Andrey Kalyuzhnyy, who has led 8allocate as CEO since 2021, will transition to the Board and remain a shareholder, supporting the company’s strategic priorities.
TALLINN, Estonia, July 30, 2026 – 8allocate has appointed Natalia Hlukhova as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026, as the company enters its next stage of development.
In recent years, 8allocate has grown from a regional engineering firm into an international technology partner, building a strong engineering foundation, establishing long-term client relationships, and developing distinctive offerings in AI and advanced technologies. Under Hlukhova’s leadership, the company will focus on scaling that foundation.
Hlukhova will oversee the company’s daily operations and the execution of its strategic initiatives. Her role is to guide 8allocate’s next stage of growth, expand the company’s work on business-critical systems, and increase the value delivered to clients through reliable engineering, AI, data, and product delivery.
The transition reflects the company’s evolution into its next stage while maintaining continuity in ownership and strategic direction.
She succeeds Kalyuzhnyy, who served as CEO during the company’s international expansion and the development of its AI and data engineering capabilities. He will remain a Board Member and will continue to support the company on long-term direction and strategic priorities.
As companies move from experimenting with AI to integrating it into core products and operations, our next phase is to help clients make that transition reliably and at scale. Natalia has the experience and leadership to guide this evolution and translate the opportunity into sustainable growth. With 8allocate at this stage of maturity, this is the right moment for a leadership transition, and I’m confident in Natalia and the team to lead the next chapter, said Andrey Kalyuzhnyy, Board Member at 8allocate.
This is a planned evolution of our leadership structure. The ownership structure remains unchanged, and the founders will continue to contribute at board level. Natalia has a clear mandate to evolve the company’s delivery model, build on its market position, and turn the foundation we have built into more focused growth, said Volodymyr Potapenko, Co-Founder of 8allocate.
Natalia Hlukhova brings more than 17 years of experience across technology, operations, product development, and commercial strategy. Her background spans IT infrastructure, systems integration, hardware products, software development, R&D, managed services, enterprise transformation, and practical AI adoption across multiple industries and markets.
8allocate has strong engineering capabilities and established client relationships. Our priority is to focus on those strengths where they create clear value. We will maintain delivery continuity, define success more precisely, and, and connect our work to the business and operational outcomes clients need, said Natalia Hlukhova, CEO of 8allocate.
Market Focus and Positioning
As more companies move from AI pilots to production use cases, 8allocate will focus on work where software and AI directly affect revenue, operations, compliance, or end users.
The company will prioritize assignments that require sound architecture, understanding of real operating environments, reliable delivery, and a clear connection between engineering work and business outcomes.
Priority sectors include financial services, education, mobility, supply chains, and the built environment.
Engineering and AI Direction
8allocate will strengthen its delivery model across product strategy, business analysis, solution architecture, data engineering, software development, and AI engineering. The company will engage earlier in problem definition where doing so can reduce delivery risk, prevent unnecessary investment, and improve the quality of technical decisions.
AI will remain an engineering capability, not a positioning claim. It will be applied where it improves economic, operational, or product outcomes. Systems affecting financial decisions, regulatory compliance, or end users will include requirements for privacy, explainability, security, and human oversight.
What Stakeholders Should Expect
For clients, existing work will continue under current arrangements, with additional emphasis on delivery continuity, measurable business outcomes, and the practical value of each engagement.
For employees, the direction introduces clearer development paths across engineering, product, data, and AI, with AI used to reduce repetitive work, improve quality, and support higher-value work.
For partners, the company will continue to define responsibilities, delivery expectations, and success criteria clearly at the start of each engagement.
Measurement and Accountability
In addition to delivery against scope, 8allocate will assess its work based on its effect on system reliability, service quality, productivity, accessibility for intended users, and operational visibility and control.
As an internal reference framework, 8allocate will use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, primarily SDG 9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, where there is a direct and documented connection between delivered work and measurable outcomes. This does not imply formal affiliation with the United Nations.
A baseline assessment will be completed within 12 months of this announcement, with progress reported annually thereafter. Quantitative results will be distinguished from qualitative evidence. Where evidence is incomplete, the company will state that directly.
Long-Term Direction
8allocate’s purpose is to improve the reliability, accessibility, and performance of the digital systems that support economic activity, essential services, and organizational resilience.
Its ten-year ambition is to be a recognized engineering partner for organizations building or modernizing systems with significant operational, regulatory, or social importance.
The leadership transition does not change the company’s ownership structure or long-term intent. It establishes a clearer operating model for the company’s next stage of growth.
About 8allocate
8allocate is a digital engineering and AI company that designs, builds, and modernizes software products, data platforms, and operational systems for international clients.
Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Estonia, the company operates through distributed engineering teams across Europe and Latin America.
