How Kharkiv IT Cluster Companies Use AI: Community Survey Results

The Kharkiv IT Cluster conducted a survey among member companies to determine the extent to which artificial intelligence is already integrated into the daily operations of the Ukrainian IT industry. Thirty-three companies—ranging from small teams to companies with thousands of employees—shared their practices.

The result: for all surveyed companies, AI has already become part of their daily operations. At the same time, the level of adoption varies among companies: 48.5% rate their use of AI as “experimental,” and only 36.4% describe it as “operational.” For many companies, AI is still in the active testing phase rather than a fully established practice. The practical use of the technology is outpacing formalized rules, policies, and management approaches—and this is precisely what businesses plan to focus on in the near future.

A Rapid Start: Most Companies Have Only Begun Systematically Using AI in the Last Year

All 100% of the companies surveyed confirmed that they use AI in their workflows. However, 69.7% of companies have only begun systematically using AI in the last 12 months. This indicates a sharp surge in the adoption of the technology over the past year.

Formal guidelines haven’t caught up everywhere yet: only 24.2% of companies have an approved AI Policy, while another 30.3% are actively developing such a document right now.

What does AI offer businesses?

When asked what exactly the implementation of AI brings to business, companies most often cite very practical benefits:

• automation of routine tasks;
• faster development and coding;
• overall increase in team productivity.

Productivity is the main and most tangible benefit mentioned by businesses.

Companies vary in their estimates of exactly how much productivity has increased, but the trend is clear: nearly 70% report an increase ranging from 10% to 50%. To assess the impact, companies most often focus on time savings and delivery speed—that is, on metrics that are easily measurable in practice, rather than abstract indicators.

Who Pays for AI and Where Is It Used Most Actively

The funding model for AI tools in companies is already quite mature: 84.8% pay for AI access centrally at the company level, rather than passing these costs on to individual employees.

AI is used most actively in areas where results can be quickly verified and immediately applied: 75.8% of companies cited information search and analysis as one of the main use cases. More sensitive and regulated processes—such as DevOps, financial analytics, and candidate management—are currently using AI more cautiously.

Security Takes Center Stage

Along with active adoption, attention to data security is also growing. 60.6% of companies have already banned the transfer of confidential or customer information to AI services. This is one of the first signs that businesses are aware of the risks and are establishing their own rules of the game, even if a comprehensive AI policy is still under development.

The Next Step: From Ad-Hoc Use to Controlled Scaling

The main constraints to further scaling AI are related to organizational readiness—teams lack the necessary skills, there is a growing focus on data security, and some teams are not yet psychologically ready for change.

Companies’ plans confirm this: alongside expanding AI adoption, businesses plan to standardize tools, update security policies, and train teams. In other words, the next step is not to “use more,” but to “use in a controlled manner.”

The survey reflects the practices of 33 companies participating in the Kharkiv IT Cluster and cannot be extrapolated to the entire Ukrainian IT market.

If your company is a member of the cluster and you would like to receive the full survey report, please contact your personal manager at the Kharkiv IT Cluster.