Q&A: Parimatch's CEO on moulding the next generation of tech experts

Following the launch of its latest social and educational drive – the Tech Academy – Parimatch CEO Sergey Portnov explains to EGR Technology why engaging university students in Eastern Europe is of paramount importance for the sustainability of the industry.

The programme sees students embark on six-month internships where they get to grips with the inner mechanisms of an igaming operator, working on real Parimatch projects with tangible results for the company.

Students will study programming across Net + DevOps, JavaScript, native Android or native iOS and will be overseen by senior Parimatch leaders who will implement similar teaching methods used by the Israeli Defense Forces.

Portnov details where the idea for the project came from, the growing interest coming from students across Ukraine and his hopes for the Academy moving forward.

EGR Technology: Why did you decide to launch the Tech Academy?

Sergey Portnov (SP): The Academy is a project that brings together business goals and a company’s social mission.

From the business benefits point of view, we prepare teams of charged, competent employees who know how to write code and are also interested in the company’s life, accept our values and are already familiar with the processes inside. A graduate who has received an offer to work does not need time – he is already ready to solve business tasks.

The social mission of the Academy is to train qualified personnel for the growing IT market of the country. The Academy helps talented people gain experience in a large company and closes the gap between experienced co-workers and juniors. Even those graduates who do not get an offer from Parimatch can quickly get a job in another company. And all of this is free.

EGR Technology: How much interest has there been in the programme since it was unveiled?

SP: In Ukraine, the number of IT specialists is growing every year and the number of those wishing to get an IT education. In 2020 alone, the number of applicants seeking to enrol in IT specialties at Ukrainian universities reached a record 138,000, which is 20% more than in 2018. Simultaneously, there are not enough qualified juniors on the market, so we fixed this.

On this wave, the Academy created a great resonance: in just a week and a half of open recruitment, we received 2,150 applications and hundreds of more applications from above, which did not have time to submit on time.

Although the enrolment is still closed, we continue to receive applications and questions about when the next course will start.

EGR Technology: Are there plans to expand the Tech Academy away from only coding and programming into other verticals?

SP: Potential applicants continue to contact us so we collect data and think over options for how else we can help. There are already sketches of courses for non-technical specialties but, so far, these are only plans.

The number of students directly depends on teachers’ capabilities who combine teaching and work, and the number of open vacancies for our areas.

EGR Technology: Can you explain in more detail about the use of the Israeli teaching methods?

SP: The core of the programme is an Israeli approach, Telem, which is widely used in MAMRAM, Israel Defense Forces’ Central Computing System Unit. The chosen approach was exclusively adapted by DAN.IT Education, Parimatch Tech methodology partner and is focused on implementing practical cases and imparting mentorship.

With a ratio of 70% of practice tasks and 30% of theory, the student is immersed in the topic and focuses not on general theoretical knowledge but specific business problems. With the help of a mentor, the student understands the issue at the technical level and the level of business solutions.

We merge all the covered material in homework, which, as a result, is collected in a single project. The final projects of the course are examples of actual problems that the company’s specialists face.

A feature of the mentoring approach is developing corrective and supportive feedback. Supportive feedback praises the student for success, corrective feedback quickly corrects and works through mistakes while developing motivates for future independent development.

EGR Technology: What is the significance of using senior Parimatch figures such as Oleksandr Feshchenko to directly engage with the students?

SP: It is also a continuation of the Israeli approach. Using senior figures helps to motivate employees with personal examples from top management and builds trust. Students especially like pumping soft skills from our CCO Daria Isakova, chief HR officer Tatyana Davydova, head of engineering Artur Ashirov, and other top managers. All this perfectly conveys the spirit of the company and helps to feel the atmosphere.

EGR Technology: Do you think other operators/suppliers in the igaming industry should introduce similar programmes?

SP: Not every company can launch an academy. It was the level of Parimatch’s internal expertise that made it possible to organise the educational process and write all the educational material through the employees’ efforts.

It’s time for the gambling industry to pay back technical debt and projects like Tech Academy will help speed up this process.

EGR Technology: Do you think educational programmes will help support the wider growth of the igaming industry or do you think these newly trained experts could venture into other sectors?

SP: Our Academy’s approach gives students knowledge and experience and support, motivation to develop themselves and the industry. The Academy develops software skills, forms a worldview and instils values. Therefore, an increase in qualified and diversified specialists will give an impetus to the industry.

Whether graduates will remain in the igaming industry is already the company’s task. If your corporate culture is lame, people will leave you. At Parimatch, people are the most important asset, so we cultivate specialists, motivate and support them, and create comfortable working conditions. Therefore, people stay, help to improve the company and the whole industry.

EGR Technology: What are your hopes and expectations for the Tech Academy over the next 12-24 months?

SP: We are already adding new courses for the next programme starting in May. As with new programmes, student numbers will depend on referral requests for new staff and faculty capacity.

So far, there are plans for regular enrolments for 100 people every six months, so if you want to enter the IT market, check out our updates.