FORWARD with Valeriya Ionan

What if the most important innovations in modern warfare are coming not from the world’s largest defense companies, but from Ukraine?Ksana Nechyporenko, former Chief of Staff to Ukraine’s Prime Minister and advisor to Ukrainian defense tech company U-Force, joins Valeriya Ionan to explore how Ukraine is turning battlefield experience into global opportunities — and why international investors, governments and defense companies should pay attention.For partnerships, media inquiries and collaboration: ionan.globalFollow Valeriya Ionan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriyaionan/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriya_ionan/Substack: https://substack.com/@valeriyaionan

Warfare evolves in months. Defense procurement can take years. That gap is a security risk.Ukraine’s experience on the frontline has produced something rare: a working model for how defense innovation can actually move fast. Frontline feedback shapes products in real time. Private-sector startups compete openly for military contracts. Bureaucracy is redesigned around urgency, not process.In this episode, I explore what that model looks like in practice. We talk about “creative bureaucracy” and fast-track approval for critical technologies, the role of Brave1 in connecting innovators with real military needs, and why defense today is no longer just hardware. It is software, robotics, AI, electronic warfare, and capital, all moving together as one ecosystem.The question is not whether war has changed. It has. The question is why our institutions are still built for a different era, and what it costs us to leave that gap open.

Leading through uncertainty is the only kind of leadership that matters now. AI is rewriting the rules, crises keep coming, and your next move cannot depend on knowing what happens next.When Valeriya Ionan was building Ukraine’s digital state, a pandemic and a full-scale Russian invasion changed everything: priorities, budgets, timelines. What held was the vision. In this episode she shares what that experience taught her about leading when the future refuses to follow the plan.For advisory work on vision, strategy and digital transformation: ionan.globalFollow Valeriya Ionan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriyaionan/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriya_ionan/Substack: https://substack.com/@valeriyaionan

What is the world still getting wrong about Russia’s war against Ukraine and what would a strategy for victory actually look like?Perry Boyle spent 35 years on Wall Street before February 2022 changed everything. Now he runs MITS Capital, a defense fund with two missions: Russia out and Ukraine in. He joins Valeriya Ionan to challenge the logic of “as long as it takes” and explain why Ukraine belongs at the heart of Europe’s defense architecture.For partnerships, media inquiries and collaboration: ionan.globalFollow Valeriya Ionan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriyaionan/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriya_ionan/Substack: https://substack.com/@valeriyaionan

I spent six years as Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, helping build Diia, the state super-app used by more than 24 million people, and moving Ukraine from 102nd to global top 5 in digital public services — through a pandemic, a full-scale Russian invasion and constant cyberattacks.Today I work at the intersection of AI, government transformation and global partnerships. I host FORWARD with Valeriya Ionan and I am the author of the forthcoming book Government Freestyler.The New Era of Everything is a new FORWARD series about what is already changing and what leaders, governments and founders should start building today.For partnerships and collaboration: ionan.globalFollow me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriyaionan/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriya_ionan/Substack: https://substack.com/@valeriyaionan

Robots are no longer a futuristic story. They are becoming a national economic strategy. In this episode, Valeriya Ionan explores what serious national robotization strategies look like, why human plus robot is the central model, and why countries that wait will become customers of platforms designed by others.For partnerships, media inquiries and collaboration: ionan.globalFollow Valeriya Ionan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriyaionan/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriya_ionan/Substack: https://substack.com/@valeriyaionan

Viktoriia Yaremchuk, Co-Founder & CEO of Farsight Vision, joins Valeriya Ionan to talk about how Ukraine is redefining situational awareness on the battlefield, why Western partners still underestimate digital technologies in modern warfare, and what it takes to bring Ukrainian defense innovations to NATO markets.For partnerships, media inquiries and collaboration: ionan.globalFollow Valeriya Ionan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriyaionan/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriya_ionan/Substack: https://substack.com/@valeriyaionan

FORWARD is back and Valeriya Ionan returns with a new episode and a new season, starting with Artem Moroz, investment lead at Brave1, the defense tech cluster that helped reshape Ukraine's entire defense industry since 2022. They talk about where the real money is moving, what foreign investors consistently get wrong, and why Ukraine's edge in drone warfare and autonomy is far from temporary.For partnerships, media inquiries and collaboration: ionan.globalFollow Valeriya Ionan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriyaionan/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriya_ionan/Substack: https://substack.com/@valeriyaionan

In this new episode with Acting Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Olexander Bornyakov, we dive into:How Ukraine is moving from “country in a smartphone” to an agentic state, where government services are powered by AI agents and delivered through the DIIA ecosystem. Why Ukraine can become one of the first countries to build AI‑driven public services at scale and what DIIA AI will actually look like for citizens and businesses.Tech sovereignty: how Ukraine plans to secure critical technologies, build its own AI Factory and LLM and still stay open for global partnerships and big tech. DIIA City and DIIA City Invest: creating a legal and tax environment where international funds and founders can comfortably build and invest in Ukraine, even during the war.What foreign investors should realistically know about Ukraine right now – the risks, the opportunities, and why honesty and trust matter more than any slide deck.Big trends for the next five years: humanoid robotics, autonomous defense systems, longevity and how AI and crypto may converge into a new financial system. If you are a policymaker, tech founder, investor, or anyone curious about how a wartime country can still lead in digital transformation, this episode is a masterclass in pragmatic vision, courage, and long‑term thinking. 🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube.

In this episode, I speak with Taras Ostapchuk, founder of Ratel, one of the largest UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) producers in Ukraine. What started as a response to real battlefield needs has rapidly scaled into a company producing up to 200 robots per month from combat systems to logistics and evacuation platforms. These robots are used every day on the battlefield, replacing soldiers in dangerous missions, delivering supplies, deploying mines and evacuating the wounded. But this story is bigger than defense. Ukraine is building a new model of innovation - fast, collaborative, and battle-tested. The UGV ecosystem is scaling in real time. We discuss: how war accelerates innovation cycles, why Ukrainian solutions are up to 10x more cost-effective, how UGVs are evolving into dual-use technologies (from firefighting to rescue missions), and why international partnerships are critical to scaling production. If you are interested in partnerships, investments, or collaboration - this is the moment to engage. 🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube.