Why Russia’s AI Market Moves Slower—and Smarter—Than the Global One

While the global AI race often prizes speed and hype, Russia’s approach to artificial intelligence is markedly more deliberate. That’s according to Dmitry Yudin, head of AI at Cloud.ru, who told RIA Novosti that Russian companies are testing solutions longer and waiting for measurable business impact before scaling. “The Russian market is more conservative—both in cloud and AI. Providers have to focus on real value, not buzz,” Yudin said.

Rather than overhauling entire processes, Russian firms typically start with practical, high-ROI applications: AI assistants, text and code tools, analytics, customer support bots, and internal knowledge bases. These are easier to deploy, integrate into daily workflows, and evaluate for effectiveness.

Yudin emphasized that there’s a wide gap between using standalone AI tools and embedding AI into core business operations. The latter forces companies to tackle data governance, security, infrastructure, metrics, and accountability—where most friction emerges.

Another distinctive trend: growing interest in cloud and hybrid AI deployment models. Training and running models demand heavy compute, making it economically unwise for many firms to buy and maintain their own hardware. “The market is moving from model experiments to a platform approach,” Yudin said. “Businesses need tools that let them run quick pilots, validate results, and scale what works.”