I’d definitely call myself an entrepreneur. For the past 9 years, I’ve been running my own business, which takes a very specific mindset: always looking toward the next horizon, the next challenge, the next milestone. First and foremost, I identify as an entrepreneur.
At the moment, my life is split between Kyiv, Dubai, and London. I first moved to Dubai at the start of the full-scale war. Before that, I lived and built my own business in Kyiv. When the war began, Dubai was a logical choice: it’s safe, international, and offers strong conditions for business development and building networks.
Over time, it turned into a second home. My friends and I even built a strong community of Ukrainian IT founders there, especially active during the “Dubai season” from October to April, when the whole world gathers in the Emirates. Today, some of our teams remain in Ukraine, others are spread across the globe, and our clients are divided between Ukraine and international markets. Dubai, in that sense, has become both a hub and a home base.
How did you integrate into Dubai’s business community?
Integration was surprisingly seamless. Many Ukrainians had moved to Dubai either before the war or shortly after it began. What immediately stood out to me was the depth of support within the Ukrainian network there. I have lived for short periods in Germany and London, yet I have never encountered such a strong sense of solidarity elsewhere.
The community in Dubai operates almost like an extended family. People gladly help one another – whether forming partnerships, recommending services, or offering practical advice. These relationships often transcend geography; even when someone relocates, their Dubai connections remain strong. It is a unique ecosystem of trust and mutual support that is rare in other parts of the world.
‘Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’ has been especially influential. Its concise, pragmatic approach challenges many traditional assumptions about building and running a business.
The authors advocate for simplicity, focus, and questioning established norms – principles that resonate deeply with my own experience. The book’s emphasis on doing more with less and prioritizing clarity over complexity continues to guide the way I lead teams and structure projects.
First and foremost, peace in Ukraine. I want the war to end with Ukraine’s victory and to see my country emerge as a global leader in artificial intelligence, technology, and digital services. The progress underway is remarkable.
For example, Ukraine is poised to become the world’s eighth country to develop its own large language model – a joint initiative between Kyivstar and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. Ukraine was also the first nation to launch an AI assistant for government services, a project recently announced by Mykhailo Fedorov, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Even amid wartime, the country’s digital services are exceptional.
Internationally recognized companies such as Grammarly and WhatsApp have Ukrainian roots, and the Reface app reached the top of the global App Store in 2020. I hope to see hundreds more world-class technology companies emerge from Ukraine in the years ahead.
On a personal level, achievement brings me the greatest satisfaction – setting ambitious goals, reaching them, and creating opportunities for others. I find real joy in building jobs and enabling people, both in Ukraine and abroad, to grow professionally while advancing technologies that have a meaningful impact.
Data Science UA is my first company and remains the core of my work, even as a few other projects have emerged along the way.
It all began in 2016 with the first data science conference in Kyiv. At that time, AI was far from a mainstream topic in Ukraine. There was no ChatGPT, no global AI hype. I honestly expected only a small group of friends to attend.
Instead, the entire Ukrainian data science community showed up, along with speakers from across Europe. Even the founder of DataRobot flew in from the United States. That conference proved to be the turning point.
From there, we launched the first AI courses in Kyiv and then created Ukraine’s first recruitment agency dedicated exclusively to AI talent. Later, we added AI consulting services for companies that possessed valuable data but lacked the expertise to leverage it.
9 years later, we are working with clients worldwide and continuing to expand the reach of our AI solutions.
Data Science UA operates across several complementary lines of service:
In short, we are a service company with more than 9 years of focused AI expertise. Unlike companies that entered the field only after the release of ChatGPT, we have spent nearly a decade refining our methods and avoiding the common pitfalls of AI adoption.
On average, our clients experience a 20% increase in efficiency or revenue after implementing AI solutions. In some cases, the improvement reaches 40–45%. Though even a 20% gain can translate into hundreds of thousands or, for larger enterprises, millions of dollars in additional value.
Data Science UA employs about 80 full-time mature AI engineers, supported by a broad network of consultants and subject-matter experts who join specific projects if needed.
As for me, 3 pivotal moments have shaped the company’s trajectory:
At first, the sudden lockdowns were alarming. We canceled our annual Data Science UA conference just days before the scheduled kickoff, then moved the entire event online in only 48 hours. What began as a crisis quickly became an accelerant.
Before 2020, building world-class products often meant relocating to California: securing visas, renting expensive housing, and absorbing Bay Area costs. Once location ceased to matter, Ukrainian AI engineers could compete globally from Kyiv, Warsaw, or even Bali.
Companies kept sales and marketing teams in the USA for proximity to customers, but there was no longer any rationale for paying Silicon Valley rates for engineering talent. This shift dramatically expanded our client base and opportunities.
The first months, February through April, were filled with uncertainty about whether we could continue operating at all. Yet by May, international demand surged as global companies sought to support Ukrainian businesses and hire our highly skilled developers. We adapted quickly and doubled our revenue that year.
ChatGPT turned AI from an abstract concept into a tangible, everyday tool. Suddenly, executives everywhere could imagine how AI might transform their operations. Demand for our services, particularly custom large language models and AI consulting, rose sharply.
AI is embedded in nearly every aspect of our day-to-day operations. Everyone in the company relies on tools such as ChatGPT, Cursor, and other even more advanced systems.
We automate everything that can reasonably be automated. Each department runs on well-configured CRM platforms that handle task tracking, reminders, and key workflows, all supported by our in-house data science team. These systems allow us to manage a large client base and complex processes without relying solely on memory or manual follow-up.
That said, a services business still requires human connection. Project managers and account managers remain essential for client communication, strategy sessions, and relationship building. AI is a powerful enabler, but not a replacement for the personal interaction our clients expect.
If you’re just starting to think about AI implementation, the first thing to look at is:
AI is not about abandoning people, but about being able to delegate everything that is repetitive to the machine. The faster you start looking at your daily tasks through this lens, the faster you'll see results in both efficiency and ROI.
Dubai’s greatest strength is its network. The city brings together professionals of every nationality and discipline – Ukrainians, Britons, Indians, Pakistanis, and Arab entrepreneurs, among many others. This diversity creates an environment where talented, ambitious people naturally look for ways to collaborate and strengthen one another.
From these connections, partnerships emerge organically. Some become client relationships, others evolve into mentorships, and many grow into long-term business collaborations. A single conversation can lead to a joint project or even the launch of an entirely new project. In that sense, Dubai is less about geography and more about the concentration of opportunities that constant interaction makes possible.
We have fully embraced a remote-first model. Our team is distributed across multiple countries, with no requirement to be in a physical office. At the same time, we make a point of meeting in person several times a year in different cities, and those gatherings are invaluable for strengthening relationships and sparking new ideas.
In many ways, COVID served as training for all businesses. Without those two years of adapting to remote work, it would have been far more difficult to operate during the war. Today, we know we can run the business from anywhere with nothing more than a laptop and a reliable internet connection, and that flexibility has made us more resilient and competitive.
Want to join Business Match and meet Aleksandra?
The application brings together entrepreneurs, founders, and experts who are already transforming markets.
Learn more → Business Match