The Good Tech Companies - How Alexey Marinin Sees the Future of iOS Development in the AI Era

Episode Date: September 17, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/how-alexey-marinin-sees-the-future-of-ios-development-in-the-ai-era. Avito’s Alexey Marinin reveals how AI, SwiftUI, and new workflows are reshaping iOS development, driving efficiency and future-ready apps. Check more stories related to programming at: https://hackernoon.com/c/programming. You can also check exclusive content about #alexey-marinin-ios, #ai-in-ios-development, #swiftui-adoption-2025, #avito-ios-developer, #future-of-mobile-apps, #ai-tools-for-developers, #hybrid-tech-education, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @jonstojanjournalist. Learn more about this writer by checking @jonstojanjournalist's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. Avito Senior iOS Developer Alexey Marinin outlines how AI and SwiftUI are redefining mobile development. From banking to e-commerce, his career highlights how adapting to AI tools, embracing declarative design, and blending bootcamp agility with academic depth prepare developers for a future of smarter, faster, more user-centric apps.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. How Alexei Marenin sees the future of iOS development in the AI era by John Stoy and journalist. Avita's senior iOS developer on turning AI from a threat into a key tool, and why Swift UI is replacing outdated development approaches. The rapid adoption of neural networks and generative AI across the tech industry is reshaping how mobile applications are designed, built, and scaled. According to Gartner, by 2026, more than 80% of enterprises will use generative AI APIs or deploy applications enhanced with generative AI. For iOS developers, this marks a shift not only in tools but in mindset, where adaptability and innovation become prerequisites. This transformation makes the expertise of practitioners who not only apply these technologies but also drive innovation in the industry particularly valuable. Alexei Marinen, senior iOS developer at Avita, Russia's largest tech classifieds platform with over 50 million monthly users, has become one of the leading voices in mobile development under these new conditions.

He is a top-tier specialist who contributed to some of Russia's major companies, Esperbank, the country-largest bank in Europe's leader in POS transactions, MTS, Russia's largest mobile carrier, OZON, a major e-commerce platform, and Proemansibis Bank. At OZON, one of Alexei's standout achievements was creating an analytics system that allowed the company to secure a major discount from a leading Russian advertising agency by connecting app data with external marketing insights. He also built advanced tools to fine-tune ad targeting and recommendations, boosting overall business efficiency. He shared his vision of how current changes are affecting iOS development, specifically highlighting the potential of Swift UI as a next-generation user interface framework and the role of artificial intelligence. in shaping the engineering process. Kia trends, AI, remote work, and rising competition over the past few years, the IT landscape has undergone a major transformation. According to Marenin, three trends dominate the conversation,

the mainstream adoption of AI tools, the normalization of remote work, and the intensifying competition for tech talent across borders. Tools like GitHub co-pilot and chat GPT are no longer experimental. They're part of a developer's daily toolkit. AI speeds up coding, helps with design, and even reviews code. It's no longer just about writing code. What matters now is how effectively you can work with AI assistance and get the most out of them, notes the expert.

Remote work, which was still uncommon in 2022, became the standard by 2025. This opened up the global job market, but also heightened competition. Developers worldwide now compete for the same positions. positions. In this environment, it's no longer enough to master technology, developers must actively improve their communication, critical thinking, and ability to align engineering with business goals. Experience across giants. From banking conservatism to e-commerce agility Marine's diverse experience in companies of various sizes and industries gives them a unique

understanding of contrasting approaches to development. Throughout this career, Alexei has contributed to projects of varying scale and focus. As lead iOS engineer at Proemansibus Bank, he works on Russia's first digital currency initiative. As lead iOS engineer at OZon, he led the design and implementation of analytics and monetization systems for over 100 million users. As senior iOS engineer at MTS, he developed financial and investment libraries, and he began his career at Esper Bank as an iOS engineer, creating process mining and analytical applications. His work spans traditional financial institutions and dynamic marketplace platforms, each with its own technological requirements. In banks, the processes are conservative, rare releases, a strong emphasis on security,

and continued support for legacy devices. In e-commerce and classifieds like Ozan and Evita, it's the opposite, fast weekly releases, heavy test automation, and flexible, low bureaucracy teams. In banking, according Toloxi's observations, teams are more hierarchical, with a higher share of analysts and managers compared to developers, and applications must often support outdated devices. In Ozan and Evita, teams are autonomous, roles are blurred, and companies adopt the newest technologies, including backend-driven UI, which allows rapid experimentation without releasing a new version. Banking development reminded him of internal processes at large corporations, long cycles and a strong focus on stability. E-commerce, by contrast, operates more like a startup, lean, product

focused and innovation-driven. Understanding this difference helps developers select the most suitable approach for each project. 2025. A turning point for Swift UI and AIAD option carefully monitoring industry trends. Alexei identifies 2025 as a turning point for iOS development. Swift UI is becoming the default framework and will replace older methods in the next few years. But more importantly, AI is being adopted at scale. We've stopped seeing AI as a threat and now use and now use it as a productivity tool and idea generator. As an active judge and mentor at hackathons including Globy Awards for Technology, Leaders of Digital, and the IAAHD Lifestyle Hackathon, and author of professional articles, Marinen observes innovation at its earliest stages. Startups are

using AI for rapid prototyping. This isn't just a tech trend. It's a mindset shift, from fearing AI to collaborating with it. From a technical standpoint, iOS translates this into an increased emphasis on the declarative approach of Swift UI, a stronger culture of writing tests with frameworks such as XC test and XCUI test, which existed before but are now being applied more systematically, as the approach to using technologies has changed significantly and DevOps integration with tools like Xcode Cloud, all of which accelerate development cycles while improving application quality. The realities of I in development, limits and possibilities yet AI still has limitations, especially in large-scale projects. In big codebases, AI mostly helps with simple tasks

like test generation or auto-complete in Xcode, Marenin explains. It can't yet handle complex context-specific logic, but startups and small teams are using it effectively for prototyping. He emphasizes that AI will not replace iOS developers, it will handle routine tasks while developers focus on more valuable activities. Coding accounts for less than half of the work, the rest includes gathering requirements, evaluation, and communication. Additionally, security considerations prevent companies from uploading proprietary code to cloud-based AI services. Product design, architectural decisions, and U-X optimizations still require human expertise, especially given the App Store's strict guidelines and iOS-specific performance requirements. Developing expertise through

mentorship and industry B-U-I-L-D-I-N-GAs a member of the International Association of High- Qualified software developers, I-A-H-D, and a master's degree holder in computer science, Marinen actively contributes to the professional community. He views peer learning and mentoring as one of the most essential skills for staying relevant in a rapidly evolving industry. Publishing articles and judging hackathons help you stay in touch with tech trends, learn from others, and build expertise. It also improves your ability to explain complex concepts in simple terms, a vital skill for working in teams, an expert says. He got his start at the Innovative School 21, a Russian branch of Echol 42.

For long-term growth, he combines boot camp-style practical training with university education to strengthen theoretical foundations and believes in solid theoretical knowledge. His advice for beginners, use a hybrid approach. Boot camps give you up-to-date skills and help you land a job fast, but they often lack depth. University education provides theoretical knowledge, but IT can become outdated. The best path is not to choose between the two, but to combine them. Start with intensive programs like Echol 42 to gain practical skills and quickly enter the profession, and then strengthen your background with academic education to build

the theoretical foundations necessary for long-term career growth. Alexei explains that university programs, despite being slow to adapt to industry trends, offer an unmatched depth of fundamental knowledge, crucial for engineers who want to grow over decades. Boot camps, in contrast, are shorter, highly relevant to market demands, and help students quickly understand whether the profession suits them. However, without a strong theoretical base, the knowledge from such courses eventually becomes insufficient. That is why, Marinen argues, the hybrid path allows specialists to get the best of both worlds. The future of mobile development I-driven U-X and S-U-P-E-R-A-P-E-O systems looking ahead, Alexe sees three main driver.

shaping the future, artificial intelligence, voice interfaces, and the integration of AR into everyday services. iOS developers will increasingly work with AI to personalize and enhance user experiences, he says. AI, in his view, is no longer limited to code assistance. It will be deeply embedded into product development, helping tailor apps to individual needs. As for AR and VR, Marinen stresses that the shift will not happen overnight. Instead, companies like Apple are gradually preparing users for new interaction models. He points to the design changes in iOS 19, transparent, rounded icons, which echo earlier design transformations such as the move from skeuomorphic toeflat icons.

These visual cues, he suggests, are subtle signals, steps toward familiarizing users with the interfaces required for immersive AR headsets. Unlike earlier predictions around super apps, which he believes have already lost momentum, AR, VR, VR, VR, and AI represent sustained, sustainable, long-term shifts in the way USERS will interact with technology. Alexei Marinen believes that understanding both product and business processes is the key to staying relevant in a rapidly changing market. His track record, developing solutions at Proemansivis Bank, Ozon, and MTS that improved

efficiency, saved companies billions, and enabled new services, is living proof of that philosophy. Thank you for listening to this Hackernoon story, read by artificial intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.