Credit Agricole became the general partner of Tech Unity: Clusters Forum, a unique event that brought together all IT clusters in Ukraine

Credit Agricole systematically supports Ukrainian IT community. The bank became a general partner of one of the largest tech events of the year – Tech Unity: Clusters Forum that took place on December 2 at Mystetskyi Arsenal in Kyiv. In cooperation with the organizer and the bank’s long-term partner Kharkiv IT Cluster, the event managed to bring together over 2,000 participants, 500 companies, and 80 speakers and create the first and only platform where representatives of all IT clusters in Ukraine gathered: from Ivano-Frankivsk to Kharkiv, from Rivne to Odesa. The representatives of tech businesses, defence & dual-use sector, government, education, and investors took part in the event to exchange their experience and coordinate efforts.

In the opening speech, Mykhailo Fedorov, first Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation, emphasized the importance of joint efforts for strengthening IT industry, one of the drivers of economy, especially in times of war.

Olha Shapoval, executive director of Kharkiv IT Cluster, talked about the role of the event: “Today, Ukraine's tech industry consists of thousands of initiatives and hundreds of communities working independently of each other. Tech Unity creates a shared space where people can negotiate, coordinate actions, and launch real interregional projects. This is a place with no individual players. There is one team that builds tech Ukraine.”

Throughout the event, speakers held parallel discussions on nine topics at three locations: from talent development and IT education to investments, defence technologies, AI, and digital transformations. The main focus during the presentations was on cross-sector dialogue and the creation of work sessions with specific results and benefits for the representatives of different regions. During the panels, the participants were free to ask questions that were of particular interest to them.

Nataliia Honcharova, Board Member of Credit Agricole responsible for the operations and IT, participated in “Digital Transformation of Business: Necessary Expenses or Real Business Cases”. Together with the representatives of IT companies, speakers focused on the practical use of artificial intelligence in business.

“The focus of AI should be on internal processes. I’m convinced that today the problem is finding people with needed expertise and competencies, which is not exclusive to the banking sector but also for the whole market. When we find such people, we want them to be effectively involved in spaces they are needed the most, and we also aspire to reduce the routine processes. At Credit Agricole, we implement the solutions that proved to be effective for the banking sector: automatization of large volumes of operations, reducing the employees’ involvement in routine tasks, and continuous availability of services. This is something that works,” shared Nataliia Honcharova.

The speaker also talked about plans for the next year: further implementation of AI solutions for processing large number of documents and special AI assistant for bank managers that will help form personalized offers for the customers.

Oleksandr Kurkin, Board Member of Credit Agricole responsible for Proximity banking and network, joined the “Impact Initiatives: Clusters’ Contributions to the Ecosystem Development for Tech Businesses” discussion. Together with the representatives of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, and Odesa IT clusters, speakers analyzed how to effectively contribute to the industry through international partnerships, advocacy, fundraising projects, and investments. In particular, Kurkin emphasized the importance of supporting education:

“We look at the representatives of IT industry not as separate customers, but as a whole ecosystem: from students to clusters and associations. That’s why we’re actively investing in university partnership programs with Kharkiv, Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv Polytechnics. With each of them, we create separate programs: encouraging the best students, holding engineering and AI competitions and educational projects. Therefore, our contribution to IT industry is our investment in strong human capital,” said Oleksandr Kurkin.

The speaker also highlighted the bank’s contribution to the country’s resilience: over UAH 10 billion in taxes, over UAH 190 million allocated to charity from the beginning of full-scale invasion, as well as UAH 32 billion in loan portfolio – the funds that actively contribute to Ukrainian economy.

The scale, location, and the format of the event allowed each participant to find something interesting for themselves: at the locations, defence and AI innovations were showcased, and educational and career opportunities were presented. Particular attention should be paid to the charitable aspect of the event: the fundraisings for the defence forces were held at the locations, and free IT courses were offered to veterans. Credit Agricole, together with Kharkiv IT Cluster, presented the “charitable” merchandise – hoodies, bottles, handmade talisman dolls, accessories – all proceeds from which will be donated to charity. For the participants with kids, there was Talents Space, a zone for career guidance and master classes for kids aged 8+, as well as a separate space for the youngest visitors.

Moreover, 100% of money paid for the tickets goes to charity.