Inside LKQ Europe’s Pragmatic Path to Composability
LKQ Europe is building a durable digital foundation, proving that transformation at scale is about trust, team structure, and sustained delivery.
LKQ Europe is no stranger to complexity. With operations spanning over 18 countries, more than 900 distribution outlets and a customer base that includes independent B2B garage workshops, national fleets, and retail buyers, the scale alone could paralyze decision-making. Add in a legacy of regional acquisitions and siloed systems, and you’ve got a transformation challenge that goes far beyond technology.
Nuno Sousa, Director of IT Customer Applications at LKQ Europe, stepped into that environment with a mandate to accelerate progress not just through architecture, but through trust, alignment, and execution. “When I joined, what I would call a non-conscious MACH journey had started,” he says. “We just needed to move faster and simplify a highly distributed business.”
The Case for Change
At the time Sousa joined, LKQ had already launched a transformation initiative called 1LKQ Europe aimed at unifying its operations under a shared digital and organizational model. The company offered the same parts across regions but did so through a tangled web of ERPs, storefronts, and tools. That wasn’t sustainable, from either a cost or an agility perspective.
One of the earliest breakout moments came during a project to launch a new business line fully on AWS. Instead of copying legacy systems, the team leaned into composable thinking, using best-of-breed tools like commercetools, Algolia, and Contentful while designing a future-proof foundation that could scale across both B2C and B2B operations.
“We knew we wanted flexibility and to use components for standard needs,” Sousa explains, “but we also knew where it made sense to own our own IP.” For LKQ Europe, it has never been about going all-in on SaaS or building everything themselves. It’s about finding the right balance to suit their business needs.
Building the Team Before the Stack
While the architecture mattered, Sousa makes it clear that success began with the people. His team prioritized hiring for specific capabilities and running targeted upskilling programs aligned with business goals. The transformation wasn’t something IT did to the business, it was something built with it.
“It was a long process of creating this trust that we, as a technology group, are on the same team as the rest of the org. You can have all the tools in the world,” he says, “but if you don’t have the team, it doesn’t matter.”
That investment paid off in momentum: as the platform stabilized, trust grew, and as trust grew, adoption accelerated. The IT group shifted from being viewed as gatekeepers to being seen as enablers, translating business goals into technical solutions with clear value.
From Governance to Credibility
Unlike companies that hinge their transformation stories on singular breakthroughs, LKQ Europe’s evolution has been about steady delivery. Sousa is upfront about that. “We built credibility over time. We just kept going and it kept getting better,” he says. “The numbers and the facts that we were able to present spoke for themselves.”
That’s not to say there haven’t been challenges. But by focusing on consistency—tracking performance, measuring cost savings, and showing how changes helped grow the business—the narrative became self-sustaining.
Stakeholders started to see what was possible. Projects that once needed hard justification began getting greenlit more quickly. And the broader organization began to understand that composability wasn’t about chasing trends, it was about creating a platform that “just works.”
Thinking in Layers, Not Channels
One of Sousa’s most pragmatic perspectives is how he frames B2B and B2C. Rather than viewing them as separate lines of business, he sees them as variations on the same foundation.
“We don’t build two components to do the same job,” he says. “We have a data layer, a service layer, and a presentation layer. Whether we’re serving an independent garage or a consumer, it all comes from the same core.”
That mindset extends to how LKQ Europe approaches its stack across markets.
Localization—for language, for payment types, for tax codes, etc—is essential. But the team deliberately designs for baseline reusability, then layers in flexibility. MACH tools help with that. So does a clear architecture strategy.
A Measured Approach to AI
LKQ isn’t rushing into agentic systems or headline-grabbing AI deployments. But it’s not standing still either. Sousa outlines two primary areas of focus.
First, internal enablement. The company is experimenting with tools that help streamline legacy code maintenance, generate APIs, and support integration work. Teams are given R&D time and participate in internal guilds to explore new approaches.
Second, customer insight. “We don’t use our data enough in this industry,” he says. “There’s a real opportunity to understand where the customer journey breaks down. We’ve started those conversations at the strategic level, and we’ll see concrete initiatives emerge soon.”
The common thread is discipline. LKQ’s culture isn’t tech-first by default, so the IT group takes care to evaluate thoughtfully and ensure every AI effort aligns to a tangible business goal.
Composable Success: Collaboration, Pragmatism, and Strategy
Many organizations stall in the messy middle of digital transformation— too far in to turn back, not far enough to celebrate. Sousa’s advice to those leaders is to double down on structure and clarity.
Start with the strategy. Align it to what the business really needs. Then evaluate what capabilities you have and what you’ll need to execute. And most importantly, build the right team to close that gap.
“It starts and ends with them,” Sousa says. “If there’s only one thing that I could invest in, it would be the team because without them, it doesn't happen.”
He’s also quick to point out that transformation is a journey with uneven terrain. Not every country moves at the same speed. Not every initiative goes smoothly. But momentum is cumulative, and success compounds if teams stay grounded in execution.
LKQ Europe’s composable journey doesn’t hinge on buzzwords or tech hype. It’s built on something far less glamorous, but far more powerful: aligned teams, disciplined delivery, and a clear sense of what matters most to the business.
There’s still work ahead. But with a platform that performs, a team that’s trusted, and a growing list of proof points, Sousa and his colleagues aren’t asking for belief. They’re earning it.
Leigh Bryant
Editorial Director, Composable.com
Leigh Bryant is a seasoned content and brand strategist with over a decade of experience in digital storytelling. Starting in retail before shifting to the technology space, she has spent the past ten years crafting compelling narratives as a writer, editor, and strategist.