A Conversation With Ilia Kiselevich, CEO at SolveIt

Welcome to this exclusive interview with Ilia Kiselevich, Founder and CEO of SolveIt. With nearly a decade of experience, Ilia has been at the forefront of building innovative mobile and web solutions that help startups and SMBs succeed in competitive markets.

Ilia believes technology is more than just code – it’s about solving real problems and helping businesses grow in meaningful ways. His passion for building strong client relationships and delivering results has been key to SolveIt’s success.

Thanks so much, Ilia, for taking the time to chat with us and share your story!

Good to have you with us today. Welcome to TechBehemoths! To set the mood, please tell us a little about yourself. We would love to hear about your childhood, your educational journey, and the path of your professional growth that has led you to where you are now.

Thanks for having me! I was born in Belarus, in a very small and ordinary town. As a kid, I was fascinated by computers – mostly because I wanted to play games – but that curiosity quickly turned into a love for math, physics, and technology. I was always drawn to competition, and I was lucky to have great teachers and friends: in school, I took part in olympiads, including competitive programming, which gave me a real head start in IT. By the time I finished school, I’d gotten a fair amount under my belt – and that foundation made everything else move faster.

At the same time, I was drawn to entrepreneurship. I always wanted to control my own path, make my own decisions, and see a direct impact from my efforts. Funny enough, even the games I loved as a kid were real-time strategies – building systems, creating empires, making fast decisions while keeping a long-term plan. In hindsight, that wasn’t so different from running a company. Maybe those “wasted hours” in games were actually early training for business :)

That’s why even before I turned 20, I started SolveIt. For me, entrepreneurship has always been the ultimate form of self-realization: it’s where freedom, responsibility, and creativity meet. And it comes with one of the greatest privileges – you get to choose the people around you. Not random classmates or colleagues by chance, but the smartest, most driven people you want to grow with. That’s a big part of what I love about building a company.

And that mix is what’s driven me from the start – and still drives me today.

What inspired you to launch SolveIt, and what is its story? What are the underlying philosophy and core values of your business?

For me, SolveIt has always been about three things: People, Technology, and Growth.

People – because without the right people, even the best idea or technology won’t get anywhere. Technology – because it’s the tool we use to build solutions that actually make a real impact. Growth – because without it, nothing survives.

Our core philosophy hasn’t changed: we don’t create “apps”, we develop solutions with a business heartbeat. And our values stay the same: clarity – real solutions, no empty shells, energy – move fast, stay sharp, and partnership – if our clients win, we win.

It’s not about “writing software”. We’re here to build products – sustainable, profitable, and designed with great user experience at their core.

Whether you’re a startup founder chasing a bold idea or a business solving concrete challenges, we act as true partners, not just executors. That means a personal approach, a long-term vision, and a win-win mindset. Sometimes we even sacrifice short-term gains – because what matters is building products that last, and winning big together.

You often help clients assess whether AI development is truly necessary for their app projects. Could you share an example of a situation where AI was the right fit and an example where AI was not the right choice for a project, and how that decision benefited the client in the long run?

OpenAI is a game-changing technology, but let’s be honest – it’s become trendy to stick “AI” on every pitch deck. Not every app needs it, and forcing AI where it doesn’t belong is a fast way to waste money and time.

I’ve been working with AI since my very first commercial project – handwriting recognition for a chess app. Players would upload a photo of their handwritten moves, and the system reconstructed the game to replay or analyze it. Back then, we had to build everything from scratch: algorithms, training logic, and data. Today, with OpenAI and niche models, it’s far easier. But the lesson is the same: real AI solutions are expensive and data-hungry. If you don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars and a clear use case, don’t reinvent the wheel – use ready-made models to validate your idea first.

A good example: right now we’re integrating an AI chatbot into a healthcare solution. It processes large sets of custom data and delivers valuable insights to both doctors and patients. That’s AI used right – solving a real, high-value problem.

A bad example: a startup that wanted to add an “AI login with selfies” and a chatbot to talk about the weather. What they actually needed was a simple login and a push notification. Adding AI there would’ve delayed launch, burned budget, and added zero tangible value. We convinced them to skip it, and as a result, they shipped faster, cheaper, and started earning sooner.

That’s the key: AI is powerful, but only when it’s a solution to a real problem – not just a shiny label.

SolveIt has a strong focus on Flutter for cross-platform solutions. What makes Flutter your framework of choice? What do you love most about it?

True, at SolveIt, we became early adopters of Flutter since its release in 2017. We saw its potential to solve a very practical problem: how to deliver high-quality, cross-platform apps quickly without multiplying development resources.

Many of our clients come to us with ambitious ideas but operate in limitations – business is rarely about walking through open doors. They need solutions that can gain traction fast and iterate based on real user feedback. Flutter lets us do exactly that. Its single codebase reduces duplication of effort, speeds up development, and makes maintenance far easier, so we can focus on adding features that truly matter to users rather than juggling separate iOS and Android teams.

What I love most about Flutter is how it aligns with our philosophy of meaningful technology: we can rapidly prototype, experiment, and validate ideas, giving clients the agility to test the market and adapt quickly. This not only saves time and money but also ensures the product we ship actually solves the problems it’s meant to, rather than being constrained by platform limitations. Flutter is a tool that amplifies the impact of our work and the potential of our clients’ projects.

Nearly one-third of SolveIt’s work involves "project rescue." Could you share an example of a challenging rescue project you tackled and explain how your team successfully turned it around? Additionally, what advice would you give to companies to help them avoid ending up in a "rescue" situation in the first place?

“Project rescue” sounds dramatic, but it’s not always about saving something that’s on fire. Very often, the project looks perfectly fine on paper: deadlines are met, code is delivered, and even users are there. But when you look deeper, you see that it has no future.

We’ve seen it in different ways. Sometimes the tech stack or architecture just wasn’t designed for growth – it runs today, but every new feature becomes a struggle. Sometimes the issue is with the team setup: you’ve got developers, but no business analyst or designer, so the product decisions are made in a vacuum. And sometimes, it’s just a lack of strategy – the product is built for today, but the question of what's next is open: how to scale, monetize, or prepare for investors.

I recall a proptech startup that chose Rust with Xamarin for their mobile app. For the given type of business requirements and future scope, this combination was a challenge. Especially the backend, where the logic was processed on the client side due to the app’s architecture, leaving it unprepared for high user volumes. We managed to reinvent the architecture, fix bugs, and get the project back on track, then our collaboration continued – we started web platform development.

And my advice here is simple: don’t wait for the crisis. You don’t need smoke and flames to realize you might need a different partner. The main thing is to give the product a future.

If it works today but you can’t clearly see how it will grow tomorrow, that’s already a warning sign. Switching teams is never easy, but it’s better than hitting a wall when it’s too late – and at SolveIt, we work with such cases.

SolveIt has a 100% CSAT rating—how do you maintain that level of client satisfaction consistently?

First of all, we don’t hide project names, obscure portfolio links, or conceal our clients (unless they have reasons for that) – it's impossible to talk about trust without transparency. Whenever possible, we meet with them in person, which helps us understand their needs firsthand.

Hitting a 100% satisfaction rate is tough – and that’s what makes it meaningful. Yes, we’re perfectionists, but I would be clear: mistakes happen. If you never make them, you’re probably not pushing hard enough. The real difference comes from transparency, respect, and the ability to find the best solution in every situation. We don’t do magic, but when you truly listen and take the right micro-steps, the end result can feel a lot like it.

That’s also why SolveIt was never meant to work “at scale” with thousands of clients. Some companies go for volume and lose the soul of the work. We chose the opposite path: a limited number of partners, so we can give each one real attention, quality service, and fight for their success as if it were our own. With ten or fifteen clients, that’s possible. With a thousand – it isn’t.

What’s your vision for SolveIt over the next decade?

Over the next decade, SolveIt will keep doing what we love most: helping founders and companies create, launch, and rescue digital products – and turn them into real businesses.

For startups, that means building products that don’t just look cool but can actually become companies. For businesses, it’s three things: cut costs, grow revenue, or unlock entirely new streams of income.

We’ll double down on AI, not as a buzzword, but as a tool to make this happen faster and smarter. At the same time, we’re running our own product lab – small experiments today, but with big ambitions. That experience makes us sharper consultants, because we don’t just talk about product-market fit and monetization, we live it ourselves.

Right now, SolveIt is known for building great mobile and web apps. Ten years from now, I want us to be known for something bigger: creating products and businesses that survive, scale, and print money.

If you weren’t running SolveIt, what do you think you’d be doing right now?

If I weren’t running SolveIt, I’d still be building something around people, technology, and money – that’s where my energy is. Maybe a startup in fintech or even digital governance, maybe a network for founders, maybe something that delivers world-class service to entrepreneurs.

And if I had the luxury of time? Honestly, I’d build a luxury horse riding school – tech-powered, service-obsessed, the same way we run SolveIt. From booking training to stable management, everything is smooth, elegant, and world-class.

I truly believe that if you take any classic business, add sharp processes, powerful tech, a beautiful design, and outstanding service, you get a product, or even a whole experience, that not only delights people but also makes far more money than the competition.

Do you have a hobby or passion that helps you recharge after a busy week?

For recharging, nothing beats sport. I ignored it for a while, but there’s simply no better reset – physically and mentally – than staying consistent with it. I love tennis, and recently I discovered padel: it’s easier, more fun, and great for networking with friends and colleagues.

From the last question, you already know I’m passionate about horses – riding is both powerful and calming, and I just love animals in general. And when I really want to switch off, I go for full-on experiences: spa, massage, bodywork – anything that lets you reset and come back sharper.

And finally, what advice would you give startups or small businesses building their first app?

My advice is simple: don’t fool yourself. Start earning from day one – or you won’t survive. Too many founders tell themselves stories: “let’s just get users first, let’s polish features…” – but unless people are willing to pay for the value you create, your product is just a toy.

Build something that clearly solves a problem and proves its worth in cash. Then test the unit economics early: if you spend $100K on growth, can you reliably pull out at least $120K, $150K, $200K? If not, investors won’t care, and neither will the market. 2025 and the future belong to startups that are profitable, scalable, and disciplined about their margins.

Unless, of course, you’re Sam Altman building the next AGI – then maybe burning billions is part of the plan :) For everyone else: get profitable, and do it fast.

Thanks, Ilia - it’s been great hearing your story and getting a peek into the work you’re doing at SolveIt!

SolveIt is one of the leading companies on TechBehemoths. If you like this interview and think that Ilia and his team can help your business, don't hesitate to contact them via TechBehemoths or discover the agency on social media: LinkedIn.