Web & mobile apps · AI · CTO on demand

Build the product.Add the AI.Scale without breaking.

The Digital Unicorn is a senior engineering team led by a hands-on CTO. We build your web or mobile app, put AI to work in your business and design systems that stay fast when thousands of users show up.

Book a call with the CTO

See how we help

Free 30-minute call·No obligation

How it fits together

Your product

Web · iOS · Android

AI that works for you

Assistants · Automation · Search

A foundation that holds

APIs · Cloud · Kafka · PostgreSQL

Katherine Ananeva

Founder and CTO

10+

years in IT, from startups to enterprise

60+

projects delivered for founders and growing companies

industries: transit, insurance, SaaS and e-commerce

18K+

members in our tech community

How can we help?

Pick the one that sounds like you. Every path starts with the same free 30-minute call.

You want to build

A web or mobile app, planned, built and launched

Got an idea, a startup or a system that has outgrown itself? We turn it into a working product on web, iOS and Android, and put working software in your hands early.

Web apps

iOS & Android

First version (MVP)

Integrations

Under the hoodAnalyst-led discovery · API-first design · Iterative delivery

Start a build →

You want AI

AI that takes routine work off your team

We find where AI will pay off, build it into your product or daily workflows, and train your people to use it well.

AI assistants

Workflow automation

AI training for teams

Under the hoodLLM assistants · Retrieval over your data · API integrations

Explore AI for my business →

You want a tech leader

A senior CTO on demand

Strategy, team and vendor oversight, and architecture built for heavy load, without a full-time hire.

Fractional CTO

High-load architecture

Technology roadmap

Under the hoodC4 modeling · REST, GraphQL, gRPC · Kafka · PostgreSQL

Meet your CTO →

Why teams choose us

How we work with you.

A CTO in the room

You talk directly to the person who designs the system and answers for the result.

Business first, code second

We start with systems analysis: what the product must do for your customers and your bottom line. Only then do we write code.

Ready to hand over

Clear architecture, written decisions and clean code, so any team can take the product over later. No lock-in, no rewrite.

AI where it pays off

We tell you where AI helps and where it doesn't. If it won't pay off for you, we'll say so.

Interfaces people enjoy. Systems that keep up.

From a rider's ticket to an operator's dashboard to an AI assistant. A few screens from the kinds of products we build.

Good morning

Your ticket

Day pass

Active

Zones 1–2 · valid until 23:59

Next departures

08:12

Line 12

On time

08:20

Line 4

On time

08:31

Line 12

+2 min

Tickets and payments

Mobile app for riders

app.example.com/operations

Operations

Overview

Payments

Reports

Settings

Overview

Today

Processed

8,240

+12%

Automated

96%

+4 pts

Needs review

−18%

#48213

Bank payout batch

$1,240

Done

#48214

Regulatory report

12 files

Sent

#48215

Partner sync

$310

Review

Operations dashboard

Payments, reports and exceptions in one place

Assistant

Online

Which invoices are overdue this week?

4 invoices are overdue, $12,430 in total. The oldest is 9 days late.

Send reminders

Export list

Send reminders to all four.

Ask anything

AI assistant

Answers and actions over your own data

Illustrative screens with sample data. Client names and logos are not shown.

Results, not promises

A few outcomes from projects our CTO has led.

4 mo

Idea to working MVP

Contactless ticketing platform for public transit, serving 15,000 riders a day.

−80%

Less manual processing

Manual processing reduced by 80% on an insurance platform.

+30%

Higher booking conversion

Booking conversion up 30% on an e-commerce event-booking platform.

See all results

How it works

Four steps. No jargon.

Free intro call

30 minutes. You describe the goal, we tell you what it takes and whether we're the right fit.

Clear plan

Scope, architecture, timeline and budget in plain language, so you know exactly what you're buying.

Build in short cycles

You see working software early and often, and steer before small issues become big ones.

Launch and grow

We release, then keep going: scaling, support and team training.

Not sure where to start?

Book 30 minutes. Get a straight answer.

Tell us your goal, your idea or your problem. You'll leave the call knowing exactly what to do next, whether or not we end up working together.

Best fit

Founders with an idea

Growing companies with software that can't keep up

Teams ready to adopt AI

Book a free intro call

Meet your CTO

I'm Katherine Ananeva, founder and CTO of The Digital Unicorn. I turn complex business problems into systems that work, and I stay hands-on: architecture, team and delivery.

I also run GetAnalyst, an international school for systems analysts and architects, so I stay close to how the best teams actually work. Tell me what you want to build, and I'll tell you how.

Conference speaker

Published author

HBS Online: AI Essentials for Business

Read the full profile

Katherine Ananeva

Founder and CTO, The Digital Unicorn

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Prefer email? k@the-digital-unicorn.com·LinkedIn