Oleksii Bardakov, 47 years

My name is Oleksii Bardakov, owner of the group of companies IT Artel, which also includes ToDo and Applic.

I come from a small village in the Kherson region. I graduated from Kherson State Technical University in 2000. In 2003, I moved to Kyiv and founded my first company, It Artel, that same year.

Over 22 years, I grew a family business with 5 employees into an Odoo Gold Partner in Ukraine and built a team of 65+ employees. I worked as a developer, analyst, and project manager, and founded three IT companies in different fields.

When the war began, I nearly lost my business. I rebuilt everything from scratch, launched a new business area, restarted sales from scratch, and reached number 2 in the country by the number of Odoo implementations.

My formula is this: people are what make the difference. Employees are not resources but individuals, and each person needs an individual approach to help them fully realize their potential. Clients are our partners, and we must provide services that exceed their expectations.

We don't just implement projects for clients; we grow together with them, complementing and strengthening one another. My portfolio includes more than 900 completed automation projects and clients I have worked with for over 20 years, as well as projects for Toyota, Honda, Nissan, DTEK, and Metinvest. Our focus is on implementing artificial intelligence across all the processes of our company and our clients' companies, because artificial intelligence is changing the world.

How did you come up with the business idea?

The business idea came after I worked as a programmer at companies specializing in business automation and recognized the demand for implementing accounting and ERP systems. In 2003, my partners and I decided to establish our own IT company specializing in business automation.

What key skills helped you launch your business?

Professional programming skills and experience implementing accounting systems; experience in comprehensive business process automation; the ability to manage projects independently, from sales and configuration to implementation and client training; a deep understanding of clients' internal processes; persistence.

What were the 3 most difficult challenges you faced in the early years?

Seasonal sales slumps (automation came to a halt in summer, and there was no money for an office or team); no financial reserves and the need to keep the business going without orders; losing the team when partners left to work for other companies, leaving the business effectively in the hands of one person.

Crimea, COVID, and a platform change: four crises in 15 years

What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?

Economic crises in Ukraine (2008–2009) had no significant impact, as automation remained in demand; 2014 (Crimea, war)—loss of offices and team members in Crimea, and a reduction from approximately 60 to 40 people; COVID-19—transition to remote work and restructuring processes for online operations; the full-scale war of 2022—frozen projects, accounts receivable, use of the reserve fund, and a change of technology platform.

Betting on open source and a fast market entry

Which decisions proved most effective in growing the company?

Building a reserve fund; moving to a remote work model; changing the technology platform after 2022; opting for extensive growth: a large team plus deep industry expertise; choosing an open-source ERP system (Odoo) and entering the market quickly.

I realized too late that the business needed professional managers

What mistake do you now consider your most valuable learning experience?

Not understanding business management in the early stages; lack of systematic management; realizing too late the need for professional managers; mistakes in partnerships.

The moment my skills began to earn noticeably more