IT Wave 2025 – a wave of meaning, technology and empathy

On June 20, Odesa brought together those who not only keep up with changes, but create them. Leaders of IT, HR, marketing, communications, and technology talked about the main thing – how not to burn out, lose meaning, and preserve humanity in the digital age.

🗣Panel “Leader (without) instructions”

About how not to overheat in the era of AI and change. How to keep teams, retain leaders, and create a culture where everyone is comfortable – from introverts to Generation Alpha.

Speakers:

Vadym Drumov – CEO and co-founder of Hillel IT School

Olena Korsun – Head of Southeast Region, SoftServe (shared about silence zones, meditation, integration of different generations)

Olena Hryhorko – Regional Department Manager, Luxoft

Sergiy Garashchuk – Head of EPAM in the Southern region

Mykhailo Lobachev – Director of AIR Institute

Participants discussed AI as a must-have for juniors, skills that leaders should develop by 2030, phrases that should be removed from the corporate vocabulary, and practices that really work for team engagement and comfort.

The discussion was moderated by Alina Pervushyna, PR Director of Hillel IT School.

🗣Panel “Communication with Meaning”

How to maintain trust, reputation, and honesty in a time when there is more noise than signal. We talked about the power of empathy, sincerity that builds, and communications that stay with people.

Speakers:

Luiza Yaremenko – Head of PR & Brand Marketing, Netpeak Group

Mariana Lilyk – PR Lead, Capgemini Engineering

Ulyana Kolodiy – Founder of UK comms agency

Marian Khomyn – Head of Marketing, UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group

Alina Shcherbyna – Founder of Big Stories agency

Moderated by Oleg Shaparenko, Head of Communications at EPAM

The final lectures were about technologies that are already changing the game:

Oleksandr Krakovetskyi, CEO of DevRain, on the application of generative AI in education, business, and life.

Oleksandr Bodalevskyi, Capgemini Engineering, on agent systems and process automation.

Can AI already replace the work of certain positions? A heated discussion!

We would like to thank everyone who created this event together with us: moderators, speakers, team, and, of course, our partners.

For their incredible support in organizing the event, we thank Universalna Insurance Company, UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group, and the construction company Hephaestus, Hillel IT School in collaboration with Coffee Roasters Foundation, and Dent-House clinic.

For information support, we thank Chernivtsi IT Cluster, Kharkiv IT Cluster, Lviv IT Cluster, IT Ukraine Association, IT Cluster Transcarpathia, Regional Development Agency, and FCPI Moscow State University.

IT Wave is for those who do not wait for the future but create it.

📸 Photo report: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1S11BpDT-c682k7-2ZDEKbhBMLkLzPifY?usp=sharing