"Ukrainian IT will definitely exist. The world needs innovations and new services, and our engineers are talentedly filling this need." What will 2025 be like for Ukrainian IT: the top names of EPAM, Ciklum, Capgemini Engineering, ZONE3000, Genesis and others tell us

«2024 has become a year of challenges, but at the same time a year of cohesion, resilience and stabilization»

Despite all the difficulties, we plan to normalize the bench situation and return to pre-war figures. Moreover, we have not only stabilized our team, but also significantly increased the indicators of recruitment from the market.

Another serious challenge was ensuring uninterrupted work and communication with clients during power outages. Our offices have been equipped with powerful generators since 2022, have fuel reserves for the working week and alternative Internet channels, including Starlink. At the same time, we are making every effort to ensure that our team, which consists of about 10,000 specialists, can work without interruptions. To do this, we not only ensure the continuity of office operations, but also support our employees who work remotely. We have created a community where experts can share best practices in power supply and communication for the home office, replaced laptops with old batteries, provided part of the team with powerful power banks, and also regularly communicate with specialists about the power supply situation and possible solutions.

More than 400 colleagues continue to defend our country and we maintain constant contact with them, providing the necessary assistance to them and their families. At the same time, about 60 of our colleagues have already returned to work after demobilization. We are proud of their courage and are making every effort to provide them with comfortable conditions for adaptation. At EPAM Ukraine, we have created a special program for the adaptation of veterans and share our experiences with other companies.

This year has been difficult for the country, but it has also shown how important it is to remain humane and caring even in the most difficult circumstances. Our volunteer and charitable initiatives are not just a corporate responsibility, they are our duty as citizens. Since February 24, 2022 and over the next 1,000 days, the company has provided material and non-financial assistance totaling 670 million hryvnias. The main vectors of assistance remain constant — humanitarian assistance to civilians, support for defenders, development of IT solutions for state and public organizations pro bono, as well as projects aimed at supporting educational processes. Summing up, I can say that 2024 has become a year of trials, but at the same time a year of cohesion, resilience and stabilization.

«People are less likely to change jobs now, so there is not as much active exchange of experience as there used to be»

Also, people are less likely to change jobs now, so there is not as much active exchange of experience as there was before.

To address the impact of these factors, we have, in particular, launched many cool training programs this year for both young professionals and experienced ones, so that their knowledge and skills better meet the needs of the time.

«The challenge for me personally remains letting go of people and teams»

But the challenge for me personally remains letting go of people and teams. It is clear that we do not always have the opportunity to offer something to specialists when the number of new projects and vacancies remains quite limited, and the stay on the bench is limited in time. Every time we make every effort and fight for each specialist whose project ends in Ukraine. Understanding that the labor market is quite difficult now, saying goodbye to colleagues is even harder. Therefore, I support the industry as such and am happy when both the product and service business, and the miltech direction talk about new projects. I want talented and hardworking Ukrainian developers to have many professional opportunities, be able to implement their ideas and apply their expertise.

«The main external challenge is the wariness of clients towards contractors from Ukraine and the expectation of a miracle from AI»

I hear from colleagues in the shop that things are going well and the situation is leveling out. To me, it’s a bit like that joke — «… well, you say it.» 2024 was quite difficult for us — the amount of effort to support and develop the business increased threefold, and the result was half as bad as the previous year.

This year, we have slightly slowed down the hiring pace, but we expect revenue to grow by +11%. This was made possible by a restructuring of the company’s structure: we have reduced the number of technical support specialists, and the number of development specialists has slightly increased.

«The main barriers are the lack of specialists, issues of AI ethics and cybersecurity»

Over the past year, the share of specialists working in product companies and startups increased by 4,2%, which indicates a growing culture of entrepreneurship. It is also worth noting that 2024 showed remarkable resilience and adaptability of such businesses. The need to keep up with the times and the extremely rapid development of AI made its own adjustments to product directions and company vectors. This did not bypass the projects we are working on at Futurra Group.

«Despite some adaptation to the realities of war, stress remains a part of our lives»

«We are still looking for the 'formula' for explosive growth»

«Planning in such conditions becomes a big challenge»

On the other hand, companies that have found effective use of artificial intelligence in their businesses are demonstrating significant growth and increasing demand for AI services. At MOCG, we are actively developing our technologies and deep expertise in AI, approaching this area more and more strategically to provide our clients with innovative solutions that contribute to the development of their businesses.

On a local level, the situation in Ukraine, where most of our team is located, remains unstable. The ongoing war, power outages, mobilization changes in legislation — all this affects people, businesses. Planning in such conditions becomes a big challenge.

To maintain stability, we, of course, have our own Business Continuity Plan, which helps us respond quickly to any problems, ensure continuous access to important resources, and maintain the stable operation of the team and our services for customers.

No matter how difficult it is, together we find strength, inspiration and motivation to achieve new goals. In our team, we support each other at all stages — from completing tasks for clients to participating in social initiatives. This unity allows us not only to achieve high results, but also to create a significant impact in all areas of our work.

What awaits Ukrainian IT in 2025

«Ukrainian companies have a good chance to occupy their niche in GenerativeAI, Data Analytics, cybersecurity, cloud solutions

Forecasts for the development of Ukrainian IT in 2025 will largely be determined by the course of military operations. If the active phase of the war continues, the conditions for doing business will remain difficult. The outflow of talents abroad will continue, attracting new customers will be a difficult task due to several factors. First of all, these are the issues of military risks, as well as competition for pricing with global hubs such as India.

Despite all the difficulties and challenges that currently exist in the country, we have quite ambitious goals for 2025. The base scenario for the Ukrainian EPAM team is to stop the decline in the number of billable positions, continue to attract new clients, stabilize revenues at the 2024 level, and attract at least 800 junior specialists over the next year.

At the same time, there are reasons to hope for a continued gradual improvement in the global macroeconomic situation. The US elections are over, and business and Wall Street in general have taken the results quite positively. Central banks of key Western countries continue their policy of lowering interest rates, which will stimulate investments in business development and expanding budgets for digital transformation. If these trends continue, this will certainly have a positive impact on both the IT industry in general and the Ukrainian IT industry in particular. It is also worth noting the growth in demand on the global market for certain technologies and areas, such as GenerativeAI, Data Analytics, cybersecurity, and cloud solutions. Ukrainian companies have a good chance of occupying their niche in these areas.

«Ukrainian IT will definitely exist. The world needs innovations and new services, and our engineers are talentedly filling this need.»

Ukrainian IT will definitely exist. The world needs innovations and new services, and our engineers are talentedly filling this need. Ukrainian IT will remain an important component of the economy in 2025. Digitalization and the introduction of innovative technologies will not stop — these trends, on the contrary, will gain momentum. However, due to the war, the latest technologies may be absorbed more slowly by our professional community, which creates the risk of lagging behind global competitors.

The main threats include:

• Loss of talented specialists. Due to prolonged migration, many Ukrainian IT specialists are beginning to adapt to the markets of other countries, and Ukraine is gradually losing these professionals.
• Difficulties in attracting young staff. Due to the education crisis,
• caused by the war, the number of students in higher education institutions is decreasing, which affects
• to replenish the industry with young specialists.
• Automation. The increasing adoption of AI and automation could reduce the amount of work for beginners.

Despite this, Ukrainian IT remains a competitive industry. The strongest companies that can cope with all the challenges in Ukraine will provide jobs and create conditions for the return of specialists after the war.

Also, one of the inevitable and obvious trends that I want to highlight is the reintegration of veterans. This is both our duty to the people who protected us and a great potential for business. At Capgemini Engineering, we finalized our internal reintegration program this year, which involves the gradual return of veterans to work. With vacation, training programs and guaranteed remuneration for the reintegration period. This will allow colleagues to recover and return to work in a calm atmosphere.

«There are positive signals, but this is not enough for customers and orders to start returning to Ukraine quickly»

In a world where stability is becoming an illusion, it is not easy to make predictions. But we must look at the situation soberly and operate with facts and indicators. This year, exports of IT services from Ukraine decreased by almost 5%. It is obvious that a full-scale war lasting almost three years, constant security risks, regular damage to energy infrastructure and mobilization affect the attitude of foreign companies
to cooperate with IT in Ukraine and force them to be quite balanced in making decisions.

On the one hand, there are positive signals: both talk of peace negotiations and changes already implemented — the US has lowered the level of danger in 9 regions of Ukraine for travelers. But this is not enough for customers and orders to start returning to Ukraine quickly.

Therefore, we expect that next year export volumes will decrease slightly. Maintaining current indicators will require extraordinary efforts from both the state and the industry, which is difficult to ensure in the current conditions. The issues of booking for critical personnel, as well as the stability of business operating conditions, remain fundamentally important.

«2025 will be like 2024»

In my opinion, 2025 will be similar to 2024. I do not expect a quick victory on the front, nor the achievement of a sustainable ceasefire. The challenges both inside and outside the country will remain the same. However, we continue to support the defenders as best we can and continue to work.

«The opportunities for Ukrainian IT in 2025 are huge»

2025 will be the year of AI maturity. Businesses will invest more in training teams and developing their own AI-based solutions, which will reduce dependence on external suppliers. However, competitiveness will depend on how quickly companies adapt new technologies and can offer not just products, but solutions with high added value. As in the past year, we can expect the demand for data science, ML and DevOps specialists to only grow.

Given all of the above, I would highlight the following trends for product teams in 2025:

• AI as part of every product: personalization and automation will reach a new level. Solutions that once seemed expensive and inaccessible will become the standard.
• Increasing competition in the global market: Ukrainian companies will strive to consolidate their positions.
• The development of remote work and decentralized teams: flexible working conditions will become the standard, requiring new approaches to management and communication.
• Increased attention to cybersecurity: With the growth of digitalization and the use of cloud technologies, the issue of data protection will become even more relevant.

Finally, I would like to add that the opportunities for Ukrainian IT in 2025 are huge. But only those companies that are able to adapt to changes and implement new technologies, bringing real results and increasing market share, will be successful.

«The market is gradually recovering, but long-term challenges remain»

In 2025, Ukrainian IT will remain in a state of adaptation to difficult conditions. We expect that the next year will not be easier than 2024, there are certain positive signals. For example, the entry into the Ukrainian market of Endeavor, a reputable international community of technology entrepreneurs. This indicates growing trust in our industry.

The market is gradually recovering, but long-term challenges remain. The biggest of them is the outflow of talent abroad. Every year, the war increases the number of specialists who choose to emigrate, which exacerbates the shortage of qualified personnel.

In 2025, Genesis will continue to scale ecosystem businesses, launch new projects, create jobs, and invest in the development and strengthening of Ukraine.

«I remain a cautious optimist, as I see how much energy and ideas there are in Ukrainian IT, and how companies are investing in training a new generation of specialists.»

We are celebrating the New Year under the same sign of uncertainty as the last one. What will happen to the global economy, politics and security situation, no one can say now. But the good news is that for Ukrainian IT, life in conditions of uncertainty and high risks is nothing new. We have learned to adapt and remain resilient despite everything. We continue to work for economic stability and preservation of the potential of the Ukrainian tech industry.

It is obvious that next year we will see further development of MilTech/DefenseTech and related solutions, as well as further growth of product IT in general. For example, in the top 10 companies by the number of vacancies this year there are only three service ones. In addition, as I said last year, AI has not taken away jobs from engineers, but has indeed led to a rethinking of tasks and roles in tech companies. This process will continue with the further development of artificial intelligence and will worsen the labor market situation for «coders» — programmers who are not ready to develop related expertise, pump product and engineering thinking.

The development of events in 2025 can be divided into three classic scenarios. According to the optimistic one, we will see a quick cessation of hostilities, investments in rebuilding the economy, the restoration of IT exports and its qualitative leap. Realistic one — the continuation of the current situation in one form or another, which will block the growth of the tech industry and further erode the talent market in Ukraine. Pessimistic — and unlikely — everyone can imagine it. Like a year ago, I remain a cautious optimist, because I see how much energy and ideas there are in Ukrainian IT, and how companies (and Railsware, in particular) are investing in training a new generation of specialists.

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