Will AI destroy Ukrainian outsourcing? EPAM Director on layoffs, AI cheaters, and the end of the prompt era

And the sponsor of our issue is the cloud technology service, Ucloud.

Here is our top topic of the issue.

We’ll talk about why the era of conventional prompt engineering is gradually fading into the past. It is being replaced by “context engineering” — a much deeper approach to managing artificial intelligence. Today, it’s no longer enough to just come up with a clever text query, because agents have appeared.

Now the main skill is to create the right working environment for them. We have to finely configure their access: clearly define what tools or files the agent can use, and what it is strictly forbidden to do. We will talk in detail about how to build these invisible boundaries and set the right context for AI together with Ucloud COO and AI realist Serhiy Kolesnychenko.

AI practice

1. Google has opened new migration tools for Gemini, which allow you to transfer to the service not only the history of communication with other AI assistants, but also the context they have collected about the user.

Essentially, Google is trying to eliminate one of the main reasons why users don't want to change their AI tool: the loss of "memory" of previous experience.

Let's do a test.

2. Google introduced the Gemma 4 line of open models. These are their smartest open models. We are testing a model that we will deploy locally on an iPhone! It will work even without the Internet!

Test! Test! Test!:)

AI Guest

Oleg Tsal-Tsalko, IT director of EPAM Ukraine

We're talking about how artificial intelligence is changing the game in the IT outsourcing market. Will neural networks destroy the service business, or, on the contrary, make it even stronger?

In this issue, we examine the most pressing issues:

Risks and opportunities: Is AI for Ukrainian outsourcing a "black swan" that breaks the old model, or a new powerful growth point?

Behind the scenes at EPAM: What specific AI tools have already become routine in the company? The AI ​​First concept in action, internal policies, and whether management forces employees to use AI.

Secrecy and paranoia: How do customers react? Are clients afraid to let artificial intelligence into their projects and code.

Personnel issue: Will AI provoke a wave of layoffs in Ukrainian IT and is it true that it is now almost impossible for young people to get their first job?

The phenomenon of "vibecoding": What is it really - a real revolution that will allow anyone to enter IT without knowing code, or just another convenient tool to speed up routine?

01:10 Introduction

02:15 AI Topic: What is prompt engineering and how does it differ from "context engineering". We analyze the topic together with Ucloud COO and AI realist Serhiy Kolesnychenko

32:13 AI practice

32:32 A new feature from Gemini. This is a migration tool: you can transfer to the service not only the history of communication with other AI assistants, but also the context they have collected about the user. Cool! We're testing it

00:35:35 Using Gemma 4, we are testing a model that we will deploy locally on the iPhone! It will work even without the Internet!

00:42:10 AI Guest — Oleg Tsal-Tsalko, IT Director of EPAM Ukraine. We talk about how artificial intelligence is changing the game in the IT outsourcing market

00:43:15 How to motivate people to work in a service company, not a product company, in the age of AI

00:46:05 How EPAM encourages employees to use artificial intelligence

00:47:48 What does EPAM do with people who don't want to work with AI?

00:51:00 What AI tools does EPAM use in the work of engineers and does EPAM have its own AI products?

00:56:10 What is the real indicator that AI is beneficial to the company (secret from EPAM)

00:59:38 Does EPAM have clients who fundamentally do not want to use AI?

01:00:49 Are customers demanding lower product costs due to the impact of AI?

00:07:38 A new motivation model for EPAM engineers in the AI ​​era: why you need to work faster

01:09:30 Are AI champions already appearing that work as x2, x3… x10

01:10:38 How do they check during hiring whether a company uses AI?

01:12:22 AI cheating during an interview

01:16:13 What are the two main questions that an IT engineer should have in mind when working?

01:17:00 The role of humans in IT development in the near future. And the role of the AI ​​agent

01:20:15 Will AI cause cuts in EPAM?

01:20:50 Have enterprise companies started developing products in-house more often?