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Dwarf Engineering is a team where engineering precision meets the basement romance of “dungeons” and ambitions for global technological leadership. We spoke with Vladyslav Piotrovskyi (CEO), Oleksandra Paramonova (HRD), and Anna Apostol (COO of Mate academy) about how to flash drones 30 times faster, why IT recruiters need to learn the specifics of the defense sector, and why Ukraine is destined to become a global scientific laboratory.

— Your company’s name refers to the image of mythical masters who create artifacts of incredible strength. If you had to describe the “Dwarf Engineering Code,” what three main principles make a product “worthy of the Dwarf name”?
Vladyslav: The name is primarily a joke. In the beginning, we worked in basements and poorly lit places; many engineers said we were working in a “dungeon,” so it became a local joke, and we decided to name ourselves accordingly.
Regarding the principles:We focus on processes. Development must be planned and structured for the entire company.We document everything so that processes can be transferred to others.We always test products at the range to verify performance characteristics (specs).
— You often act as a “bridge” between a founder’s idea and a real product. Tell us about a case where you were approached with an “impossible” request, and how your team transformed that chaos into a working prototype.
Vladyslav: There was a case right at the start when we were asked to create a system for the automatic mass flashing of drones. A partner's factory had production in the thousands, and flashing/re-flashing took a huge amount of time. We made the flashing of the flight controller, radio, and ESC software-parallel, and because of this, the factory began flashing 30 times more drones in the same amount of time.
— In defense, there is always a temptation to do things faster by sacrificing details. Where do you draw the line between “good enough for the front” and “unacceptable for our standards”?
Vladyslav: A certain line is drawn within the framework of the business that keeps companies moving — we can mass-produce a product that already solves a specific problem. But this line is one thing for the business, another for the engineers, and a third for the clients. For a business, it’s crucial to understand which line you crossed and when. To make something perfectly well requires a lot of money: to use guidance perfectly, you need to set limits on it and devise application tactics. We still have a long way to go to reach the ideal technology that exists in our heads.

— Engineering is about precision. How does the realization that your product might end up in a soldier's hands on the front line change your attention to details?
Vladyslav: It’s about attention to the client and the user, and it’s not just a realization but a well-established process. We have people who communicate with the military; we have veteran employees who served in units specializing in UAVs; and we have feedback from clients. Just thinking about it isn't enough; you need established actions so you don't produce sh*t. Sometimes caring for the client generates features that aren't actually needed in reality if you stay in a bubble. Feedback is one of the problems in Defense Tech that we, as a company, solve for ourselves.
— Being part of Techosystem Defense is not just about being present in a chat. How exactly has the cluster’s support helped Dwarf Engineering “cut corners”?
Vladyslav: I needed a car for a target on a range. They moved quickly and shared contacts. There was also a request for range equipment; I turned to the cluster, and they quickly provided me with contacts of people who had that equipment.
— Dwarf also consults other startups. Why is sharing expertise within the cluster more beneficial today than keeping everything a secret?
Vladyslav: It’s a community. You get much more information in a community than in private communication. Talking to more people provides more benefit than one-on-one interactions.

— What type of mindset do you look for in the people who join your company? What makes a person a “Dwarf”?
Oleksandra: Helicopter view and divergent thinking. Whether a person is a “match” or not is something we understand at the very early stages because "culture fit" is a vital stage for us. It starts from the very first contact with a recruiter and ends with the final stage — a culture fit interview with our C-level. We have specific points that we consider and evaluate in candidates. Since we have established teams, we understand their skills, vision, interests, and psychotypes, and we select people for teams based on these factors.
— Launching a training module for recruiters together with Mate academy is an atypical move. What “pain” in talent sourcing was the last straw that forced you to go beyond your own shop and start teaching the market?
Oleksandra: Our HR team doesn’t stand still because the defense sector is evolving. Defense is a “closed” sphere, misunderstood by ordinary IT folks and employees of non-tech companies. We have to show what is happening here and how. By doing so, we increase the market of candidates who want to work in defense by helping them understand the general “rules” of our field. This module is a basic transmission of how things work here. Secondly, it’s about training recruiters so they understand that hiring here differs from other fields and that hiring in defense is more complex. There wasn't a "last straw"; it’s just a widespread problem in the sector that people don’t know what’s happening because it simply isn't talked about.

— What effect do you expect to see for the entire Ukrainian defense cluster in a year, once graduates of this module start working in startup teams?
Oleksandra: There will be an increase in the number of recruiters who are familiar with hiring cycles and have an understanding of the internal processes of defense companies. This will help specialists from other fields understand what to expect when they are hired by defense companies.
Anna Apostol: We expect to see a qualitative shift in how MilTech startups build their teams. Currently, one of the key problems in the defense cluster is not just a lack of engineers or developers, but a lack of people who understand the specifics of hiring in this field — specifically security requirements, non-typical engineering roles, etc. When graduates of this module, which is part of our general Recruitment course at Mate academy, start working in startups, hiring processes will become faster and teams stronger. This directly impacts the speed at which real defense solutions are developed and deployed in the field.
— If we look 5-10 years ahead: how do you see the role of the Ukrainian engineering school in the world?
Vladyslav: We (the Dwarf co-founders, Vladyslav and Oleksandr) sincerely believe that Ukraine has the opportunity to become a technological leader for the world and to revive its business-technological agency globally. This depends heavily on people, and companies, first and foremost, are talent forges. Business shapes science, and we plan to invest seriously in Ukrainian education. We want to turn Ukraine into a tech hub, a scientific laboratory, and create a conveyor belt for startups, companies, and technical talent here.