End of an era: Dobkin steps down after 32 years leading EPAM

His mother escaped from the Minsk ghetto, his father survived the war

Arkady Mikhailovich Dobkin was born on June 3, 1960, in Minsk. This fact alone could be considered lucky. Though Dobkin himself considers his first stroke of luck to be his residence permit, which allowed him to study at the best math school in the city. Here’s how he described his family’s history in a 2012 interview with «Komsomolskaya Pravda.»

«My parents were of wartime age. My mother (her name is Polina, and in 2018 she lived in Philadelphia — devby) was a native of Minsk who managed to escape at age 15 from the Minsk ghetto to the forest, to a partisan detachment, after almost her entire family—parents, younger brother, other relatives—a total of 36 people—died there. My father went through the war from '41 to '45, including the entire blockade of Leningrad. Now my parents live in America; my father will be 92, my mother 86. Until I was 7, we lived in a communal apartment—two families, 5 people in one room and 4 in another.

But we lived at Victory Square—and this was my first stroke of luck!—I went to School No. 50 because it was simply the school in our neighborhood. And it was truly an excellent school with outstanding teachers.

My older brother, a master of sports in wrestling (today he’s the head of a large engineering company and a laureate of Belarus’s state prize in science and technology), brought me to a group led by his friend, Oleg Yakovlevich Raikhlin—I got lucky again. Then came the polytechnic institute—also a good school. And I got lucky again; there was an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Systems, the late Robert Ivanovich Zapatrin. Obsessed with programming and invention, he inspired many students, including me.»

When asked about universities, I often answer that our education is quite competitive even today. Though I know that when people read this, I’ll likely have many opponents who understand the problems of education in Belarus much better than I do. But unfortunately, this is an international problem. I know what I’m talking about: my older daughter finished school and university in America. And I see how they teach in the school where my younger daughter studies now, which is far from the worst school.»

Arkady Dobkin graduated from the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute (now the Belarusian National Technical University) with a degree in electrical engineering. We don’t know where he was assigned after university, but we know he began his IT career in Minsk—he worked at several software development companies.

No English and $2K in his pocket

«In 1991, it was possible to go to America through family immigration. My sister had been living in America for 10 years, and my parents insisted that we should all be reunited there. I barely knew English: I could read and write a little as a technical specialist, but couldn’t speak at all. I had $2,000 in my pocket, everything else stayed with the company, and I had a place to stay, which was really quite a lot. That’s it.»

At first, the future founder of EPAM even washed dishes.

Why did you go in the first place? For the American dream?

«In reality, there was no American dream. There was a dream to live normally and do what I enjoyed. I was leaving Belarus at the very end of '91, when nothing was clear about what would happen, how, or when. In Minsk at that time, I already had a programming company, and I really wanted to remain a professional in this field.

In the Soviet Union at that time, private business had just been allowed, and since I was a programmer, I started working in that field. There was a company, probably about 20 people—a programming cooperative, as it was called then.

When leaving, I asked my employees to wait for me for a year. I naively believed that I would somehow figure out how to work together again. But after just a few weeks in America, I realized it was a wild and unrealistic idea and that here I needed to survive.

In the end, his Minsk employees didn’t wait for their leader.

«In 1992, a very serious crisis hit. The Soviet Union collapsed right after I left. Everything changed, and the company and the orders that remained—all of it collapsed and the money depreciated. Several key guys started doing other business, which grew into a company that’s quite well-known in the country today, not related to programming at all. Every time I drive from the airport, I see their advertisement in the city center.»

Brief employment history in the US

The company that hired Dobkin without English was Prudential Insurance, where the immigrant worked as a programmer from 1992 to 1993.

Then in 1993, together with Leonid Lozner, he founded EPAM Systems with headquarters in New Jersey. And it seems he continued to combine business with employment.

From April 1993 to November 1996, Dobkin served as a consultant and lead technical specialist at Colgate Palmolive. He also worked at SAP. And in 1995, Dobkin, along with a group of Minsk programmers who formed the core of EPAM Systems, began working on creating a sales support system for Colgate.

American or Soviet-born?

Dobkin says he never fully became American (supposedly, he still rarely smiles without reason), but he disagrees with stereotypes about Soviet thinking. He believes that being from Belarus doesn’t mean you have a «Soviet mindset,» and conversely, many people with a «Soviet mentality» never lived in the USSR:

«I don’t think Soviet thinking hindered me, and I don’t think that people who come to work for us in Belarus today have Soviet thinking. Besides, over the past 20 years, I’ve seen plenty of Soviet people who never lived in the USSR. When people talk about the 'Sovietness' of thinking, it’s always very relative. Especially if you understand well how life was structured 20-30 years ago in the Soviet Union. Today people can travel almost without restrictions. You can get any visa and go anywhere. There’s unlimited internet—meaning there are no serious information restrictions.» (Who knew that 13 years later these statements would sound prescient—devby).

Accolades and employee respect

Under Dobkin’s leadership, EPAM Systems grew from a small startup into one of the largest IT service corporations in Central and Eastern Europe. In Belarus, EPAM was simply the largest IT company for a long time (at its peak in 2020, nearly 10,000 specialists in production roles) and in some sense the progenitor of Belarusian IT. The local office became one of the first (four companies were accepted simultaneously) residents of the Hi-Tech Park in 2006, and Dobkin himself actively participated in consultations on forming the infrastructure and tax regime for HTP residents.

Throughout his business career, Dobkin has received numerous awards. In 2015, he was inducted into the Academy of Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame. In 2021, he received the Tatra Summit Business Leadership Award from GLOBSEC.

But perhaps the most human title came in 2024 — Most Loved CEOs — from Newsweek. «Like a grandfather to every employee,» wrote commenters under the post about this award.

The EPAM president’s rating among employees (who were surveyed) was likely influenced by his active and caring communication with the team (including help and relocation, of course) against the backdrop of events in 2020-2022. Let’s recall Dobkin’s key messages during this turbulent time:

• «We’ll support everyone, but think about reputation»;
• «We definitely plan to continue working in Belarus»;
• «The war must be stopped NOW. […] At the moment, we are doing absolutely everything in our power to save, help, and support Ukrainian EPAMers and their families materially and financially».

The subsequent crisis in demand for IT solutions and the inevitable unpopular measures at EPAM (as everywhere in the world) may have adjusted emotions and assessments, but the impression remains that the company weathered the dramatic five-year period of 2020-2024 with dignity under Dobkin’s leadership. In difficult moments, they tried to communicate with their people. And in 2025, there were the first signs of recovery from the crisis.

Piper Sandler’s unusual report

Interestingly, investment bank Piper Sandler, which has prepared analytics for EPAM for many years, specifically noted the challenges the company has faced in recent years. In a recent report, its employees departed from standards and included a heartfelt dedication to the EPAM president in their business text.

Ark will have many stories for his grandchildren (will he write a book?). Working with Ark for over 15 years, we’ve seen how skillfully he restructured the company during periods of serious change. It’s easy to admire the average annual revenue growth of 23,2% (2012-2024) and shares that grew by approximately 5,000% from IPO to peak value. But behind these impressive figures were many trials: two wars, a 90% drop in revenue after the largest client, which accounted for over 25% of revenue during the global financial crisis, reduced orders; colossal technological transitions—from local solutions to the cloud, the growth of mobile technologies, and the continuing rise of AI. Eastern Europe is not the easiest place to do business: during one of our investor trips to Ukraine, a car bomb exploded right outside our hotel.

More than 30 years of consistent leadership. Despite difficulties and new opportunities, Ark remained present daily—for employees, clients, and shareholders. Having founded EPAM and led the company for more than 30 years, he demonstrated consistency, dedication, and clear focus. This is truly the end of an era.

Thank you, Ark, for the time spent with us. Rather than lamenting that we will no longer work together, we are grateful for the countless conversations, words of wisdom, and camaraderie we’ve shared over the years.»