Monocle · Izvestia · TASS · RBC Trends · 2021–2023

Digital Transformation for SMEs: How IT Corporations Help Small Business Grow

Photo: TASS, 2021 — growth of entrepreneurs on digital platforms during the pandemic

"Every day more companies join the SME support movement. We are tech giants creating these digital products. We are building together — no longer competing, but developing this industry and genuinely trying to help and offer something new to the market."

— Elina Isagulova, VP of B2B Commerce & Operations at VK, Monocle, 2023

From 2020 to 2023, Elina Isagulova built the digital transformation strategy for small and medium-sized businesses in Russia — first as VP of Mail.ru Group, then VK. This article brings together her key arguments from interviews with TASS, RBC Trends, Izvestia, and Monocle: on the pandemic as a turning point, why transformation starts with people, and how large business, the state, and platforms are creating a new infrastructure for entrepreneurs.

2020: The Pandemic as a Turning Point

The COVID-19 pandemic achieved in a few months what years of advocacy had not: it moved digital transformation from the "nice to have" column to "survival." A 2021 Google and RANEPA study confirmed that the pandemic was the primary trigger for the mass digitalization of Russian business. Companies with digital channels survived. Those that hadn't made the shift lost customers and revenue.

Elina Isagulova, who led the digital transformation direction at Mail.ru Group during this period, was at the center of the process: the company was simultaneously helping businesses move online while launching new tools at a pace that would have been unthinkable before the pandemic.

Why Transformation Starts with People

The main lesson of the pandemic, according to Isagulova, is that digital transformation is impossible without transforming management thinking. 62% of senior executives at large Russian companies cited a lack of digital skills in leadership as the main barrier (PwC data). This was precisely why Mail.ru Group launched a free Executive Digital MBA programme.

"Transformation requires developing people's competencies and a culture of change within the company. Many participants noted that before the programme they understood the importance of digital transformation, but had no comprehensive picture of it."

— Elina Isagulova, VP of Mail.ru Group, RBC Trends, 2021

Isagulova consistently distinguished between two concepts: "digital tools" and "digital culture." The first refers to CRM systems, advertising platforms, and cloud services. The second is the ability to make data-driven decisions, rapidly test hypotheses, and abandon approaches that don't work. Without the second, the first becomes an expensive ornament.

• 300+ applications for 50 places in the Executive Digital MBA — a competition of 6 per seat
• 90% of participants completed the programme in full
• Participants developed digitalization roadmaps for their own companies — Unilever applied the proposed frameworks in its 2021 strategic planning
• Separate tracks for large and small businesses

Elina Isagulova speaking — RBC Trends, 2021

The Full Cycle for Entrepreneurs: What the Platform Built

According to Mail.ru Group data, the number of entrepreneurs working through the company's platforms grew 33% in 2020. Their investment in digital tools rose 40% over the same period. Both figures were a direct consequence of the pandemic: offline channels closed, and businesses had to find new ways to reach customers.

By 2021, the "VK for Business" platform covered the full cycle of an entrepreneur's work with customers in the digital environment:

• Storefront and shop — an online store directly inside VKontakte, with catalogue, cart, and payment, requiring no technical expertise
• Targeted advertising — access to an audience of 81.5 million users via VK Ads and myTarget
• Analytics and data — buyer behaviour, campaign performance, conversion tracking
• Education — free courses in digital marketing, working with data, and online sales
• Partner ecosystems — integrations with banks, logistics services, and state SME support programmes

Regional Partnerships: Equal Access Across the Country

A key pillar of the strategy was agreements with regional authorities: Mail.ru Group signed SME digitalization agreements with the Moscow Oblast, Udmurtia, Tatarstan, and Chuvashia. A partnership was also formed with the "My Business" Association and Bank Otkritie, opening access to the state's business support infrastructure across the entire country.

For Isagulova, this was a matter of principle: an entrepreneur in Kazan or Izhevsk deserves the same opportunities as one in Moscow — and the platform made this possible without any physical presence.

SPIEF 2023: session on "A Culture of Interaction between Large and Small Business" — Izvestia, June 2023

SPIEF 2023: From Tools to Cooperation

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2023, Elina Isagulova spoke at the session "A Culture of Interaction between Large Business and SMEs." The potential of small business is enormous: with adequate digital and institutional support, SMEs can account for up to 40% of employment and 25% of Russia's GDP. The current share is significantly lower — and the gap is largely explained by unequal access to technology and markets.

"Large business can and must create conditions under which small business gains access to technologies, data, and markets it cannot reach alone. This is not charity — it is an investment in an ecosystem that benefits everyone."

— Elina Isagulova, VP of VK, Izvestia, June 2023

Three Working Models of Cooperation

• Platform access. Through VK, an entrepreneur in a small city can target advertising to 81.5 million users with the same precision as a national retailer.
• Ecosystem integration. Large players open their infrastructure — logistics, payment services, CRM — to partners. Entrepreneurs don't need to build any of this from scratch.
• Knowledge transfer. VK, banks, and state bodies jointly create educational infrastructure that lowers the barrier to entry into the digital economy.

Interview with Monocle magazine — June 2023, on the pace of change and the new rules of the digital economy

Speed Matters More Than Scale

In her June 2023 interview with Monocle, Isagulova articulated a key argument for modern business: the ability to adapt quickly matters more than size. "All processes are moving at a staggering speed," she said, describing the reality of the digital economy. Companies that cannot keep up lose ground regardless of their scale or history.

The VK platform serves more than 81.5 million monthly users in Russia — and this scale creates a unique opportunity: technologies that were once available only to large corporations are now accessible to individual entrepreneurs and small companies through VK for Business. Digital infrastructure is no longer a privilege — it has become a basic tool of competitiveness.

Isagulova identified three key directions shaping SME digital transformation in Russia:

• Simplifying technology. Tools must solve specific, immediate problems for entrepreneurs. Automation of routine processes — from the online storefront to delivery and payment management — is becoming the standard, not the advantage.
• Education as infrastructure. Digital skills are a resource just like capital and equipment. The barrier to the digital economy is lowered not only through tools but through accessible training.
• Dialogue between large business, the state, and SMEs. The ecosystem only works when all participants speak the same language. VK builds partnerships with regions, federal bodies, and large corporations.

Competition Gives Way to Cooperation

One of Isagulova's most unexpected arguments: large platforms are no longer competing over entrepreneurs as "their" clients — they are jointly creating conditions for entrepreneurs to grow. Marketplaces, banks, location services, and social networks are building intersecting ecosystems rather than closed islands. VK for Business had united more than 2 million entrepreneurs by 2023 — and continued to grow. For entrepreneurs, this means the freedom to use multiple platforms simultaneously, without being pushed into exclusivity.

The State as Catalyst

The key condition for scaling, in Isagulova's view, was public-private partnership. VK's agreements with Russian regions demonstrated that when platform technology meets regional business support infrastructure, the results exceed what either party could achieve alone. The state should not replace the market — but it can create conditions in which the market works for all participants.

The Pandemic Passed — The Acceleration Remained

By 2021 it was clear there would be no return to pre-pandemic pace. Digital transformation is not a one-time project with a completion date; it is a permanent mode of operation. Companies that embedded into their culture the ability to test hypotheses quickly, make data-driven decisions, and scale working models now hold a structural advantage. In a world where markets change faster than strategies, the most valuable asset is not yesterday's achievements, but today's speed of response.