“The biggest problem, as well as the biggest opportunity, of the deftech industry is the existence of Russia.” 7 questions for the CEO of HIMERA about technology, the talent shortage, AI and the future of war
Ukrainian defense tech has long been more than just drones. It involves thousands of engineers, dozens of new technologies, and a market that is changing faster than any other Ukrainian IT industry. But what worries manufacturers the most today? What specialists do they lack? Which technologies are overvalued, and which ones can determine the future of war?
In the new dev.ua series, we ask seven identical questions to the heads of Ukrainian defense tech companies to show what Ukrainian miltech really lives for.
The hero of this issue is the co-founder and CEO of HIMERA, Misha Rudominsky.
Ukrainian defense tech has long been more than just drones. It involves thousands of engineers, dozens of new technologies, and a market that is changing faster than any other Ukrainian IT industry. But what worries manufacturers the most today? What specialists do they lack? Which technologies are overvalued, and which ones can determine the future of war?
In the new dev.ua series, we ask seven identical questions to the heads of Ukrainian defense tech companies to show what Ukrainian miltech really lives for.
The hero of this issue is the co-founder and CEO of HIMERA, Misha Rudominsky.
— What is the biggest problem facing Ukrainian defense tech right now? What pain is bothering your business the most?
If we talk about Ukrainian defense tech in general, some of the biggest challenges today remain personnel, bureaucracy, and the need to build many processes virtually from scratch in a very dynamic environment.
For technology companies, the issue of finding and developing specialists in narrowly specialized areas is particularly acute. The demand for such specialists significantly exceeds the supply on the market.
The industry also continues to face bureaucratic barriers and processes that are still being formed along with the development of the market itself. Ukrainian defense tech is growing very quickly, so many mechanisms of interaction between the state, manufacturers, and customers are still in the formation stage.
However, the biggest problem, as well as the biggest opportunity for our industry, is the existence of Russia.
— What technology is most overrated today? And what, on the contrary, is underrated?
If we talk about technology in general, today artificial intelligence can be called both overrated and underestimated.
On the one hand, AI is currently receiving a lot of attention, and is often perceived as a universal solution to any problem. On the other hand, its real potential in many military scenarios is still to be revealed. For us, the main question is not how popular the technology is, but whether it provides real benefits to the user in combat conditions.
If we talk about undervalued technologies, then it is primarily communication.
Despite the rapid development of unmanned systems, sensors, and other technologies, reliable information exchange remains the foundation for the effective operation of the entire system.
The problem is that much of the communications equipment used in the military today is based on civilian technologies that were not designed to operate in the conditions of intensive electronic warfare and modern warfare. That is why the development of specialized communications systems created specifically for the needs of the battlefield remains one of our key tasks.
Who is the most difficult person for you to hire and why? How do you solve this issue?
The most difficult thing for us is to hire experienced hardware and embedded engineers, FPGA and low-level specialists, and RF engineers. The main reason is that there are few such specialists on the market, and some of them already work in defense tech or related industries.
To find such candidates, we actively use networking and recommendations. At the same time, we are not limited to ready-made experts. We are open to switchers and candidates with strong pet projects, a technical base, and high motivation for development.
We also systematically invest in training our own specialists: we hire junior specialists, invest in their training, onboarding, and professional development within the company. This allows us to form strong teams even in a market with a limited number of specialized talents.
What skills are most valuable for a defense tech engineer today?
For defense tech engineers today, knowledge and experience in embedded development, wireless/RF technologies, FPGAs, and low-level Linux are especially valuable. These areas underlie many modern defense technologies and remain among the most in-demand on the market.
At the same time, soft skills and motivation are no less important for us. We value adaptability, willingness to work in conditions of rapid change and changing priorities, the ability to experiment, test new approaches and find non-standard solutions. In defense tech, it is important not only to create technologies, but also to quickly adapt them to the real needs of users.
We also strive to build a team based on professionalism, mutual respect, openness to cooperation, and constructive feedback.
A separate advantage is combat experience and a deep understanding of the military context.
We highly value veterans, their loved ones, and people involved in supporting the Defense Forces or volunteering. Such experience helps us better understand the real challenges of users and create more relevant solutions.
— What do civilian IT professionals most often misunderstand about defense tech?
Most often, civilian IT perceives defense tech as something very far from a regular technology company and associated exclusively with the military sphere. In fact, it is the same work on product, engineering and technology development as in many other companies.
At the same time, defense tech has its own specifics. Here, the technological challenges are often more complex than in typical software products, and the development cycle is much more closely tied to real-world applications. Teams receive constant feedback from end users and can quickly see the results of their work in practice.
Another feature is the tangible impact of the result. In defense tech, the connection between what the team creates and how it helps users accomplish their tasks is often very direct and clear.
— What will war be like in two or three years from a technological point of view?
In two to three years, we will likely see even higher levels of automation and a further reduction in the human presence directly on the battlefield. More and more tasks will be performed by unmanned and robotic systems, and the human role will shift towards management, coordination, and decision-making.
At the same time, the key trend will not be the development of individual platforms, but their integration into unified systems.
The advantage will be given to those who can combine various tools — from sensors and robotic platforms to communication and control systems — into a single information circuit.
Along with this, new challenges will emerge. Every technological advantage sooner or later receives a response from the enemy, so development will be a constant process of adaptation. That is why the future war will not only be a war of robots and autonomous systems, but also a war of the speed of implementation of new technologies and the ability to integrate them into a single effective system.
— What would you like to say to IT professionals who are hesitating whether to switch to defense tech?
Don’t go into defense tech just because it’s a hot topic or trend. In reality, it’s a complex, intensive, and responsible job that often involves high uncertainty, rapid change, and the need to make decisions under tight deadlines.
At the same time, for people who are looking for complex technical challenges, want to work on products with tangible impact, and are ready to take responsibility, it can be a very valuable professional experience.
Today, Ukrainian defense tech has many opportunities for specialists in various fields.
It is important to understand that working in defense tech will never compare to the contribution of people who directly defend the country with weapons in their hands. But we know that the technologies that are created for the Defense Forces help them perform tasks more efficiently and save lives. And being a part of this work is also a great responsibility and an important mission.
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