Meet ‘Wrikers’: Inside an office where employees are shaping the future of work in Prague

What makes a tech professional stay at one company for a decade, especially when newscycles and LinkedIn influencers keep saying that AI will make most jobs obsolete sooner than later?

At Wrike, an American company delivering AI-driven work and project management platforms, some employees have already reached this milestone. Their accounts of working at the company describe opportunities to keep learning, take on new responsibilities, and have a say in what gets built.

Czechia is swiftly rising as a hub of IT talent, and Wrike is among the international companies basing their operations here. Their offices are based in the modern docklands area of Prague’s Palmovka district. With trendy restaurants, craft beer bars, high-tech gyms, and green spaces surrounding the property, this modern area has strong appeal for foreign talent.

Expats.cz sat down with three of the company’s international tech professionals to find out how AI is changing their work, the freedom to pursue their own projects, and what life is like in an international tech team.

As the senior director of engineering, Mike has worked at Wrike for 10 years. As part of a group overseeing over 200 engineers, he points out that Wrike’s flexible structure and working culture give engineers of all levels the chance to shine.

“We trust our people to be able to decide for themselves,” he says. “With AI, we experiment together. We enable people to use a particular model, monitoring and observing to see what works.”

“People who take the initiative and have a desire to be proactive and energetic can grow here,” he adds.

Mike says “Wrikers” – as those who work at the company are known – need a strong individual skill set and the drive to succeed in a rapidly changing reflecting are changing tech industry.

These demands reflect the opportunities and challenges presented by AI. “Everyone has a different understanding of what’s possible with AI,” Mike points out. “A key part of my job involves interpreting expectations and practical outcomes from AI between senior management and engineers in fields.”According to Mike, there are opportunities for anyone who’s heavily interested and trying to be at the cutting edge: “If a field is moving and growing, that’s where you want to be, because it’s where the opportunities are.”

Alexey joined Wrike a decade ago and exemplifies the multi-skilled focus that Wrike values. While working as a frontend developer, he’s also a tech lead doing “a lot of full-stack tasks.”

Alexey points out that AI supports engineers in developing their careers. “It’s a technology which answers your questions and provides relevant examples. If you want to learn, you can do so quickly with AI,” Alexey says.

He points out that AI allows him and others at Wrike to shift from crafting code to high-level creative and strategic planning. “You can offload the boring parts of the work and think instead about how to create the whole application,” Alexey explains.

At the same time, this new dynamic poses a threat to some entry-level roles. Asked how junior candidates can break into the industry, Alexey emphasizes self-development:

He adds that applicants need to understand the models and how they write code. This self-driven approach is part and parcel of Wrike’s culture, where senior management is seen as collaborators rather than off-limits.

“If I think a particular model works, I can put it forward for consideration with the wider team,” he adds. “Our Vice President of Engineering sits on the same floor as me; I can just say hello and start a discussion. Even our top directors are approachable, this has been part of our culture from the beginning.”

As a Staff UI Developer responsible for the visual aspects of UI development, Evgeniia helps create and maintain Wrike’s UI kit, providing the building blocks from which Wrike’s teams construct product features.

At the same time, she leads projects that make Wrike’s technology more accessible to people with disabilities and helps to develop tools that teams can easily adopt and integrate into their workflows. Evgeniia notes that at Wrike, proactivity “isn’t just encouraged, it’s rewarded.”

This gives each employee their shot at making a real impact on the business. “I can suggest a project and I’m given time to finish it,” she explains. “Then, I can take it to senior management and suggest that it should be rolled out to everyone.”

She doesn’t shy away from AI or see it as a major threat, either. “AI gives each of us the chance to create great things that we couldn’t make before,” she adds.

An example is the Women of Wrike (WoW) organization, which brings together female team members for lunches, lectures and presentations on succeeding as women in the sector.

“It’s a friendly environment here for everyone,” Evgeniia says. “People are always chatting around the place, even if they’re in different teams. You can just take a coffee and get involved. It’s a great way to get to know new people.”

Social activities, such as online yoga classes and an annual summer camp in Prague that’s also open to families and pets, help Wrikers connect outside work. The company also hosts various industry events at its offices, details of which can be found by following Wrike on Eventbrite.

At Wrike, Prague’s vibrant tech ecosystem offers foreign professionals a unique dynamic of rapid AI adoption, creative autonomy, and an inclusive community to foster innovation. If you’re interested in finding more about opportunities at Wrike, follow the company on LinkedIn and look at its Life page for further stories from Prague and beyond.