Guest: Alexei Miller

Leadership is a craft—refined through experience, challenge, and continuous growth. This past quarter, Success Beneath the Surface brought together some of the most dynamic CEOs and business minds to explore what it takes to lead with impact.
From James Hyman’s masterclass on corporate turnarounds to Ryan Clark’s formula for urgency-driven culture, these episodes aren’t just conversations—they’re playbooks for growth, innovation, and accountability. Will Bowie’s approach to generational wealth, Torey Carter-Coneen’s lessons on focus, and Jeff Ostenso’s game-changing engagement strategies round out a lineup that challenges conventional leadership thinking.
Each episode offers a fresh perspective on scaling businesses, building elite teams, and navigating the high-stakes world of decision-making. Whether you’re leading a startup or a Fortune 500, these insights will sharpen your leadership edge.
Dive into the top 10 episodes of Q4 below—every one a masterclass in its own right.

In this insightful commentary episode of Success Beneath the Surface, host Deborah Fell shares her key takeaways from her conversation with Alexei Miller, Managing Director of DataArt. Discover the secrets behind DataArt's impressive employee referral and loyalty metrics, which have remained strong over decades of growth. Alexei emphasizes the importance of a culture-based organization, where informal ties, trust, and freedom fuel employee longevity and willingness to refer others. However, as the company scales, maintaining this culture becomes increasingly challenging. Alexei candidly discusses the difficulties of passing on the company's culture to new hires as DataArt expands rapidly. Despite these challenges, DataArt's employee loyalty metrics remain high compared to industry standards. To dive deeper into Alexei's masterclass on building culture and retaining people, be sure to listen to the full episode:
EP52: Humble Beginnings to Global Success - The DataArt Story
Links from this episode:
Alexei Miller on LinkedIn
DataArt
Deborah Fell on LinkedIn
Chief Outsiders
About Alexei Miller:
Alexei Miller is a Managing Director at DataArt. He leads strategic sales and client engagement efforts for global technology consultancy, focusing on IT strategy, new system development, and technology innovation. Alexei joined DataArt when the company was founded, in 1997, and was elected to the Board of Directors in 2002. Over the past two decades, he has been overseeing product and service development, delivery, sales and management of key accounts and has built DataArt’s Finance practice. Alexei has been instrumental in establishing DataArt’s position as a global technology leader dedicated to service excellence and helping to significantly grow the company's operations on a global scale.

Step into the world of Alexei Miller, managing director at DataArt, as he engages in a captivating discussion with host, Deborah Fell on Success Beneath the Surface. Alexei's story is one of curiosity, adaptability, and the power of a strong company culture, from his humble beginnings in a little town in the north of Russia, beyond the polar circle, to his 27-year journey to being part of a team leading DataArt, a global software engineering firm. He shares his insights on fostering employee loyalty, navigating the ever-changing landscape of AI, and creating an environment where people can thrive. Alexei's passion for his work and people shines through in this thought-provoking conversation, leaving listeners with valuable lessons on leadership and success in the tech industry. Tune in for an engaging exploration of what it takes to build a company that stands the test of time.
Links from this episode:
Alexei Miller on LinkedIn
DataArt
Deborah Fell on LinkedIn
Chief Outsiders
About Alexei Miller:
Alexei Miller is a Managing Director at DataArt. He leads strategic sales and client engagement efforts for global technology consultancy, focusing on IT strategy, new system development, and technology innovation. Alexei joined DataArt when the company was founded, in 1997, and was elected to the Board of Directors in 2002. Over the past two decades, he has been overseeing product and service development, delivery, sales and management of key accounts and has built DataArt’s Finance practice. Alexei has been instrumental in establishing DataArt’s position as a global technology leader dedicated to service excellence and helping to significantly grow the company's operations on a global scale.