Kira, not so long ago Ring became a part of the large Amazon family. You are known both in Ukraine and far beyond its borders. How did it all start?
In September 2016, the company Ring gave Ukraine a chance. It decided to open a small office in Kyiv – only 10 team members. Before that, we had spent a lot of effort explaining: that Ukraine isn’t only capable of producing quality tech products, it can also create real innovations. This work brought a result – Ring trusted us. Beside R&D experts, the company offered the “hottest vacancies” of the market: computer-vision and machine-learning roles. We developed the first prototypes and received the first results. The Ring team was incredibly impressed. So Ring Ukraine got its chance to develop further. Today we have grown to a 700+ company.
For two years, this is truly an impressive result. There must have been hardships and crossovers on the way. When did you realize you have already left the zone of “family companies” and startups?
I think it happened the moment the team numbers went over 100. The range of our interests grew wider. We added hardware and other focuses to R&D. Many of these are unique both at the company level and for the Ukrainian market in general. It became clear that we were moving towards transforming into a large tech corporation. At times we could not even cope with our growth ourselves. So we’ve had all of the “growth diseases” that have ever existed. However, we gained invaluable experience. Now we know how a small company turns into a middle-size business, and then a middle-size company becomes a tech giant.
What is it like to be a part of the world’s largest corporation?
It’s fantastic. We learn something new every day. Every day we make discoveries: something ordinary can be done differently from the way we used to do it. It brings us up to a new level. For me, the role of the Ukrainian office in the deal, in becoming part of the bigger family, is a reason for a lot of pride. Our achievements contributed a lot to that.
Today Ring Ukraine is a full participant in the IT community. You have taken a lot from the market. What are you doing for the IT-sphere in Ukraine today?
Our position from the start was that our presence here would be solid and lasting. From the very start we’ve been investing in the IT sphere market, we are engaging not only specialists, but also representatives of the student community. We realize that developing tech business in Ukraine requires investment in talent and science. From the very founding day, we have worked with Ukraine’s top universities: Taras Shevchenko National University, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, and the Ukrainian Catholic University. In these institutions, we support study programmes, provide educational grants and scholarships, and organize projects for the talented youth. It is our goal to make young specialists not only come back to the country after working abroad, but to never leave it. We want them to work in our company and in other companies on the Ukrainian market. And for that, we need to give them chance to be a part of the Silicon-Valley-level company, but the one that is located here in Kyiv. I believe we are rather successful at that. Now, many young growing stars have a chance to work at the same level and to contribute not only to the technology world, but also to their own country.
Also we actively support the female leaders society, and we’re developing our own female leaders, who are, by the way, approximately 28% of the team of Ring Ukraine.
You are running for the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce. Why are you doing that?
At all stages of our development in Ukraine, the support of the international community was crucial for our company. We know about all the problems we have in Ukraine now. Foreign investors really find it hard to see our country as a safe and successful business area. Such organizations as ACC help us change that view. I would like to be a part of the board so as to help make the business climate in Ukraine more attractive to international investors. It will make things easier for other companies who follow in our footsteps. We will be able to help them. And we will also raise the IT business in Ukraine to a new level.
