe as a smooth handoff between two people building the same vision.

His journey touched nearly every corner of the business. After support, Zakaitis moved into software engineering, became head of product, and led Zyro, Hostinger's website-building subsidiary that merged back into the main company in 2024.

The company Zakaitis now leads looks radically different from the one where he started. Hostinger is deliberately moving away from traditional web hosting and repositioning itself as a fully AI-first business aimed at small and medium companies.

Over the past year, the company launched four AI products that go well beyond simple hosting. Hostinger Horizons lets people build software by describing what they want in plain language. Reach handles AI-powered email marketing. And Kodee, once a simple chatbot, now manages over 500 admin-level tasks including accessing and controlling users' IT systems.

The results have been concrete. The company says these AI tools saved roughly €14 million in operational costs in 2026 alone.

Why This Inspires

Zakaitis frames his mission in remarkably simple terms that echo his support desk days. "Back then, getting a small business online meant fighting with technology, which was too complicated for most people," he said. "That is still the problem we solve, now with AI doing the hard parts."

His vision extends beyond human customers. Zakaitis points out that bots and AI agents now generate more web traffic than humans do, and Hostinger is building for them too. "Behind every agent is the same customer, acting on their behalf," he explained. "So our job doesn't change: make Hostinger work as well for someone's agent as it does for them."

He inherits a company in strong shape. Under Jankus, Hostinger posted 51% year-over-year revenue growth in 2025, reaching €275.4 million. The company ranked second in the Financial Times Long-term Growth Champions: Europe 2026 report, which rewards sustained decade-long growth rather than short-lived spikes.

The appointment of an insider who rose from the support queue to the corner office sends a powerful signal. At nearly 900 employees strong, Hostinger is betting that someone who once solved problems for frustrated customers one ticket at a time is exactly the right person to lead them into an AI-first future.