We have a long-term strategy for our activity in Bulgaria, Milen Stoyanov from “UST Bulgaria” | UST, UST | News
UST is a global and multicultural technology company in the fields of digital transformation, cybersecurity, data analytics, cloud technology and other services. In recent years, the company has also entered emerging fields such as automation, blockchain, artificial intelligence, IoT and machine learning. UST employs over 30,000 professionals working on six continents, with offices in more than 30 countries. For more than two decades, UST has operated as a leading innovator and prides itself on proven successful partnerships and satisfied customers. UST believes in its values and genuinely cares about employees, customers and even society at large.
“Our clients are businesses from a variety of concerns in healthcare, retail, financial services, telecommunications, transportation and tourism. In all its endeavors, the company’s leadership philosophy is “Transforming Animals.” customers, but also to end users”commented Milen Stoyanov, operational director of “UST Bulgaria”.
Mr. Stoyanov, what are your plans for expansion in Bulgaria and what will you do to challenge the Bulgarian IT talents?
UST has a long-term strategy for expanding its activities in Bulgaria. Our goal is to grow to several hundred people in the coming years. The company is recognized for taking on challenging tasks that require complex technological solutions. In such projects, UST consultants must use their full range of skills. At the same time, employees are given the opportunity to learn about the latest technologies and how they are applied in real life. Anyone who wants to develop their potential and meet new challenges is welcome to join us.
What are the company’s right to attract and retain talent? What are the employee practices?
Openness and honesty are among our core virtues. If you join our journey, you can be sure that we will be with you all the way. We will help you grow and develop in the areas that are most important to you as a professional. UST as a company is only at the beginning of its history in Bulgaria and we are still in the process of introduction and in practice of global implementation. At the same time, the compensation and benefits package is competitive locally, but we continue to enjoy it.
Do you think the pandemic is the first cause and catalyst for digital transformation? Has the pandemic changed the company’s relations with partners, customers, media, employees around the world?
The pandemic definitely puts digital transformation on the agenda for almost all businesses. For some it was a matter of survival. For others, increasing digitization provides huge opportunities for growth (for example, for online retailers such as Amazon). The last few years have made us look at the world through different glasses. We have moved to mostly virtual rather than physical interactions. Zoom and Teams meetings are replacing face-to-face meetings and contacts with clients and colleagues. You had to adapt not only as individuals, but also as a business. I believe that the pandemic revealed the strong connection we have with people and strengthened the trust that our customers do not vote as a strategic partner. Some of the virtual “borders” were destroyed. We have seen clichés collapse under the pressure of current reality, which has led to the need to speed up digital transformation.
How does UST see the future in terms of technology, innovation and business?
At UST, we are very proud of our innovation ecosystem. We have more than 300 startup partnerships and a total of 8 innovation labs worldwide. The latter represent last-generation considerations: where technology, designers, manufacturers and strategists work together with our customers to build the systems and businesses of the future. Partnerships are with all major cloud service providers at the core of dynamic transformation and digitization projects. As always, UST is trying to expand its portfolio across industries – financial services, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, telecommunications, public sector and semiconductors.
What should you expect from your future employees in Bulgaria such as atmosphere, way of working, projects?
We are constantly working to build a friendly and caring atmosphere. We know that the most important asset of any company is its people and that is what drives it forward. We encourage employees to speak up and share their ideas. Our unique way of working is primarily driven by business needs and consultant preferences. We always try to strike a balance between these requirements. The portfolio failed to increase.
According to what are the offers of IT employees in our country compared to other countries?
This question can be the subject of a very long discussion, so I will try to keep it short. I have a very high percentage of people with higher education and good language skills. We have people who approach problems holistically and strive for excellence. Other key strengths are being uncritical and lacking a bias towards many of the ‘modern issues’. These are some of the reasons why I believe that Bulgarian IT specialists are among the best.
What open positions do you currently have?
We are looking for senior consultants in several different areas. When it comes to software development, Java and .Net take priority. Automation and QA specialists are also among our main needs. SRE and DevOps are other priority categories for us. All current vacancies are for interesting projects with UST global clients, armed with our career site and in LinkedIn. Even if you don’t have a suitable position that matches your skill set right now, we’d still be happy to hear from you.
What projects are you most proud of in the company locally and globally?
Since we are at the beginning of our journey in Bulgaria, we do not have any local projects yet. Therefore, I will rather dwell on some of the international ones. UST is building a center of competence for the leader of a global transportation company and looking for costs by centralizing, optimizing and standardizing processes. Another successful project was implemented for a large bank in Spain, for which we created modern payment solutions based on blockchain technology. Two of the three largest asset management businesses in the US are supported by UST. The company is also a strategic partner of three of the eight largest telecoms in the world.
Tell us about UST innovations or platforms that give added value to your customers and society?
UST uses its extensive technical expertise to offer maximum value to its customers. Some of the company’s main products include:
- UST PACE – a platform for centralizing internal and external workflows for coding, collaboration, testing and deployment.
- UST IQ – enables customers to transform terabytes of data into rapid analysis and business-critical decisions.
- UST SmartOps – accelerates AI/ML automation to deliver significant cost, speed and efficiency benefits to business operations.
- CyberProof – an advanced cybersecurity platform and service innovator dedicated to helping companies use information technology to solve business problems without fear of cyberattacks.
- UST HealthProof – reducing patient costs and improving their health outcomes through a powerful BPaaS solution for healthcare process operations.
What is your message or advice to Bulgarian IT specialists?
Information technology can offer you a lot. Find a niche you like and keep learning. There will always be career opportunities for great professionals. Have self-confidence and believe in yourself.