Ukrainian IT company SoftServe has announced a change in leadership. Starting October 1, 2026, Andrii Stitsyuk will assume the position of CEO. He has been working at the company for 16 years and previously served as SoftServe's financial and operations director. The company team informed LIGA.net of this decision.
In his new position, Stitsyuk will replace Harry Propper, who has led the company since 2023 and has worked at SoftServe for over 18 years in total. Until the end of the year, Propper will assist the new CEO through the transition process, after which he will retire.
An unexpected choice — actually a logical one
At large IT companies, CEO changes are often accompanied by recruiting external candidates — a "fresh perspective" from the market. SoftServe chose a different path: the new leader has been developing within the company for 16 years, knows its financial model from the inside, and has already participated in key M&A deals. This decision is more about stability and predictability than a sharp change of course.
The company noted that Stitsyuk participated in strategy development, operational model evolution, and M&A transactions. The board of directors also highlighted his experience in business transformation and client relations — the very competencies needed not to launch new ventures, but to maintain and scale existing ones.
The appointment of a financial director to the CEO position is a market signal that the company is betting on disciplined growth rather than risky experiments.
What this means for the labor market
Following the leadership change, SoftServe plans to continue developing directions related to artificial intelligence, agent engineering, cloud technologies, and data. The company also intends to expand partnerships and invest in new technologies. For thousands of Ukrainian developers who work at SoftServe or consider it as an employer, this means one thing: the course toward AI transformation will not change with the new face at the helm — it is already embedded in the company's operational model.
- Recall that SoftServe plans to hire approximately 100 specialists in the field of robotics.
- And AI-native engineers are becoming the most in-demand in IT.
The question is whether an internal candidate can maintain the pace of transformation as effectively as an external leader with a mandate for radical change — the market will get the answer to this question over the coming year.
