My name is Bogdan Steblyanko, and I’m the CEO of CHI Software. I went through the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer and became the CEO of a big company at the age of 27.
My experience in almost all positions in the company gave me a clear understanding of which processes should be modernized and fundamentally altered. Consequently, since I became CEO of the company, we have been working on these improvements.
With me onboard, in 2019, we opened three development centers in Ukraine and entered the Asian market for the first time. Our traditional working policy was transformed by implementing remote work guidelines. In 2021, our team was listed among the top IT service providers in Clutch rankings, including AI and Machine Learning.
What Is CHI Software?
CHI Software is an international service provider that helps businesses expand and positively change people’s lives by building innovative solutions for web and mobile.
Our company began its operations back in 2006 as a small web studio, providing UI/UX design and front-end development services for the local Ukrainian market.
Over the past 16 years, the company has grown from 10 to over 600 specialists. We are tackling a wide range of development challenges at this point. The industries we cover include retail, FinTech, InsurTech, travel, logistics, and more.
CHI Software is headquartered in the Republic of Cyprus, with offices in Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Japan, and the US.
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Our Products and Expertise
We are not just another landing page creator. Our talented development team is passionate about Cloud Computing, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT. We build complex and unique solutions requiring thorough research and careful preparation, and the final result is always worth the effort.
Apart from outsourcing and outstaffing projects, СHI Software also works on its own products. One of them is the HeadSet Battery application developed by our Android Department.
The app’s core task is to inform users about the charging status of Bluetooth headsets, headphones, and AirPods. As part of periodic updates to this product, the team is enhancing skills with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Bluetooth sockets, and AT commands.
Additionally to the key feature, the app helps users find their Bluetooth devices by identifying the last location where they were connected or disconnected. Due to its convenience and useful features, Headset Battery reached more than 500 thousand downloads on Google Play.
Growth Opportunities for Employees
The number of our employees has exceeded 600 people, but we are keeping the atmosphere of special family comfort in each office. Our team appreciates this special trait of CHI Software and tries to contribute to the common well-being in their own way.
CHI Software is a mix of these five components: high standards of professionalism in every department, minimal bureaucracy, maximum loyalty, opportunities for development, and flexibility in daily operations.
People are our number one priority. We have plenty of opportunities for our workers to track their professional growth and detect knowledge gaps. We also have several educational programs:
- Solution Architect Education: Every software engineer in the company has a chance to grow up from Intern to Solution Architect. We have a special education program, which helps to up-skill the technical knowledge and provides an opportunity for career growth for the specialists.
- Public Speaking Program: Our developers have the possibility to be a speaker at technical conferences, write an article or become a lecturer in one of the courses at CHI IT Academy.
- CHI Internship Global Project: Our Internship covers JS (React, Angular), Flutter, iOS, C++, AQA, Java, Data Science, Go, and Python. These educational programs simulate real teamwork on a modeled technical project. This way, we help beginners become IT professionals and, at the same time, help middle+ specialists gain mentoring experience.
Some of our interns have already become senior experts, and we’re very proud of their success. People who have stayed in CHI Software for years are the best indicator that we’re doing the right thing.
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Challenges of Being a CEO
I would be lying if I name our journey an easy walk. But I loved every second of it. Of course, I feel great responsibility for the whole company, and it’s challenging. Still, I’m not alone in this. My team accompanies me, and I’m grateful to all my colleagues for uniting to overcome every obstacle.
What am I talking about?
First, it was the COVID-19 pandemic. People worldwide, including the CHI Software team, were utterly shocked by it. We had to consider employees’ safety, adapt our processes fast, and be flexible, just like the global business community. As a result, we transformed our traditional office working policies into remote work guidelines.
While following through on our goals, we shifted our focus from out staffing to outsourcing. And here, as soon as everyone just started recovering from pandemic restrictions, Russia invaded Ukraine on a full scale.
Since February 24, the CHI Software board has done everything possible (and sometimes impossible) to stabilize current workflows and help every employee to relocate and find a secure workplace. We have adapted our business process to new conditions.
- Opened a new office near the Polish-Ukrainian border in Lviv and also opened a new office in Poland.
- Over 90% of our employees have already successfully migrated to safer Ukrainian regions or abroad.
- We have adapted our infrastructure to the realities of wartime. The critical systems in our offices are installed in the “cloud,” a diversified network of Internet providers, in particular, due to the global satellite system “Starlink”, the premises are equipped with generators intended for backup power supply. The offices are equipped with all necessities to maintain uninterrupted and productive work of teams.
- We created coordination centers: CHI Software Ukrainian Relocation Office and CHI Software European Relocation Office. These structures help to answer legal and financial questions and solve them. Coordination centers assist those who stayed in Ukraine and left the country because of the war.
- Of course, we support many volunteering activities, donations, and fundraising events. As an in-house initiative, CHI Software developers, designers, and marketers united to create a mobile app, Be with UA, to promote the Ukrainian language and to support our Armed Forces.
The Future Is Here
We are living in an era when technology is developing at breakneck speed. A time when tech companies must keep up with trends, adopt emerging technologies, and lead innovation. I believe that the key to successful company growth is open, flexible management and a cohesive team.
I’m lucky to have a very close-knit team, and the difficult time only confirmed this. As for management flexibility, we maintained cooperation with our clients and proved our professionalism by quickly adapting to changes and continuing to work on projects at a pre-war pace.
The Ukrainian IT industry is one of the driving forces of national exports. So, regardless of the war reality, CHI Software never stopped growing. This year we became the first Ukrainian company to open a representative office in the Japanese city of Kobe. We are confident that we will be able to apply our technological experience to solve the problems of Japanese businesses, just as we do for the US and European companies.
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We are a team of specialists who bravely face challenges and are eager to provide innovative solutions, no matter what. Glad we stand strong and take an active part in building our country’s glorious future.