Mykola is a cool expert with whom we are lucky to work together. He is a person who does not hesitate to give advice and is happy to share his expertise. Thanks to him, we introduced such cool projects as cyber tournaments, a series of conferences, and a number of other technological initiatives. And the most important thing: Mykola took a direct part in the creation of the union. He was one of those who pushed the legal and organizational aspects of the creation of Odesa IT Family and made a significant contribution to the creation and activity of our community.

🔹First acquaintance with IT

I grew up in a sailor’s family, graduated from school in Odesa, and my only choice was the sea, such a promising and romantic future. But somewhere in the 11th grade, the family got a computer, access to the Internet, and I got a new interest. Then everything was a little different and we could use the Internet only at night. The interest was active and I decided to move towards IT, I chose the Odesa Polytechnic National University. At some point in the course of my studies, I realized that I lacked practical knowledge, so I enrolled in the full-time department of the “STEP” computer academy, and for about three years I studied at two universities. When I graduated from the university, like many students, I worked part-time and one of the jobs was in a hypermarket of IT equipment in the computer department, but after graduating from the university I was able to find a job by profession, i.e. as a programmer, which was not easy in those years, because there were few IT companies. The programmer’s salary was half as much (it’s hard to believe now), but I made my choice. I grew up with the IT sphere, developed, worked as a C++ developer, then retrained as a Java developer at Lohika (now Capgemini Engineering Ukraine). In it, I grew to a team leader, then managed many large projects, later reached the position of Head of technology and innovation, which I hold at the moment. So, I have a total of 15 years in IT.

🔹Your role in Odesa IT Family?

My cooperation with IT Family began even before its creation. I was present at the first meetings of the need to create such an association, the formation of statutory documents and even the recruitment of a team. Conducted interviews, recruited our activity managers, etc. I help in various directions.

🔹What does the cluster bring to your company?

The need for such an association has been brewing for a long time, we saw that each company in the Odesa region has its own goals and directions, but there was no commonality and understanding of the region’s peculiarities. There were successful examples of communities in other cities and, of course, we wanted to have our own example and develop our city and region. Participation in the cluster gives us communication, understanding of how other companies work, interesting people and projects that are important for the region.

🔹What plans/projects do you plan to implement in 2023 at Family?

Unfortunately, due to the war, many projects that I would like to implement are now impossible, but in general, I would like to focus more on conferences on technical guidance, support and development of the technical communities of our city, and I really cheer for the victory of EXPO 2030, which will provide a powerful impetus to development of our city.