Exceptional Engineering: Leading the Future of AI Governance

Exceptional Engineering: Leading the Future of AI Governance

As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms global industries, the greatest challenge is no longer building autonomous systems; — it is governing them in real production environments. For Maryna Didkovska, Senior Director, Technology Solutions at EPAM Systems, this comes with new daily operational realities. 

Based in Budapest, Maryna oversees an organization of more than 2,000 professionals across 15 countries, working with high-stakes domains like healthcare and financial services. Her journey from studying computer vision systems to shaping how global enterprises manage neural networks has earned her international recognition. This summer, Maryna was recognized by the WomenTech Network among 30 Exceptional Women in Engineering Leadership for 2026. This list honors strong leaders who  solve complex problems at scale and pave the way for a more inclusive future.

We spoke with Maryna about what this recognition means, how governance is changing the industry and how she is shaping the future of tech. 

Observing AI Governance

When Maryna first received the award notification, she thought the email was spam. But as she reviewed the list of winners representing organizations like Meta, IBM, Anthropic and NVIDIA, reality set in.

“To see that EPAM was there, and I’m a representative on that list,  — to me, it means we are really doing the right things,” Maryna says. “It surprised me that AI governance was recognized, because it's absolutely new. The market is still talking about AI enablement and adoption, but this recognition is for making AI smart, safe, transparent and manageable.”

For Maryna, responsible engineering means understanding what you can control.

“It’s not about velocity,” Maryna explains. “It’s asking how we can move fast but safely. It’s like driving a racecar. [We ask,] what can you control in the real world? What is actually manageable? These are things we have to find out.”

Testing the Unpredictable

The rapid rise of generative AI has completely shifted how quality engineers evaluate systems. In June 2026, Maryna attended the EuroSTAR conference in Oslo, where the transformation of the testing profession was on full display.

She notes that the current industry is caught mid-change. On one side are deterministic, safety-critical systems where defects are either present or absent. On the other side is the fast-arriving reality of testing LLMs live and securing them against new vulnerabilities.

“It’s no longer about pass or fail,” Maryna says. “It is about whether the model behavior stayed in-bounds.”

This shift makes human judgment more critical than ever. As machines take on more of the routine tests, engineers must apply deeper critical thinking to define what is ‘good enough’ when more general outputs are likely.

Understanding Efficiency

While AI is an incredibly efficient tool, Maryna is quick to remind her teams that machines are not human. During a series of workshops for her practice, she shared a simple, memorable piece of advice: don't say hello to an LLM.

The goal is to teach teams how inputs and outputs work together. By adding unnecessary words to a prompt, users can hurt the efficiency and accuracy of the output.

“It’s very important to understand what’s ‘under the hood,’” Maryna explains. “We must stop seeing LLMs as being smart. They are smart mechanisms — created by human beings. Most of these tools provide an average of all the knowledge they have access to, both good and bad.”

What surprises her most about the current technology wave is how it is often used to take on the cognitive load instead of the technical one. When it comes to routine tasks and creativity, Maryna notes that delegating human creativity is not the goal. 

“It should be the exact opposite: we see how things should work, and then we have AI assist us, to increase our capacity,” she explains. She notes that while AI can be particularly useful in supporting some of the more process-heavy aspects of marketing, or reshaping technical information for different audiences, we should limit how much we delegate creativity and ideation to an LLM. It starts with more conscious use by professionals.  

“It is something I would like to see shift in a healthy direction,” she says. “There are specialties and roles that need more creativity and out-of-the-box thinking than others. We do not want AI to replace that. This change is not a comfortable zone for many people.”  

Resilience and Shared Values

Reflecting on her career and the unpredictability of the last few years, Maryna credits the culture at EPAM for keeping teams focused and successful. Operating across multiple regions and navigating global dynamics requires more than just great tooling. 

“Resilience is in our DNA,” Maryna says. “Recent times have shown how well our teams can adapt as circumstances change. Even now, when we talk about AI, we talk about the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). We don’t think in isolation, because we have so much wonderful experience on our side.” She compares EPAM’s engineering expertise and determination to a backbone; the market, our capabilities and tooling can change, but much of what we work toward and stand for remains the same. 

When asked about her mentors, she lists many. “Everyone we work with educates us; they shape and guide us as professionals,” Maryna emphasizes. “Sometimes we mentor our colleagues, and other times they mentor us.” She notes that true mentorship is not about reporting lines; it is about the mutual exchange that happens every day when working alongside sharp, generous and curious people.

“Our shared work values are what keep us invested,” she says. “A team that has the best AI and the best tooling but opposing values may struggle to succeed. But if we share the same work values, as EPAMers, we can create a great deal together.”

As the technology landscape shifts, EPAMers like Maryna are turning unpredictable challenges into opportunities for growth and collaboration. Bring your critical thinking and unique perspective to a global team where continuous learning is built into the culture. Ready for your next step? Join teams that are defining the future of technology and explore open roles at EPAM today: epam.com/careers