Julia Zharikova is a recognized Release Lead with over 18 years of extensive experience in Incident and Problem Management, Project Coordination, Change Management, QA Management, and more. She has worked in various industries, including medical/pharmaceutical, financial, and small business, but most recently in the insurance industry at Allstate. Julia is an expert in identifying needs, root causes, and solutions, providing high levels of customer care and responsiveness. She has led Claims and Product Global teams in developing multiple mission-critical applications successfully, ensuring timely and on-budget delivery.

Julia is a coach, mentor, and strong global leader with superior communication and time management skills. She is a SME in personal lines of insurance and claims with start-to-finish experience in the software development life cycle (SDLC). She is experienced in incident/problem management, change management, vendor management and relationship building, and agile and waterfall methodologies.

Julia studied at Goal Training School, Ukrainian High-Tech School, Kharkov State Academy of Culture University, and Dnepropetrovsk State Music College, earning degrees in Certified Advanced Development Program, Computer Programming & Information Systems, Master's in Liberal Arts (Communication & Management), and Bachelor's in Liberal Arts (Music Conductor & Music), respectively.

Julia has been part of various organizations, including the College of American Pathologists (CAP), where she was part of the Infrastructure & Operations - ITSM team. While at Allstate, she served in various roles, such as Program & Projects QA Lead, Incident/Problem/Change Manager, Program Lead for Consumer 2.0 (NQ2) and Alliance Program, Team Lead for Product Test, and Lead QA for Personal Lines SME.