Danila Shtan, CTO of Nebius, shares his front-line experiences running a rapidly growing AI cloud infrastructure company. From navigating the complexities of early GPU adoption to managing team dynamics, Shtan offers a realistic look at how artificial intelligence is shaping software engineering, organizational culture, and the recruitment landscape.

The Reality of Agentic Engineering and AI Hype

Shtan strongly critiques the narrative that autonomous AI agents or “software factories” will soon replace human developers. He compares working with current AI agents to guiding a junior engineer: they lack broader context, require constant steering, and can confidently implement flawed solutions or generate matching flawed tests. While AI is a highly productive tool for prototyping and augmenting workflows, Shtan asserts that production code must ultimately be owned, verified, and understood by humans to ensure safety and accountability.

The Shift from Hard Skills to ‘Round-Shaped’ Engineers

As AI commoditizes basic coding tasks, the value of memorizing syntax, libraries, or frameworks is declining. Shtan notes that mechanical programming roles—such as legacy back-office banking automation—are at high risk. In contrast, the future belongs to “round-shaped” engineers who possess product curiosity, strong decomposition skills, and a deep understanding of why a feature is being built. Despite this evolution, Nebius still tests algorithmic thinking in interviews, using it not as a memorization test, but as a critical baseline to evaluate systemic computer science erudition and problem-solving ability.

Cultural Alignment Through Onboarding Bootcamps

Rather than traditional team-specific hiring, Nebius employs a unique three-month “bootcamp” onboarding process. New hires spend their first few weeks rotating through multiple teams before mutually deciding on a final placement with team leads. This approach fosters cross-functional empathy, strengthens cultural alignment, and reduces attrition anxiety. Furthermore, Nebius has recently pivoted back to onsite, face-to-face interviews to mitigate the rising risk of candidate cheating via sophisticated AI-assisted coding tools.

Redefining the CTO Role and Managing Expectations

At scale, a CTO’s role shifts from writing code to managing people and aligning interests. Shtan defines his core responsibility as expectation management—acting as an advocate for engineering to business, and vice versa. He warns that most organizational failures stem from a failure to communicate openly, often driven by pride, ego, or imposter syndrome. Successful technical management relies on maintaining transparency regarding both achievements and setbacks.

Mentoring question

In an era where AI can quickly generate code, how are you actively shifting your focus from merely ‘how’ to build things to understanding ‘why’ they should be built for the product and the business?

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=zTenuG5b4Eo&is=f7IlBQvNdT8hu58K