European integration platform ConnectPlaza relaunches as Maicell to accelerate AI transformation with ‘Governed Intelligence’

• Maicell (formerly ConnectPlaza) marks a step change from iPaaS enabling simple system connectivity to iPaaS as an intelligent fabric consolidating systems, data and intelligence within a single governed infrastructure.
• Integration leader and industry veteran Joost de Bot takes the helm as Maicell CEO to meet strong customer demand, spearhead global growth and implement the new vision of Governed Intelligence.

Dordrecht, 12 March 2026: ConnectPlaza, the integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) provider, has relaunched as Maicell and appointed industry veteran Joost de Bot as CEO to spearhead global growth and implement its new vision for AI transformation. This relaunch marks a strategic evolution from traditional system connectivity to Governed Intelligence — positioning Maicell at the intersection of integration, enterprise AI execution and governance.

Incoming CEO Joost de Bot brings more than 20 years’ experience leading high-growth technology businesses, driving innovation and building high-performance, customer-centric teams. Previously, Joost spent nine years at Jitterbit, an automation and integration provider. As Senior Vice President & General Manager EMEA & APAC, he grew the international divisions from the ground up to become 35% of the company’s global business. Prior to that, Joost held senior leadership roles at integration and automation company Mulesoft and at enterprise data company EMC (acq. Dell $67 billion).

ConnectPlaza was founded in the Netherlands in 2008. Now relaunched as Maicell, its AI-native platform creates a unified intelligent fabric that consolidates systems, data and intelligence and provides the foundation for Governed Intelligence. This Fabric, delivered through the core integration platform ConnectPlaza, forms the backbone for Maicell’s integration and automation, ensuring the use of AI within the enterprise remains coherent, compliant and under executive control – an increasing challenge for businesses.

The company serves over 1,500 customers and partners around the world including IT
services provider Revolution Software (a Toyota Division), international retail store chain Wibra, Netherlands retailer Prénatal, US-based and the world’s largest global aviation distributor Proponent, and waste-to-energy company HVC.

Businesses are under immense pressure to adopt modern software solutions to leverage the power of AI but are hindered by legacy technology and software sprawl. Many mature businesses still rely on trusted but on-prem legacy systems while, according to the European Commission, 47% of EU enterprises have yet to transition to paid cloud. Migrating from legacy systems is costly, time consuming and fraught with business-critical risks including data-protection, governance and systems’ downtime.

Maicell’s intelligent integration fabric elegantly solves this common customer challenge by enabling the seamless integration of legacy systems with modern, cloud-native solutions without the cost, lock-in, or complexity of global vendors. By enabling cloud, private cloud, hybrid and on-prem integration, Maicell’s enterprise-grade platform gives companies the power to go beyond mainstream connections and integrate even the most exotic software and systems. With Maicell, businesses can avoid the costs, delays and risks of legacy migration while also being able to swiftly and securely deploy best-of-breed automation and AI.

Through Maicell’s fabric, governance is intrinsic to the execution layer, applied consistently across internal integrations, API management, B2B/EDI exchanges and all AI interactions. Maicell enables visualisations of data ‘flows’ and simplifies queries, making complex insights accessible without compromising control, for:

• Consistent Enforcement: Uniform policy application across all execution points.
• Centralised Control: Data access and flow remain under institutional authority.
• Total Observability: Every action is observable and auditable by design.
• Managed Evolution and Service: System changes are introduced through governed mechanisms with support as needed.

The name “Maicell” is built on the metaphor of the hidden, resilient networks that connect and protect life beneath a forest floor. It represents a living intelligence. It reflects Maicell’s AI-native but human-centric platform where businesses can drive intelligent integration and governed orchestration.

With Joost’s appointment as CEO, both Maicell’s co-founders Paul Lange and Wilco van Vliet remain with the business, with Paul appointed as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Finance Officer and Wilco stepping into the role of Chief Revenue Officer.

Paul Lange, Co-Founder, COO and CFO said; “Joost brings exceptional vision and leadership to Maicell and proven expertise in integration, automation and scaling global businesses. He is the ideal person to spearhead the relaunch of Maicell, and exciting roadmap and our next phase of growth.”

Wilco van Vliet, Co-Founder and CRO said; “The need for Maicell couldn’t be clearer – European institutions, enterprises and mid-market businesses are increasingly worried about AI governance, risky migrations and rising vendor costs. Joost will accelerate our go-to-market to meet massive and growing customer demand for smarter, safer modernisation.”

Joost de Bot, CEO of Maicell said; “I’m delighted to join Maicell as CEO – a globally successful and proven technology business built in Europe with over 1,500 customers world-wide and a long-standing reputation for connecting complex systems. We’re relaunching ConnectPlaza as Maicell at a critical time: enterprises everywhere need to compete in the race to adopt AI but they don’t want to sacrifice cost control and good governance. They’ve had enough of rising vendor costs and lock-in and are crying out for an integration solution that seamlessly adapts to their existing infrastructure and enables rapid transformation with governed intelligence. Maicell answers that call with an integration fabric that not only links but also learns, adapting to existing infrastructure and allowing businesses to remain agile, competitive – and always in control.”