Recommended expert

Taras Rybalko

Strategist & Execution Leader | Strategy, Corporate Innovation, AI & NewTech, Digital Telco

Taras Rybalko
Utrecht, Netherlands

Experience

Jan 2025 - Present
1 year 1 month
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hybrid

CEO

xplorum.ai

XPLORUM, AI spinoff venture of Softengi (IT, AI, software)

  • Transformed an unstructured internal AI initiative into XPLORUM, defining strategy, governance, and operating model for a product-led venture inside a service-oriented IT organization, positioned for scale and spin-off.
  • Repositioned an AI platform into a provider-agnostic foundation with a unified knowledge layer (RAG, LLMs orchestration), enabling three products (bidXplore, salesXplore, solveXplore) and rapid expansion into adjacent domains.
  • Drove execution speed, reducing MVP cycles from months to weeks through rapid prototyping and “vibe-coding” practices.
  • Enabled group-wide commercialization, embedding the platform into BU client offerings to accelerate AI adoption and revenue under board-level oversight.
Jan 2024 - Dec 2025
2 years
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Strategic Advisor to CEO

HELSI

  • Defined the vision and strategy for a modular digital well-being platform to support scalable post-M&A growth.
  • Designed a phased roadmap, products and pricing strategies for 2X growth, aligning with market maturity and evolving ecosystem needs.
  • Partnered with the board and executive team to establish strategic priorities, refine business definitions, and shape future market scenarios.
  • Provided a strategic framework to position Helsi as a leader in digital health innovation, setting the foundation for long-term growth and sustainability.
Jan 2020 - Dec 2023
4 years
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Chief Strategy & New Business Officer

VEON Kazakhstan

  • Defined OpCo-level strategy, leading digital transformation and strategic initiatives, contributing to double-digit revenue growth and 50%+ EBITDA.
  • Achieved $70–$100M in shareholder value through a passive infrastructure spin-off program.
  • Expanded digital asset user base 2X to 3.5M (35% penetration) through local digital strategy implementation.
  • Secured $160M in new business revenue (FinTech, MediaTech, BigData) with 40% CAGR YoY, driving profitability from ‑15% to positive single-digit within three years.
Jan 2019 - Dec 2020
2 years
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Senior Manager, Commercial Strategy

VEON Group HQ

  • Delivered the “Back to Growth” strategy for the largest OpCo in the portfolio, transitioning implementation within three months.
  • Reduced distribution costs by 15% through a 2020-22 group commercial transformation initiative and a digital-first approach.
  • Decreased churn from over 50% to below 40%, lowering acquisition costs by focusing on high-value, long-term customers and enhanced retention strategies.
  • Boosted digital-first engagement and adoption by leading forums, bi-annual CCO meetings, and best practice sharing across OpCos.
Jan 2016 - Dec 2019
4 years
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Senior Manager, Base Management & Digital CVM

VEON Group HQ

  • Led group CVM & base management reporting to the Group CVM director, managing a $25M OPEX and $18M CAPEX budget, 30+ global CVM experts, 20 Eurasia hub specialists, and three contractor teams across 12 markets; achieved positive ROI 1.5 years ahead of plan.
  • Designed and executed a digital CVM strategy (customer profiling, next-best offer/action, real-time personalization), integrating TVE, FMC, content, and third-party propositions, delivering a 10pp customer satisfaction uplift and just-for-you real-time campaigns.
  • Built and scaled standardized CVM capabilities by introducing a global CVM tool via tendering, deploying advanced data-modeling libraries, and running benchmarking, performance management, and global best-practice forums.
  • Drove material revenue and retention impact by creating and scaling the Eurasia CVM hub, growing CVM revenue contribution from 1.2% to 6–8% (35%+ CAGR), delivering 12 consecutive quarters of QoQ growth, and reducing annualized churn to below 20% in the flagship prepaid market.
Jan 2015 - Dec 2016
2 years
Astana, Kazakhstan

Customer Base Management Director

VEON Kazakhstan Operating Company

  • Led customer base management reporting to the CCO, overseeing nine cross-divisional SMEs across CVM commercial, analytics, modeling, and campaign execution, and managing $12M CVM revenue and $6M tooling OPEX.
  • Redesigned loyalty and CVM commercial strategy across an 8M active customer base, driving top-up discipline, tariff optimization, retention, and data adoption; delivered 10% ARPU growth within one year through a segment-of-one and targeted marketing approach.
  • Built a data-driven CVM organization by introducing CLTV-led decision-making, segmented analytics, predictive modeling, and incremental value measurement, stabilizing high-value customer share and protecting ARPU across priority segments.
  • Secured positive ROI 2.5 years ahead of plan on a $2.5M CAPEX CVM omnichannel rollout, growing CVM revenue contribution from 0% to 5.2% (+$12M in two years), reducing churn by 10pp, and achieving a 55% CVM EBITDA margin through targeted pricing and cost optimization.
Jan 2013 - Dec 2015
3 years
Astana, Kazakhstan

Business & Customer Intelligence Director

VEON Kazakhstan Operating Company

  • Led business & customer intelligence reporting to the CSO, owning operational business reviews, commercial budgeting, forecasting, and end-to-end reporting and analytics; managed 10 analysts and planners, 15 BI/IT stakeholders, and a double-digit million-dollar OPEX budget with disciplined performance monitoring.
  • Strengthened CEO, board, and HQ decision-making by streamlining quarterly board reporting and ad-hoc executive analysis, supporting budget reviews, KPI approvals, and investment funding; achieved 8.5+/10 executive satisfaction and formal CEO recognition for safeguarding budget and investment discipline.
  • Designed and secured board approval for a $5.6M CAPEX iCLTV program, enabling contextual marketing within 12 months and forecasting $20M incremental revenue over a three-year payback, supported by a detailed roadmap and organizational design.
  • Protected a 40% EBITDA margin, remained 15% under CAPEX budget, enabled continued YoY EBITDA growth, and supported brand repositioning and growth identification through 100+ market and consumer research studies managed with a $1.5M research budget.
Jan 2010 - Dec 2013
4 years
Kyiv, Ukraine

Strategic Marketing Director

VEON Ukraine Operating Company

  • Led strategic marketing reporting to the CMO, overseeing brand strategy, market research, media buying, business analysis, forecasting, and performance management; managed 35 cross-functional experts, six agencies, and a double-digit million-dollar marketing OPEX.
  • Delivered integrated market, business, and performance analytics to enable C-suite, board, and shareholder decision-making, supporting planning, budgeting, and quarterly/yearly reviews.
  • Delivered over $20M gross revenue uplift by leading 10 major brand positioning, value proposition, and cost-optimization programs with top-tier consultancies.
  • Directed $20M CAPEX to build a single-source reporting platform, corporate data warehouse, and predictive modeling within 18 months, achieving 10% YoY media cost savings and supporting youth GTM, product portfolio development, service quality optimization, and pricing elasticity insights.

Summary

Results-driven leader with 20+ years of experience driving strategy, transformation, AI and new-tech innovation to scale businesses, both independently and post-M&A. Skilled in strategic thinking, leveraging emerging technologies, aligning leadership teams, and executing digital transformation to deliver measurable growth. Combines startup agility with corporate discipline to unlock value, foster innovation, build efficient ecosystems, and empower collaborative teams through servant leadership.

Skills

  • Strategic Thinking & Execution

  • Business Transformation & Scaling

  • Practical Ai Use-cases

  • Team Alignment & Enablement

  • Ecosystem Design & Delivery

  • Profitable Revenue Growth

  • Stakeholders Engagement & Value

  • Cross-functional Team Leadership

  • Chief Of Staff

  • Digital Strategy

  • Key Account Growth

  • Corporate Innovation

  • Market Research & Design

  • Competitive Analysis

  • Proposition Development

  • Customer Value Management

  • P&l Accountability

  • Investment Budget Oversight

  • Product Management

  • Program Management

  • M&a

  • Health-tech Strategy

  • Fin-tech Strategy

  • Media-tech Strategy

  • Digital Telecom Strategy

  • Ai Strategy & Adoption

  • Llm

  • System Prompt Management

  • Zoom

  • Teams

  • Asana

  • Trello

  • Slack

  • Clickup

  • Google Suite

  • Ms Office Suite

  • Chatgpt

  • Replit

Languages

Russian
Native
Ukrainian
Native
English
Advanced
Dutch
Elementary

Education

Sep 1994 - Jun 1999

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Master of Science · Sociology · Kyiv, Ukraine

Certifications & licenses

Chief Of Staff (Level 3)

Chief Of Staff Association

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