On April 21, 2026, at 13:00, an open экскурsion and a series of lectures for IT students of Kyiv National Economic University and the Professional College of Information Systems and Technologies of Vadym Hetman KNEU took place at the main office of the company Itera.

The event was organized within the framework of cooperation between the Department of Computer Science of the university and the company Itera, which is one of the leaders in the field of IT outsourcing services. It is worth noting that this meeting became the third within the joint educational and practical initiative between the university and the company. This format of cooperation allows students to systematically get acquainted with the realities of the IT industry, gain practical knowledge, and directly communicate with industry professionals.

Students of the 2nd–4th years of the educational and professional program “Computer Science,” as well as master’s students of the programs “Artificial Intelligence Systems” and “Information Control Systems and Technologies,” took part in the lecture part of the meeting. Students of the college studying in the field of “Software Development” also joined the event.

Among those present were the Head of the Department of Computer Science Bohdan Oleksandrovych Tishkov and his deputy Yurii Mykolaiovych Lozovyk.

The first lecture was delivered by Artem Viligura – a senior-level manager with more than 15 years of experience in the IT business. During his speech, he revealed the specifics of sales in the IT field, emphasizing that this industry is extremely diverse both in terms of product types and approaches to market entry.

The lecturer noted that the IT industry covers various areas: product companies, outsourcing, GameDev, web and mobile development, system integration, telecom, and embedded solutions. Each of these areas has its own specifics of sales, target audience, and business models, which directly affects the strategy of working with clients. Special attention was paid to the types of sales: B2C, B2B, and B2G. Artem explained the difference between them and gave examples, emphasizing that in IT the B2B segment most often dominates, where long-term relationships, trust, and expertise play a key role.

The lecturer examined in detail what is necessary for success in IT sales. Among the key components, he highlighted the roles of KAM (Key Account Manager), commercial function, pre-sale and delivery teams, technical experts, and bid managers. The importance of high-quality lead qualification and preparation of strong commercial proposals was emphasized.

An important topic was understanding the client. Artem explained that in the sales process it is necessary to take into account different types of stakeholders: technical specialists (architects, team leads), commercial departments (procurement, finance), and management. Each of these groups has its own expectations, motivation, and decision-making criteria.

A significant part of the lecture was devoted to the Customer Value Chain — creating value for the client at different levels. It was discussed what is important for employees (comfortable environment, development, interesting tasks), for management (predictability, efficiency, ROI), for business (speed to market, quality of solutions, budget control), and for technical leadership (scalability, expertise, innovation).

Artem Viligura also shared practices that work well in sales. Among them are the involvement of strong sales managers, building partner networks, using employees as brand ambassadors, and developing corporate culture. He emphasized that even former employees can in the future become a source of new clients.

The lecturer revealed the essence of sales, noting that it is not only the conclusion of deals, but a complex activity that includes networking, participation in events, preparation of proposals, technical pre-sale, communication with the client, and understanding their needs. Internal processes are also important: KPI/OKR, forecasting, budgeting, and strategic management.

The main principles of sales planning were considered. In particular, Artem emphasized the importance of a data-driven approach, where projected revenue is formed taking into account current contracts, their expansion, new business, and management commitments.

At the end of the lecture, key KPIs in sales were presented: growth rates (Y-o-Y), profitability (Contribution Margin), productivity (Revenue per FTE), development of new business (number of new clients and deals), as well as indicators of data quality and efficiency of working with opportunities in CRM systems. It was emphasized that analytics (in particular through BI tools) allows tracking results at all levels and making informed management decisions.

Thus, the lecture provided a holistic understanding of IT sales as a complex multi-level system that combines business strategy, technical expertise, and effective communication with clients.

The second lecture was conducted by Oleksandr Skachkov – Frontend Team Lead at Itera, who has more than 6 years of experience in web development, more than 6 years of creating enterprise solutions, and more than 2 years in project management. The lecturer has deep expertise in creating scalable enterprise solutions and is a contributor to WebKit, where he implemented more than 30 patches for JavaScriptCore, in particular for supporting modern JavaScript standards such as ES6–ES2018. The lecturer has a wide technological stack from frontend technologies (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, React, Angular) to backend solutions (C#, ASP.NET, Oracle PL/SQL), as well as modern no-code/low-code platforms (Adalo, FlutterFlow, Xano, Make, Zapier, n8n).

The lecture was devoted to an overview of the concepts of low-code and no-code.

Within the lecture, the evolution of programming languages was considered – from machine code of the 1950s to modern AI-oriented approaches. It was noted that with each generation, programming became more understandable to humans, less dependent on hardware, and more automated. The current stage of development is characterized by a transition to a human-oriented approach, where AI agents and code generation play a significant role.

Special attention was paid by the speaker to the comparison of low-code and no-code concepts. It was explained that low-code is based on the rapid application development (RAD) approach and allows creating software with minimal coding, while no-code does not require programming skills at all. This opens opportunities for a wider range of users – from business analysts to entrepreneurs. Among the main advantages of such approaches were highlighted: faster time to market, cost reduction, flexibility, and the possibility of involving non-technical specialists in development. As an example, a case was given where a product was initially created in FlutterFlow, and after reaching more than 10 thousand users, it was scaled using React Native.

The lecturer shared his own product development strategy, which consists of two stages: rapid launch of MVP using Adalo to test business hypotheses, as well as scaling using FlutterFlow to create a full-fledged product with the possibility of customization and involvement of enterprise clients.

The possibilities of using Xano as a backend platform were also considered. Oleksandr noted that this tool allows visually managing APIs, creating complex business logic without coding, integrating with third-party services (for example, payment systems), and ensuring scalability of solutions. Additionally, the importance of process automation using tools such as Make, Zapier, and n8n was emphasized.

The lecturer drew attention to the differences between platforms: for example, Wix is suitable for creating simple websites, while FlutterFlow is focused on more complex and scalable applications. Integration of no-code solutions into corporate systems was also considered, in particular through the use of Microsoft PowerApps and Salesforce CRM.

Oleksandr outlined cases when it is advisable to use no-code/low-code approaches: for testing ideas, rapid iteration, and projects that will be supported by non-technical users. At the same time, he warned against their use in cases of complex UI/UX, the need for high performance, deep integration with devices, or creation of a unique architecture.

At the end of the lecture, speaker Skachkov Oleksandr demonstrated examples of working with various tools (Adalo, FlutterFlow, Xano, Make, Zapier, n8n) and summarized his approach with the motto: “Make a difference,” emphasizing the importance of combining technical expertise with the flexibility of modern tools to create effective business solutions.

After the lecture part, participants visited the Itera office, where they got acquainted with work areas, laboratories, and interactive spaces for teamwork. This made it possible to better understand the features of corporate culture, the use of agile methodologies, and the organization of work processes in the company.

Within the meeting, students received useful information about the specifics of working in the IT field, career development prospects, as well as the importance of Soft Skills and critical thinking.

Representatives of Itera also announced the holding of future meetings, which will be devoted to more applied aspects of IT, in particular the topics of software development and testing. This will give students the opportunity to dive deeper into professional areas and better prepare for their future careers.

We sincerely thank the company ITERA, its management, and the lecturers for the meaningful meeting, professional approach, and valuable recommendations that helped students better understand the specifics of the work of IT sales specialists, as well as the possibilities of applying low-code and no-code approaches in modern projects.