Sombra is a software engineering services company that works as a long-term technology partner to help clients extend and scale their engineering capabilities. Its services span custom software development, AI transformation through its AI Lab, and Salesforce services. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Sombra Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Yurii Nakonechnyi to learn more.
Yurii Nakonechnyi’s Background
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When asked about his background, Nakonechnyi shared:
I’ve always wanted to be an engineer, and I have a strong technical background. In high school, I studied applied math and started writing code. I began as a junior software worker more than 15 years ago. I worked for a few different product companies and learned a lot.
After six years, I was promoted to senior or lead engineer. After that, I chose to start my own business, which is a usual path for engineers. It worked like JIRA but for law companies in Ukraine. We built it for about two years and then gave up because we couldn’t find the right product-market fit.
After that, I helped start Sombra. I learned from that experience that I’m more interested in software engineering, building good teams, and getting things done than in coming up with new product ideas.
How Sombra Started
When asked how the idea for the company came together, Nakonechnyi explained:
As I said before, I met Viktor Chekh, who helped to start Sombra, around that time. He found me on Upwork, which was called oDesk back then. He wanted a scientific co-founder for Sombra, so we met in a café and talked about our ideas. That’s how we began working together.
Company Growth And AI
When asked about his favorite memory from working at Sombra, Nakonechnyi recalled:
There have been many, but what stands out is seeing how much we’ve transformed over the years as the company grew: more people, more clients, and more complex work.
Our 2026 planning session was one of my favorite recent events. We brought in new team members and agreed on our next steps. It felt like a big step forward.
This year, the same is true for the plans my team and I are making. We’re always learning and changing because of all the things going on in AI right now. It’s an exciting time to be building.
Core Services
When asked about Sombra’s core products and services, Nakonechnyi detailed:
I want to make it clear that we’re only a services-based business right now, and we plan to keep that way for a while. We position ourselves as a long-term engineering partner that helps clients extend and scale their software engineering capabilities.
Broadly, our services fall into three categories: (1) custom software development, building web and mobile applications, increasingly accelerated with AI; (2) our AI Lab, where a team of experienced engineers helps clients with AI transformation, including building AI agents and adopting AI-first engineering practices; and (3) Salesforce services.
Adopting AI Across The Company
When asked about challenges in the company’s sector and how Sombra is addressing them, Nakonechnyi noted:
A major challenge right now is adopting AI across the whole company. We see it in three areas.
First, helping clients with AI transformation, especially building AI agents. It is exciting, but the pace changes extremely fast.
Second, adopting an AI-first engineering approach in our delivery work. The tools, methodologies, and best practices change almost monthly, so staying up to date takes constant learning and experimentation.
Third, we’re pushing AI adoption across our internal functions to boost productivity and make them more efficient and faster.
To handle these challenges, we’re continuously testing new tools, sharing learnings across teams, and updating our processes as the landscape changes.
Technology Evolution
When asked how Sombra’s technology and capabilities have evolved since launching, Nakonechnyi explained:
At first, we were mostly a company that provided Java software engineering services. At the time, I was a Java engineer, and Java was a natural choice for building the backend and web parts of many client applications. That was the main product I sold.
As we’ve grown and our clients’ needs have changed over the last 13 years, we’ve gone from only developing in one language to giving a wider range of services. We added QA and testing, then project management, design, and business analysis.
From there, we grew into areas like data engineering, and more recently, AI and our AI Lab, so we can support clients end-to-end, from discovery and design to delivery and ongoing evolution.
Major Company Milestones
When asked about some of Sombra’s most significant milestones, Nakonechnyi said:
One of our most significant milestones was shifting from an early growth model that looked more like a “freelance shop” into a structured company with a real business development engine.
Initially, we grew organically and scaled to around 100 people mainly through that model, but eventually, we hit a ceiling. We were doing an impressive job on engineering delivery, but to work with larger, long-term clients, we needed to rebuild how we approached sales and client development.
That transformation took about two years and required major changes in processes and roles, and we still rely on that business development foundation today.
Customer Success
When asked about a specific customer success story, Nakonechnyi shared:
One example is a project we supported for a client rebuilding a website for a large bank in North America. The timeline was extremely aggressive, around six months, and there wasn’t much room for slippage.
Our engineers demonstrated unwavering commitment, collaborated closely with the client team, and meticulously managed the scope. As a result, we delivered in roughly 3-4 months.
That successful delivery became the starting point for a long-term partnership, and we’re still working with that client today as the relationship has grown substantially.
Funding And Revenue Metrics
On funding and revenue metrics, Nakonechnyi noted:
Yes. I can discuss funding and revenue metrics during the interview, though some details may be confidential.
Growth Ambitions
When discussing the market opportunity Sombra is pursuing, Nakonechnyi said:
We plan to grow our company 10x from what we are now, and have a pretty interesting BHAG I could share during the interview.
Competitive Differentiation
When asked what differentiates Sombra from its competition, Nakonechnyi emphasized:
We believe that the highest value from software engineering comes not only from a high technical level but also from excellent communication skills, honesty, and a willingness to understand client context and help them.
We put high stress on these values through our culture, and we see this in our customer satisfaction surveys as our differentiator.
Future Goals
When discussing Sombra’s future goals, Nakonechnyi outlined:
We want to grow 10 times over the next 10 years. We plan to do this through both organic growth and acquiring other companies.
We are constantly adding new innovative engineering services to our portfolio, such as AI Transformation now or Quantum Computing-related services in the future.
We also plan to expand our client base to the Middle East and APAC, and we want to expand our delivery centers to 5–7 countries on different continents so that we can cover clients 24/7 with our services.
