Will AI Assistants Leave Us Without Jobs? IT-Enterprise Founder Oleg Shcherbatenko Spoke at DOU Day 2026
Artificial intelligence is indeed taking over routine work from people while simultaneously becoming one of the key tools for overcoming labor shortages and scaling businesses without increasing headcount. This was stated by Oleg Shcherbatenko, Founder and CEO of the product company IT-Enterprise, during his speech at DOU Day 2026 — the main annual event of Ukraine’s IT community.
During his presentation, “Will AI Assistants Leave Us Without Jobs?”, the company’s CEO shared statistics showing that over the past two years, the implementation of systematic digital solutions by IT-Enterprise enabled client companies to reduce 7,830 positions by automating processes previously performed manually. This also aligns with global trends, where technology giants such as Amazon, Intel, and Dell have collectively reduced more than 70,000 positions due to workforce rebalancing in favor of employees with AI-related skills and overall workforce optimization.
At the same time, the IT-Enterprise founder urged society not to panic, emphasizing that every industrial revolution has eliminated old professions while simultaneously creating new ones. For Ukraine, digitalization and artificial intelligence are now among the primary ways to scale businesses under conditions of labor shortages.
“The effectiveness of AI assistants can already be demonstrated through large-scale Ukrainian cases where digitalization delivers immediate results. At Ukrposhta, an AI assistant developed by IT-Enterprise independently processes supplier documents, uploads them into ERP, and monitors contract terms. The system completes in one minute tasks that previously required 20 minutes of human work. Similar results are seen in the automation of technical archives for defense manufacturers, where our AI solutions replace up to 90% of human labor in processing documents of varying complexity. On the SmartTender platform, our AI assistant analyzes 100-page tender requirements, calculates logistics, and evaluates competitors’ pricing in just two minutes instead of 3–5 hours. Three out of the four largest fuel suppliers in Ukraine are already using this tool to win tenders,” said Oleg Shcherbatenko, Founder and CEO of IT-Enterprise.
He added that the IT-Enterprise team has built its own AI assistant factory and launches more than 20 new AI assistants every year. These systems process terabytes of internal ERP data and generate management insights for clients. Some of them, such as the AI assistant Anna Maly, analyze industrial sensor data in real time to predict equipment failures — tasks that humans are physically unable to perform continuously in a real-time environment.
“Today, AI is also helping humanity address the global demographic imbalance by increasing labor productivity. That is why the key recommendation for the community is not to fear artificial intelligence, but to join those who create AI assistants that take over repetitive, routine, and unengaging tasks and complete them within minutes. What remains for people is meaningful work that inspires them,” emphasized Oleg Shcherbatenko, Founder and CEO of IT-Enterprise, at the conclusion of his speech.
IT-Enterprise is a Ukrainian product IT company with more than 35 years of experience supporting the digital transformation of the country’s largest industrial enterprises. Its clients include Interpipe, Ferrexpo, Nibulon, Ukrposhta, Ukrnafta, Ukrzaliznytsia, and others. Since the first days of the full-scale war, the IT-Enterprise team, together with government authorities, has been implementing critically important national projects, including humanitarian aid accounting, procurement recovery initiatives, and business relocation support. Co-founder and CEO Oleg Shcherbatenko is a consistent advocate of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 approaches and technologies.