CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
ALEX ZHURBA
Alex holds the position of Chief Information Officer, acting as a glue between Palta startups and companies. He is focused on finding and spreading the right pieces of knowledge and technology, creating a collaborative environment, and helping the teams constantly improve their processes.
Alex's 18+ years experience in IT includes several years of building sophisticated information security and compliance products for IBM, successful path from Product Manager to Head of Publishing Platform and Publishing Director at Wargaming.net, and Chief Product Officer position at marketplace as part of Yandex.Market.
Alex holds a degree in Atomic Physics and Information Technology.
Alex holds a degree in Atomic Physics and Information Technology.
TAKE 5 WITH ALEX
1. What do you do at Palta?
I'm the connector between our startups in everything related to technologies and product solutions that are built on these technologies. All startups are different, but they all pass through very similar phases, so there is always knowledge and recipes to share.
Another significant part of my job is to ensure that startup teams not only build successful products, but also remember about such things as information security, data privacy, service availability and reliability, etc. Besides obvious tech questions, it includes helping with engineering practices and product development processes, pulling in external expertise, etc.
Last but not least, I'm in charge of building the Palta Data Platform, which is a huge effort to empower our startups with best data processing pipelines, analytical tools, and ML capabilities.
2. You became a part of Palta this year. What made you inspired to join the team?
I like modern IT in its widest variety, so the main factor for me was the opportunity to work with several companies simultaneously, which provides the ability to influence many products and teams.
The second factor is people and team. I've just felt that Palta has gathered a cool team inside and around it, judging both by the success cases of the startups and by people's previous experience in the tech space in general.
3. How do you see the synergy between Palta companies?
It seems to me that the synergy that we have now and which we want to achieve lies in the fact that we have gathered different talents and teams and try to purposefully transfer and disseminate the accumulated experience within our fields. Due to this knowledge sharing, startups are growing in a more sustainable and faster way.
Secondly, when there are a lot of startups and everyone is sharing about everything they have tried, this shared experience protects everyone against a large number of mistakes in the future. Many decisions are made in the state of uncertainty, and we want to smooth out, eliminate this uncertainty, together.
4. How do you see the future of Palta and its portfolio companies?
I believe that good life is healthy life. Recent progress in technology makes healthy life more and more affordable, but it's still not easy because each human being is so unique. And that's where personalization comes in.
We believe that great customer experience is personalized experience. And we are focused on building sophisticated tech behind our products in order to be able to provide the most personalized experience to our customers.
5. How to create a rock star team?
Firstly, the team members should be capable of empathy and openness, the ability and what's most important – desire to understand each other. Then, people should fit and complement each other from the point of view of their professional expertise. Next factor is proper leadership at all hidden corners of the organization. Finally, proper pressure and coping with pressure – both external (market challenges) and internal (high expectations for yourself) – is very important.
So, it's the sum of personal fit, professional fit, leadership, and big goals.
I'm the connector between our startups in everything related to technologies and product solutions that are built on these technologies. All startups are different, but they all pass through very similar phases, so there is always knowledge and recipes to share.
Another significant part of my job is to ensure that startup teams not only build successful products, but also remember about such things as information security, data privacy, service availability and reliability, etc. Besides obvious tech questions, it includes helping with engineering practices and product development processes, pulling in external expertise, etc.
Last but not least, I'm in charge of building the Palta Data Platform, which is a huge effort to empower our startups with best data processing pipelines, analytical tools, and ML capabilities.
2. You became a part of Palta this year. What made you inspired to join the team?
I like modern IT in its widest variety, so the main factor for me was the opportunity to work with several companies simultaneously, which provides the ability to influence many products and teams.
The second factor is people and team. I've just felt that Palta has gathered a cool team inside and around it, judging both by the success cases of the startups and by people's previous experience in the tech space in general.
3. How do you see the synergy between Palta companies?
It seems to me that the synergy that we have now and which we want to achieve lies in the fact that we have gathered different talents and teams and try to purposefully transfer and disseminate the accumulated experience within our fields. Due to this knowledge sharing, startups are growing in a more sustainable and faster way.
Secondly, when there are a lot of startups and everyone is sharing about everything they have tried, this shared experience protects everyone against a large number of mistakes in the future. Many decisions are made in the state of uncertainty, and we want to smooth out, eliminate this uncertainty, together.
4. How do you see the future of Palta and its portfolio companies?
I believe that good life is healthy life. Recent progress in technology makes healthy life more and more affordable, but it's still not easy because each human being is so unique. And that's where personalization comes in.
We believe that great customer experience is personalized experience. And we are focused on building sophisticated tech behind our products in order to be able to provide the most personalized experience to our customers.
5. How to create a rock star team?
Firstly, the team members should be capable of empathy and openness, the ability and what's most important – desire to understand each other. Then, people should fit and complement each other from the point of view of their professional expertise. Next factor is proper leadership at all hidden corners of the organization. Finally, proper pressure and coping with pressure – both external (market challenges) and internal (high expectations for yourself) – is very important.
So, it's the sum of personal fit, professional fit, leadership, and big goals.
Areas of focus
Knowledge Sharing
Technology
Platform
Companies
All
Follow
Knowledge Sharing
Technology
Platform
Companies
All
Follow
