The easiest way to evaluate a nearshore partner is to ask for a few CVs and count the senior years. It is also one of the least useful, and in 2026 it is close to meaningless.
Why CVs mislead
CVs are either polished towards your needs by a salesperson before they reach you, or barely maintained, so the exact skill you are looking for may be there and simply not listed. And a CV tells you nothing about availability: in today's market no serious CEE firm will block named engineers for you for three months on spec.
AI made CVs even weaker
When a team ships with AI assistance, "ten years of technology X" matters less than how people think, how they review, and how well they use their tools. A mid level engineer who is excellent with modern tooling can out deliver a "senior" who is not.
What to look at instead
- Team extension vs project outsourcing. Do you want to extend your team, or hand over whole products?
- Build, Operate, Transfer. Will you want to bring the team in house in two or three years?
- Who drives the cooperation. Can you run a remote team, or do you need a partner that leads?
- Legacy and maintainability. Will they work on legacy code and write clean, documented, maintainable software?
- How they use AI, safely. Do they use AI in delivery, and how do they keep your code and data protected while doing it?
- Security and compliance. Are they ready for requirements like the EU Cyber Resilience Act?
- Process and toolchain fit, company size on eye level, stability and churn, and the ability to hire and grow with you.
Check those first. Do the CV review last.