At JATAPP, we have many strong women leaders — those who make tough decisions every day, build teams, launch new directions, and keep the company moving forward.
Mar 27, 2026
For the International Women’s Day, we decided to start a series of conversations with three of them:
Ivanna Horobets, CMO
Zoia Stetsenko, Head of AI Department
Olha Zahurska, Head of Delivery
They are not the only women leaders at JATAPP, and definitely not the last ones we’ll talk to. But we’re starting with them as the people currently shaping the company’s marketing, delivery, and AI directions.
We spoke with them about their journeys, challenges, doubts, and what truly helps them move forward. About the courage to keep driving things — even when it’s scary and when you face stereotypes.
Ivanna Horobets, CMO
How did you start your career, and why did you choose marketing?
My career started in my third year at university with an internship as an investment analyst at UGM. I studied Accounting and Auditing, and I genuinely enjoyed analytical subjects.
Later, I worked in consulting at Deloitte, but writing proposals for clients didn’t feel engaging enough.
Then I moved into an analyst role at the outsourcing IT company Ciklum. At the same time, I was finishing university and applied to Genesis IT School. Spoiler: at that point, I wasn’t planning a major career shift.
But working on a product felt much closer to real impact. I wanted not just to analyze data and models, but to see how my insights turn into decisions that actually change a product.
Back then, my understanding of marketing was purely academic — and honestly, it wasn’t my favorite subject. But during the interview, I was told that digital marketing is very different from classical marketing, and that 70% of the work would be analytics. That convinced me — and I’m really glad I took that risk.
What were the main challenges on your path?
A not-so-obvious insight: frequent promotions almost always come with discomfort.
That discomfort shaped me professionally. With every new level, not only responsibilities change — your way of thinking has to change too. It takes time and discipline to avoid falling back into familiar routines and instead consciously grow into a new role.
Every next level comes with one question: what value do I create now? And the answer is no longer about the number of hours spent at a computer or the years you’ve been in a company. Career growth is measured by impact.
What helps you move forward?
The world creates thousands of new apps and digital products every day, and this market is one of the fastest-growing. It’s incredibly meaningful to be part of it.
In our industry, speed of adaptation is not just a skill — it’s a competitive advantage. That’s why the ability to quickly test hypotheses and make data-driven decisions matters so much.
I’m also inspired by the environment — we’re surrounded by incredibly talented and impactful people. Even their small wins feel like inspiration, not competition.
That’s why knowledge sharing between teams is a must. Seeing how others solve similar problems speeds things up and helps avoid mistakes.
What truly energizes you and helps you recharge outside of work?
Nature, definitely. I love exploring new places or just going outside Kyiv or to my hometown to walk in the fields and forests. Even short walks help me reset.
Sports. In addition to regular strength training and pilates, I want to try everything: dancing, swimming, and start running in the spring. For me, sports are also about community, which is why my workouts are almost always enjoyable.
Routine. Sometimes (especially in winter), just spending the weekend at home, cooking something delicious, and watching series or reading a book is a special kind of pleasure. Though it never lasts long — by Sunday morning I already want to go somewhere.
When we get a notification about any suspicious activity or even a fraudster attempting to hijack the system, we block the system access for them. On top of that, our teams do their own trick with hackers — imitate the access data and let fraudsters acquire it and start following a false trace.
Aside from real-time monitoring, we can provide our clients with a security audit of the app’s code and its infrastructure conducted by a third party to objectively evaluate the information security in the application.
Zoia Stetsenko, Head of AI Department
How did you start your career journey, and why did you choose AI?
My career actually started back in school. From 6th grade, I was already “building businesses” — organizing teams of girls making beaded bracelets or jewelry from polymer clay. I handled distribution, basic accounting, sourcing materials, and profit sharing :)
In my first year of university, I launched one of the early online furniture stores. That’s where I got into SEO, promotion, and internet marketing. A few years later, I was working at a large marketing agency, helping launch international brands like Timberland, Pandora, Kärcher, and digital versions of ELLE and MAXIM in Ukraine.
At some point, I became more interested in building products rather than promoting them. That led me to IT, where I spent five years at Corel working on CorelDRAW and Gravit. That’s where I first encountered AI as part of a product — and realized how transformative it could be.
This is how I started working on building internal optimization products and my own startups. With this background, I joined JATAPP.
AI became a natural continuation of my journey: scaling ideas, speeding up decision-making, and building systems that improve product quality and save resources.
What challenges did you face?
The main one — constantly stepping into higher levels of uncertainty.
As you move forward, you leave behind clear instructions and known paths. You have to make decisions without full information, take responsibility, and build processes where none exist yet.
The challenge is not just to move forward, but to adapt to that new level with resilience.
What helps you move forward?
Understanding that speed of thinking and decision-making defines who creates the future.
Today, the winners are not those who know more — but those who test faster, learn faster, and act faster.
When you accept this, you stop chasing perfection and start moving quickly from idea to experiment. Also, the scale of changes around us — AI, new technologies — pushes you to constantly rethink your approach.
What truly energizes you and helps you recharge outside of work?
My son. He often says we are a team — and that gives me incredible strength.
We share interests, humor, and how we like to spend time. Being around him is both grounding and energizing.
Olha Zahurska, Head of Delivery
How did your career start?
I didn’t consciously choose project management — it chose me.
At the end of university, I worked in marketing but felt it wasn’t the right path. Then I got an unexpected offer to join a small web studio as a project manager intern. I didn’t even know what project management was.
I called my cousin in IT, asked what it meant — and decided to try.
12 years later, I can confidently say it was the right decision.
What challenges did you face?
At different stages, there were different challenges. In the early years, it was imposter syndrome — the feeling that I didn’t really understand what I was doing and the fear that I’d be exposed at any moment.
Later — implementing large changes. They push teams out of their comfort zone, which brings resistance and criticism. I had to learn not just to make tough decisions, but to withstand that resistance.
What helps you move forward?
Trust and support from my team and the company.
The ability to make decisions quickly and implement changes.
And a strong sense of impact — seeing how my work drives real results.
What recharges you?
Music. I play piano and sing — it’s the opposite of my structured, demanding work. There are no metrics or deadlines there — and that’s what helps me reset and regain energy.
