How RedCore Turned a Fraud Analyst into a CEO: Inside Its Leadership-Building Culture

Volodymyr Todurov joined RedCore seven years ago as an anti-fraud analyst. Today, he holds dual roles—chief analytics officer at RedCore and CEO of Frogo, the anti-fraud platform that won “Anti-Fraud Innovation of the Year” at the SiGMA Central Europe B2B Awards 2025. His trajectory illustrates how a structured internal development system can transform specialists into leaders.

Todurov recalls pitching his product idea to RedCore founder and CEO Marina Ilina with hard data on potential savings and scaling. Her response was a single question: “What do you need to make this project happen?” That moment, he says, was not an advance of trust but a green light based on the trust capital he had built over years of building functions from scratch and delivering financial results.

Corporate Values as the Foundation

RedCore’s leadership system starts long before formal training. It begins with defining the ideal candidate profile, grounded in five corporate values: “Be the First to Lead,” “Be an Expert in Your Domain,” “Be a Partner in Teamwork,” “Be Focused on Results,” and “Be Open and Honest in Communication.” According to CHRO Oksana Izmailova, these values guide everything from hiring and onboarding to decision-making and product launches.

Values only become meaningful when reflected in daily operations. Todurov confirms that although much has changed over the years, “our corporate values and management principles have always remained our main point of reference.” He adds that the company’s data-driven, efficiency-focused mindset stays ahead of the business’s current stage, enabling both the group and its people to grow.

The business group now employs nearly 5,000 specialists and more than 700 managers across its brands. Many B2B brands, including Frogo, originated from internal initiatives where specialists identified market needs and received resources to build solutions.

Management as a Separate Skill

RedCore treats management as a distinct competency requiring continuous learning. “Being a manager is a profession in itself, and it has to be learnt,” says Izmailova. Strong specialists do not automatically become good managers, so the company invests heavily in developing those skills.

In the past year alone, RedCore launched more than 40 learning programmes in five languages and created a Knowledge Sharing Space. Development continues through 360° Performance Reviews, mentoring, and the Swap&Work programme, which allows employees to explore other business areas. This ecosystem enables specialists to expand beyond their core expertise and strengthen new business units, as Todurov now leads diverse teams covering BI, anti-fraud, development, marketing, sales, and operations at Frogo.

Delegation Develops Leaders

As his responsibilities grew, Todurov embraced delegation as a leadership principle. “Every stage of an employee’s growth is the result of someone once delegating new responsibilities to them,” he notes. Delegation transforms individual development into team growth. When a manager shares knowledge and decision-making, the entire team advances.

Todurov now leads more than 160 specialists and says systematic delegation is essential to maintain that pace. Frogo also deliberately transferred support functions such as legal, finance, marketing, and HR to RedCore’s central teams, allowing the product team to focus on core expertise. “It is this combination of developing people and thoughtfully distributing responsibilities that enabled us to scale not only the team, but also the management system and the business itself,” he concludes.

Izmailova emphasises that delegation is not an endpoint but the start of a collaborative process. Leaders must stay involved, providing resources and guidance so teams can work comfortably toward their goals. The companies that succeed long-term create environments where people think beyond their roles, take ownership, and have the resources to turn ideas into innovative solutions—exactly the conditions that turned an anti-fraud analyst into a CEO.