Yevhen Vavrykiv

I'm the co-founder and CEO of Cortance, overseeing the company's strategy, business growth, major client and partner relations, and the team. My background is hands-on: I started as a lead generation manager and worked my way up to Chief Visionary Officer, building and managing several company departments, processes, and strategies, and picking up most of my leadership skills along the way.

One thing I've learned is that leadership isn't about making every decision yourself. As the company has grown, I've focused on giving people more ownership and trusting them to make decisions in their own areas. I try to set the direction, explain why we're doing something, and then give people the space to figure out how to get there. When we started expanding into international clients, for example, I didn't try to manage every relationship or every business development activity myself. I worked on the overall strategy while the team took responsibility for their part of the process, which helped us move faster and helped people build their own decision-making skills.

"His leadership style perfectly blends mentorship and trust." — Iryna Kozhushko, Engagement Manager at Cortance

The last few years tested that approach even more. Client demand and IT budgets shifted more than once, and we had to adjust our approach each time. In those situations, I try to be transparent with the team about what's actually going on, involve them in finding solutions, and make a call when one is needed rather than wait around for perfect information.

"He stays calm, reads the room, and finds practical, thoughtful paths forward rather than forcing outcomes." — Khrystyna Horodnyk, Partnerships Manager at Pecode

I also try to take responsibility when things don't work, and to build an environment where people can make mistakes, learn from them, and come back with a better approach, rather than being afraid to take initiative.

My interest in IT goes back to childhood. I got into STEP Academy on a subsidised place, studied Computer Science at Lviv Polytechnic, and later did a Master's in AI systems, back when that wasn't mainstream yet. I was in the first group of students on that track. Right now, I'm pursuing a PhD at Pryazovskyi State Technical University, developing AI-based systems for railway transport. I went into IT deliberately and moved through several roles fairly quickly from there. That's been close to ten years now, most of it on the business development side. At some point I had the idea for a company that could take IT outstaffing cooperation to a different level: faster, smoother, more transparent, and more standardised than what was already out there. Together with Alex Korniienko, I built and launched Cortance in 2023, a marketplace that provides startups and product companies with verified software engineers so they can flex their technical capacity as needed, without the direct hiring responsibilities or financial burden that come with it.

Outside of work, I spend a lot of time outdoors. I like getting away into nature, camping by a lake or in the forest, and hiking. Road trips are probably my favourite way to travel, just me, a car, and no fixed plan. I'm also picking up SEO right now, and trying to say yes more often to conferences, panel discussions, and roadshows.

I keep taking courses and learning on my own, not because anyone asks me to, but because it's part of how I stay useful to the people I work with. Lately that's meant digging into sales forecasting, AI-driven processes, and revenue operations. My goal now is to keep developing this approach to leadership as Cortance grows internationally. If you're building something in tech, figuring out how to scale a team without overhiring, or just want to compare notes on running a company through hard conditions, I'm always happy to talk.