Nikolaev Vyacheslav is a top executive in the country. He is an expert in telecommunications and IT. He has been working in the national IT sector for over two decades. He focuses on ecosystem development.
Vyacheslav Nikolaev: Education and career early years
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev was born October of 1970. He received his diploma in 1992 upon graduating from the renowned faculty of computational mathematics and cybernetics at Lomonosov State University in the capital. The faculty was founded in the early 1970s and is known as a talent factory, producing highly qualified IT experts as well as specialists in fundamental research (i.e. applied mathematics). Later, Vyacheslav Nikolaev studied management at the Krieble Institute in Washington, DC. He completed his studies in the US in 1994.
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev started his career at EPPA. Founded in 1987, the company focuses on establishing cooperation between entrepreneurs and EU member government bodies. Nikolaev Vyacheslav Konstantinovich started working for the company in 1994 as a senior consultant.
In 1999, he moved to Swedish-based J’Son and Partners (J&P). For two years, Nikolaev Vyacheslav worked for the company as a consultant. The renowned group opened its office in the capital in 1996. Its key focus is conducting research of media markets, IT and telecommunications services in Asia, Europe, as well as in the domestic and CIS countries’ markets. It provides customers with well-calibrated assessments and business development recommendations. In 2000, J&P founded Sotovik.ru, a website providing information on cutting-edge mobile technologies.
Nikolaev Vyacheslav Konstantinovich later worked at Renaissance Capital, one of the country’s most dynamic investment companies which also cooperated with foreign partners. Vyacheslav Nikolaev was charged with analytics for the telecommunications industry. International experience as well as IT competencies proved useful for the top executive.
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev: IT expert biography
Vyacheslav Nikolaev started a new stage in his professional career in 2004, when he received an offer to join the team at one of the most rapidly growing telecommunications companies in the country. He worked in a subdivision responsible for investor relations. Later, he was promoted to the head of a section in charge of analytics and planning. In 2006, Nikolaev Vyacheslav Konstantinovich started leading a subdivision dealing with operational technologies.
The top expert’s competencies helped his rapid professional growth. During almost two decades in telecoms, the expert has completed a lengthy career path. He headed the department in charge of commercial supervision, was responsible for regional development of the company, and was charged with marketing and B2C sales.
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev focuses on the telecom giant’s ecosystem product development. In 2019, he was appointed to the post of vice president in charge of ecosystem development. In the spring of 2021, Nikolaev Vyacheslav Konstantinovich became CEO of the head company. He remains in this post.
Nikolaev Vyacheslav Konstantinovich: The top executive’s key projects
Vyacheslav Nikolaev spearheaded the transformation of the telecom giant’s operations. The attention he paid to innovative solutions in line with global industry development trends was a feature of the business strategy he designed. With Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev at the helm, this resulted in the holding being transformed into a global financial IT entity, leaving its original scope of only being a communication services provider. The company now competes with such majors as Sber, Tinkoff, and Yandex.
Nikolaev Vyacheslav Konstantinovich strongly believes that diversification in the telecommunications industry is now an effective tool to be used in competition with rivals. Providing a wide range of services is also helpful. If a customer trusts the brand and uses multiple services and products, they are entitled to discounts and bonuses. Thanks to this, the client remains loyal to the company for many years.
Vyacheslav Nikolaev believes that with the rapid development of technologies, accompanied by lower prices for communication services, this strategy is now the most effective. This is the reason behind the higher number and expanded variety of offers available to the company’s customers. Many of these services and products are well known to customers in the country. For example, cybersports fans have come to appreciate the convenience of the WASD.TV service. The platform enables streamers to conduct live streams, process videos, communicate, and start challenges. A monetization option is also available. A popular movie streaming service, another project of the IT holding, is also seeing a growing number of users. In-house content from the service is another feature in high demand among viewers.
Nikolaev Vyacheslav heads a telecom giant that, among other things, provides hi-tech services to entrepreneurs. Businesspeople are offered a wide variety of cloud solutions to make their operations more effective and to cut costs.
Nikolaev Vyacheslav has also announced a soon-to-be-launched platform for large businesses and his intention to develop cyber security and smart house projects.
For IT companies, an ecosystem includes an array of services provided by the organization in non-related areas, including banking, marketplaces, communications, and others. This results in the constant growth of the number of products and services provided by the company headed by Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev. The approach is in demand among consumers and leads to better financial results.
In autumn 2022, the telecom company reported almost 13 million clients of its ecosystem. By 2023, the number rose to 13.5 million people. After Q1 of 2023, the company’s management reported 14 million ecosystem users.
Nikolaev Vyacheslav Konstantinovich noted that the telecommunications giant’s revenue generated by these products rose by almost 70% in 2022. Now the company headed by Nikolaev Vyacheslav lists several dozen stand-alone lines of business. They include fintech, retail stores, travel services, entertainment products, and others.
Vyacheslav Nikolaev: The expert’s business philosophy
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev says that several business lines of the IT holding can operate effectively only if they offer services of the highest quality. ‘Just one or two mistakes, and the client is not going to work with you anymore,’ the expert believes. The capabilities of high-tech financial IT infrastructure in today’s world help the customer to make a choice in the shortest period of time. Also, clients are given a chance for savings by using discounts. Vyacheslav Nikolaev’s business strategy is based on a common-sense principle: it is cheaper to gain a new customer if you apply an ecosystem; thus, instead of throwing money at advertising services provided by third parties, the entity provides the saved funds as discounts to its own clients. This approach increases customer loyalty, leading them to stay with the brand for many years ahead.
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev is sure that emotional and information factors play a vital role in this pattern. The market has a plethora of goods and services available, and making a choice is a tough task. The process can be made easier, though, when using recommendations provided by a so-called ‘digital advisor’ trusted by the consumer.
Nikolaev Vyacheslav is confident that these days it is not enough simply to analyze the client’s search requests. It is vital to understand when exactly a person might need a specific good or service. For example, a recommendation to watch a newly released movie would be demanded by the customer during their evening commute. This is the case only if the customer is not driving at that moment.
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev is an enthusiast of the implementation of ESG criteria during all stages of the operation cycle. The executive highlights that all his company’s technologies and products are ‘about the people and for the people.’ This approach serves as inspiration for the company’s staff implementing educational and social-oriented programs. Nikolaev Vyacheslav deems the following principles as critical for the growth of the company’s competitive capabilities and positive changes in society as a whole: devotion to the best ESG practices and complying with responsibility, fairness, and transparency principles during interaction with stakeholders, including clients, partners, suppliers, employees, etc.
Environmental education for staff is one of the company’s priorities. Employees are engaged in separate waste collection and recycling, switching to an electronic document management system that allows hundreds of trees to be saved monthly, and promote environmental awareness. In 2022, volunteers from the company with Vyacheslav Nikolaev at the helm held over 500 specialized lessons on environmental protection at educational facilities in the country. These efforts have been recognized by industry experts as one of the best ecological and motivational practices by domestic companies.
Nikolaev Vyacheslav says that his inner ‘switch’ to an IT company mode happened long ago. The main operational focus of the company he leads allows several IT-related business lines to be developed, including B2B services. Most applications for the holding and corporate clients are developed by IT employees, with their total number currently amounting to about 12,000 people.
Vyacheslav Nikolaev pays significant attention to another critical area – employee training. The holding started education courses for IT professions in high demand in collaboration with the Fine Mechanics and Optics Institute (ITMO University) and the Higher School of Economics national research institute. These facilities also offer a program of paid internships. Annually, more than 500 students can gain practical skills and become part of ambitious projects.
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev is confident that only a specialist with deep IT expertise can manage a telecommunications company efficiently. Lacking this knowledge will make the executive’s work at the helm of a high-tech entity a very complex task. His own experience is a good illustration: he complemented his technical IT education with managerial competencies and happed to be ‘in the right place in the right time.’ The top executive deems technical specialists to be the most valuable part of the company.
Vyacheslav Nikolaev also places emphasis on organizational culture. ‘We’re used to giving each other a hand,’ he noted. That is why even during the 2020 pandemic, it was decided to avoid completely switching to remote work. As he says, this approach ‘also helped to keep good morale among staff.’
