Graduates of Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute can be found on every continent and at many of the world's leading research institutions. It is especially rewarding to see that many of them maintain close ties with their alma mater, follow the university's achievements, share their own professional successes, and serve as ambassadors for both Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute and Ukraine.
Fifteen years ago, first-year FMF student Oleksandra Parii chose to study Physics because she believed it would provide broad opportunities to apply her knowledge in the future. She was right. Today, the Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute graduate holds a master's degree in Physics and has built a successful career in the IT industry, progressing from software tester to CEO. She also founded Krokyo, an educational startup for universities based on the science of learning and the Socratic method, helping students better understand and retain knowledge.
Since then, Oleksandra has also graduated from Unit Factory, an innovative programming school where students developed practical skills by solving real-world and simulated industry challenges. She later completed the Stanford GSB LEAD program, a prestigious online executive leadership program offered by the Stanford Graduate School of Business that focuses on leadership development, innovation, and strategic management. In an interview with the Kyiv Polytechnic editorial team, she shared how these experiences—together with her education at Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute—helped shape her professional journey and achievements.
– In a relatively short time, you have become a highly qualified professional. I think our readers would be interested to learn how your journey at Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute began and why you chose to study physics.
– I chose to study physics because I had always been fascinated by the fundamental principles that govern the world around us. What attracted me most was that physics does not allow you to simply memorize answers—it challenges you to break complex phenomena into smaller components, build models, and test them. At the time, I had no idea that these very skills would later become the foundation of my career in technology.
– What did you gain from your studies at Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute that has been most valuable in your professional life?
– Honestly, it was not about specific subjects or formulas. The real value lies in the way physics teaches you to think. After studying physics for six years, you develop the confidence that you can figure out almost anything because you know how to break a complex problem into smaller parts and reason from first principles rather than relying on ready-made templates. In real life, there are not always templates to follow—and even when they do exist, you still need to know which one to apply and when. Physics teaches first-principles thinking, an approach that can be applied to virtually any situation, from cooking dinner to repairing a microwave oven. More than anything, physics gave me a mindset: "We'll figure it out."
I would also like to mention several professors at Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute who, although I only realized it ten years later, taught in a way that closely resembled the Socratic method. You would submit a written assignment, they would review it, and then say, "Now let's talk." They would begin asking questions to understand how well you actually grasped what you had written. If you had made a mistake or held a misconception, they did not simply mark it wrong. Instead, through carefully chosen questions, they guided you to discover for yourself where your reasoning had gone astray. After all, it was entirely possible to make a small arithmetic error that invalidated the final calculations while still having a solid understanding of the underlying laws of physics and the logic behind them. They recognized that difference. What mattered to them most was your ability to think critically, not whether every calculation was flawless. (For reference, the Socratic method is a form of dialogue in which answers are not given directly. Instead, open-ended questions encourage learners to discover the truth for themselves, identify contradictions in their reasoning, and challenge incorrect assumptions.)
At the time, I thought I had simply been lucky and that they were trying to save me from receiving a poor grade. Only now, after immersing myself in the science of learning, do I understand what was really happening. They were not assessing whether I had arrived at the correct answer—they were evaluating my ability to think. They knew how to recognize genuine understanding, even when it was obscured by technical or computational mistakes.
– How did your professional career develop after graduating from university?
– During my third year at Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute, I was awarded an Erasmus Mundus scholarship and studied simultaneously at the University of Montpellier 2, one of France's leading research universities specializing in the natural sciences. After graduating from Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute, I completed the Unit Factory programming school in Kyiv. I began my career in engineering and product roles, working in software testing and project management. I also completed an internship at Bosch in Germany, where I contributed to a research project applying deep learning to robotics. We trained a robot to combine visual and tactile information to perform tasks on an industrial production line. That was the first time I saw physics and artificial intelligence come together in a truly practical way.
Most of my professional experience comes from Skins.Cash, a marketplace for trading in-game items (skins). I joined the company at a very early stage as its second employee and, over the course of six years, advanced from Product Manager to CEO. Together, we developed a machine learning–based dynamic pricing algorithm, scaled the platform to millions of users, and became the market leader in our niche. Later, I completed the Stanford LEAD program, which helped me structure and deepen my leadership and management experience.
– That's fascinating and inspiring —a real example to follow. What are you working on now?
– Today, I am building my own startup, Krokyo. It is an AI-powered learning platform built on the science of learning. For decades, education has relied more on tradition and intuition than on research into how people actually learn and retain knowledge. Krokyo takes these evidence-based principles and makes them the foundation of the platform. Of course, it also adapts to each learner—their pace, their progress, and the concepts they find most challenging. For me, this project brings together two things I care deeply about: technological complexity and meaningful social impact.
Interestingly, this work has brought me back to those same professors at Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute. What they did manually—using conversation and thoughtful questions to determine whether a student truly understood the material rather than simply guessed the correct answer—is exactly the kind of experience I want to make scalable. A great teacher can always identify where a student's reasoning went off track and why. The challenge is that one teacher cannot do this for thousands of learners at the same time. That is precisely the problem I am trying to solve with Krokyo.
– Looking back on your journey so far, what do you consider your most significant achievements?
– What gives me the greatest satisfaction is not any particular job title, but the fact that I have learned how to turn complex technological ideas into successful businesses. Building a machine learning system that makes real-time pricing decisions and directly impacts a company's revenue, assembling and leading a strong team, and growing into the role of CEO—these are not isolated accomplishments. They reflect the ability to build sustainable systems and create long-term value.
– Looking ahead, what are your plans for the future?
– Right now, my main focus is on growing Krokyo and expanding into international markets. I want AI-powered personalized learning to become the norm rather than a privilege. In the longer term, it is important to me that Ukrainian technology professionals gain greater visibility on the global stage because the quality of our engineering education truly deserves international recognition.
In closing, the words of someone who has firmly established herself within the international IT community are worth highlighting: Ukraine's professional technology community deserves far greater global visibility, because the country's engineering school is among its greatest strengths.