Axon’s 10-Year Milestone: Highlights from a Decade of Growth

As Axon turns 10, we’re celebrating by talking with some professionals who have been key to our journey. In this special interview, we’ll hear Axon’s stories, insights gained over the years, and some exciting company updates to look forward to!

Axon Growth

Congratulations on the company's 10th anniversary! Would you share how Axon started and how the company has evolved over time?

Yuriy Kravchenko, CEO:

It’s been an exciting journey over the last 10 years. From day one, Axon had its sights set on the global stage. Our story began in the U.S, where Java enthusiasts came together to bring tangible, bold solutions to life. While our early focus was on the back-end, we quickly evolved into a full-cycle software engineering company, driven by the growing needs of our clients.

As our projects grew bigger, we realized we needed a strong project management team. So we built one, and today, it’s one of the best out there. We’ve nailed our skills, orchestrating the most complex products and staying true to our passion for development.

We started with a passion for software development, and that passion has driven us to grow and succeed.

How have our core technologies transformed throughout these 10 years?

Viacheslav Knysh, Head of Engineering:

In the beginning, our focus was on JVM-based projects, utilizing Java, Scala, and Kotlin for the backend, paired with React on the frontend while embracing native development for mobile applications.

As market demands changed, we expanded our expertise to include a variety of technologies to stay aligned with industry trends. TypeScript became essential for our frontend development, gradually replacing JavaScript as our primary language. Our mobile development evolved from native to multiplatform frameworks, leading us to master React Native and adopt Flutter for better cross-platform experiences.

In recent years, the Node.js ecosystem emerged as a powerful player in backend development, and we responded by embracing this platform, which led to the creation of a dedicated Node.js chapter within our organization. Throughout this evolution, we continued to deliver projects using Go, Python, C#, and Ruby on the backend, maintaining a diverse technological toolkit.

It's also worth highlighting the growth of our UI/UX team, whose expanded expertise prompted the creation of a dedicated chapter, allowing us to consolidate and deepen our domain knowledge in design and user experience.

From the HR perspective, how has the evolution of the company shaped its culture?

Valeria Zakorko, HR Manager:

Since Axon started with a small group of friends and like-minded individuals, we focused on building an open and personalized approach to communication and company policies. As we grew, we made sure to keep that approach while scaling the business.

One of our key values is having no power distance, meaning everyone can communicate and give feedback freely, no matter their position. This has stayed important as we’ve grown.

We also value personal responsibility and getting results. This attitude has helped us work remotely for the past five years, even though we’re spread out across different places.

This commitment to accountability and performance has also fostered an environment where talent can grow and advance. As a result, 75% of our engineering team is now at the middle and senior level.

What were some of the toughest challenges the company faced, and how did you overcome them?

Yuriy Kravchenko, CEO:
The biggest challenge was assembling the right team and delivering value to clients. To overcome this, we invested heavily in recruitment, building, training, and retraining our teams. When our engineers are in between the projects they are always involved in R&D, exploring new technologies, and developing internal solutions.

Valeria Zakorko, HR Manager:

25% of our employees have been with us for over 5 years, and 40% have been here for more than 3 years.

We focused on constant R&D and team development, never letting talent go idle.

Victories and Success

What are some of the company’s biggest achievements over the last 10 years?

Yuriy Kravchenko, CEO:
One major achievement is expanding our geographical presence. We started with clients in the US and a few European countries like the UK, Norway, and Italy. Now, we cover all of Europe, Australia, and Japan. It’s a significant milestone in increasing our global footprint.

Additionally, over the past decade, we've consistently raised the level of engineering within the company, enabling us to tackle highly complex solutions. This includes large-scale systems integration, advanced data processing platforms, and tailor-made software solutions for a wide range of industries.

Our pre-engineered frameworks and components allow us to accelerate delivery for our clients and provide robust, reliable products. These solutions are the result of 10 years of refining best practices and building reusable assets.

Our experience has also allowed us to excel in project orchestration, handling multiple interconnected projects with precision and agility. We've become skilled at delivering comprehensive solutions while keeping projects on track and aligned with business goals.

Are there specific employee engagement programs or traditions that have shaped the workplace culture?

Valeria Zakorko, HR Manager:

Yes, we have several programs I’d like to highlight:

• Professional rotations: This lets employees switch roles and learn new skills within the company. For example, non-engineering staff might move into QA, design, or business analysis roles, while engineers might switch between Java and Node. This helps us keep our employees longer, with an average stay of about 3.5 years.
• Axon podcast and internal education: These initiatives encourage sharing knowledge and promote continuous learning among our team.
• Culture exchange: This project helps employees learn about and appreciate the traditions and cultures of their colleagues from different countries.
• Achievements program: We support both professional and personal development. Employees are recognized not just for their work, but also for their social contributions, like donating blood or joining sports events.

Get inspired by our CEO’s column about the role of mentoring in Axon!

Could you share any notable customer success stories?

Dmytro Nalyvaiko, Business Development Manager:

Absolutely! We have many success stories due to significant geographical expansion. I’m pleased to highlight our success in expanding into the Norwegian market over the past six years.

We’ve built a strong partnership with our Norwegian clients. For instance, we worked with the Izy app, which focuses on facility services for business centers. When they approached us, they were ready for rapid growth. We provided an architectural analysis and a scalable solution, enabling tenant employees to order various services through a web platform and mobile apps.

Another success story is with Fazile, a client for over four years, for whom we developed a cutting-edge property management system from the ground up that has greatly enhanced their presence in the Norwegian real estate market.

Lastly, we collaborated with Propely to improve their user experience and interface while integrating third-party PropTech solutions into their property management tool.

Also, Axon is part of professional communities in different regions and actively contributes to tech conferences, webinars, and networking events. This involvement helps us stay current with industry trends, share knowledge, and build valuable connections.

What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned during your years working with Axon, and how have they shaped your approach to business development?

Dmytro Chepurnoi, Business Development Manager:

During my 7 years at Axon, I’ve learned key lessons that have transformed my approach:

• Relationships over transactions: Building long-term partnerships by understanding client needs, which has led to strong client loyalty and ongoing referrals.
• Adaptability: Staying flexible in a fast-paced tech environment has helped me spot new opportunities and keep Axon ahead of the curve.
• Collaboration: Working closely with technical teams ensures we deliver practical, impactful solutions that meet client expectations.
• Clear communication: Transparent communication is crucial for managing expectations and ensuring smooth project execution.

These insights have helped me focus on creating value, fostering collaboration, and ensuring success for both clients and Axon.

What makes clients love working with Axon?

Yuriy Kravchenko, CEO:
Our values, like transparency and craftsmanship, aren’t just words to us; they guide everything we do. Clients appreciate our transparency - everything is clear in our documentation, tracking systems, and invoicing. They know exactly what they’re paying for.

We also value integrity and strive for engineering excellence. Our standards are high, and clients see that in every project. Lastly, we have strong collaboration. We work closely with clients to ensure long-term success.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from working with different clients?

Polina Kuchmarenko, Head of Project Management Office:

Working with different clients has taught me that every project is unique. Even with a solid methodology, you need to adjust your approach to fit each client’s specific needs. Every client brings their own challenges, goals, and nuances that require a fresh perspective.

My experience with numerous exceptional companies has reinforced my belief that flexibility and active listening help deliver better results. This approach leads to stronger, more effective partnerships.

Moreover, our adaptability allows us to respond effectively to unexpected changes or obstacles during the project lifecycle. It also encourages continuous feedback, ensuring that our work remains aligned with client expectations.

Clients appreciate our transparency, craftsmanship, and close collaboration.

Vision and Plans

How would you describe the company's vision now compared to when it all started?

Yuriy Kravchenko, CEO:
Our mission has always been to provide high-quality software to clients by ensuring that their project runs smoothly with predictable costs and delivery time.

Axon’s vision today is not just about providing quality service. Over time, we’ve realized our clients expect more from us: they want consulting, guidance, and strategic advice on how to grow their solutions.

Our main task as a technical partner now is ensuring that the solutions we develop are faster and more cost-effective by reducing time-to-market.

We're shifting from just providing a service to offering consulting and ready-to-implement solutions.

Tell us about Axon’s products and how they make clients’ solutions more time-efficient.

Viacheslav Knysh, Head of Engineering:

Our ready-to-implement products drastically increased our productivity and efficiency for our clients. Here are some key solutions:

- Libraria is a Translation Management Tool. Libraria allows teams to easily collaborate on translations, import/export them in any format, and synchronize via Git or CLI. The integrated ChatGPT assistant enhances translation quality by offering valuable suggestions. With Libraria, our teams have made a significant leap forward in managing localizations.

- Identity and Access Management Tool. This instrument provides a robust authentication and authorization server out of the box, ensuring top-notch security and simplifying user access management. Key features include MFA, social login, GDPR compliance, identity management, and administrative controls.

- Subscription and Billing Management Tool. This billing solution simplifies the complexity of billing operations, subscriptions management, and customer interactions. It offers a third-party service with its own API, allowing clients to integrate billing directly into their solutions without a web app. Axon also offers comprehensive documentation and an API key to support a smooth integration process.

It seems like consulting has become a big part of Axon strategy. Could you provide more details on that?

Yuriy Kravchenko, CEO:
Yes, we’re moving towards consulting and creating ready-to-implement solutions. Axon’s architects are constantly packaging our decade of experience into documented, pre-built solutions that can be quickly implemented and brought to market. For clients with their own product and team who need a specific solution, we provide the tools they can adapt and deliver efficiently.

Since we mainly work with small and medium-sized businesses, our goal has always been to move fast and help clients make the right technological, architectural, and strategic decisions for the next 5–10 years.

Consulting, advisory, and ready-made solutions—such as architecture evaluations and due diligence—are key to our future.

We’re not chasing numbers. Our priority is to generate meaningful, relevant solutions for our clients and deliver real value.