“Military companies today are like Ukrainian IT companies 15 years ago.” 7 questions for the CEO of Frontline Robotics — about the future of war, FPV, the shortage of engineers and more

— What, in your opinion, is the biggest problem facing Ukrainian defense tech right now and what pain is bothering your business the most right now?

One of the biggest problems now is finding good specialists for the team. It has arisen because the industry is growing very rapidly, and a large number of specialists who would like to join the defense tech industry have already joined it. Accordingly, there is a certain personnel shortage.

Finding good specialists for both the administrative part and developers is quite difficult and limited. I would put this in the first place as the biggest problem for the development and scaling of the business and the company’s ability to manufacture and create the number of robotic systems that the Ukrainian Defense Forces need.

— In your opinion, which technology is the most overrated today, and which, on the contrary, is underestimated?

I can definitely say that at some point in time the direction of the guidance technology for FPV drones for ground targets was greatly overestimated. A lot has been said about it, many companies have actually done it coolly and qualitatively. But so far, as I understand it, it has not been widely implemented. However, this technology has found good application in the fight against air targets. Perhaps the time will come for ground targets as well.

Regarding underrated technologies. Of course, this is air defense. Everything is clear here. It is needed both in cities and on the battlefield. Now developers have begun to actively work on it.

Another such technology is the fight against drones, both FPV and small bombers, as well as Lancets, Lightnings, etc.

At the same time, semi-autonomous drones are emerging that will behave less predictably. So this fight will continue continuously and for a long time.

The importance of fighting FPV drones on the battlefield needs to be talked about more at all levels. In my opinion, it is currently under-communicated. Fortunately, there are teams that are working on solutions, and it is working great, but there are still not enough of these companies. But I think that on the battlefield, the most important thing is fighting FPV drones.

— What do you think war will be like in 2-3 years from a technological point of view?

Well, in my opinion, no drastic changes are expected yet. For any drastic changes to occur, something critically new would have to be invented.

Therefore, first of all, I would talk about the robotization of the army. Let’s start with the sky, where, I am sure, semi-autonomous and autonomous solutions will appear. When such means receive their countermeasures, we will move on to the total robotization of the ground domain. Actually, we in the company are actively moving in this direction of a robotic line of defense, where the most dangerous areas will be closed by robots, and people will make decisions.

Who is the hardest person to hire and why? And how do you solve this issue?

Probably the most difficult thing is to hire engineers, everything related to Embedded of various types. This word encompasses many directions. Why are they so important? Because any manufacturing company, if it creates something innovative, needs R&D. To make robots cheaper, more efficient, more autonomous and more friendly to the end user, R&D is needed. We need creative people who create something necessary and extraordinary.

Accordingly, the demand for such people is high, because many companies are engaged in development, and there is great competition for such specialists.

What do we do to find such specialists? First, we create a product necessary for the front. Second, we give interesting, deeply technological tasks. Our products are complex and innovative, as well as high-quality. This is interesting to people.

And thirdly, we understand that not all talents are concentrated in Kyiv. That is why, for example, we are launching a project to relocate specialists. For our part, we are simplifying and covering all the needs and expenses for specialists and their families for moving, so that they have the opportunity to simply start working and create robots with us.

What does civilian IT misunderstand about defense tech?

In my personal opinion, people don’t fully understand the industry as a whole. Part of this is due to military companies not communicating this properly. People don’t really know how R&D in defense is different from R&D in an IT outsourcing company.

First, the dynamics are different in defense. Here, developers are not teams of 100 people, where everyone sits and writes some small part. This is usually teamwork, where you are deeply involved in what you are doing, much deeper than in outsourcing. The reason for this is a small team. The leaders of these teams are 100% people who are very worried about the product and the result. For them, it is not just a project, it is part of life. They breathe and live it.

Therefore, the entire team is very involved, it is impossible to just come and not immerse yourself in the process 100%. And it is not only about development and technicality, but also about emotions. Constant trips to testing and testing grounds, demo days.

On the one hand, your goal is to help the military, and on the other, you understand what the consequences of any shortcomings will be. At the same time, the question of expediency never arises.

What would you like to say to IT professionals who are hesitating whether or not to go defensive?

Over the past five years, defense has essentially become a military IT industry. I’m to the point where the defense industry is radically no different from regular IT. This is the first thing to understand. These are the same medium or large companies, just military-oriented. There are exclusively software companies that deal with software, but much, of course, is related to hardware.

These are the same offices, meetings, sprints, coffee. Everything very much repeats what happens in classic IT companies, because a huge part of military companies are built by people who previously worked in large IT companies. Therefore, this whole culture has migrated and continues to migrate. The developer has already gotten used to a certain format of work, and this format has been preserved.

Second, military companies in Ukraine are now like the classic IT industry of about 15 years ago. There will be a huge boom in this development, companies will become larger, enter foreign markets. There will be significantly higher wages, because companies will have such an opportunity. The industry is developing rapidly, you can come here and have a real impact. If people ever wanted to become leaders, create or try their own product, this is the place.

Of course, there is a part of the work related to everyday life: you have to refine everything, refine it, systematize it, administer it, but all this ultimately leads to a cool product part. There is work for absolutely everyone in the military.

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