How Kyrylo Kozak Wants to Help Freelancers by Rethinking the Upwork Playbook

For years, success on freelance platforms depended on persistence, timing and sheer manual effort. Agencies spent countless hours refreshing job boards, writing repetitive proposals and trying to outpace thousands of competitors in a global race for attention. As artificial intelligence reshapes modern work, one founder believes the traditional agency sales process is due for a rethink.

That founder is Kyrylo Kozak, the entrepreneur behind Getmany, an AI-powered platform designed to automate and optimise how agencies acquire clients on Upwork. Rather than positioning AI as a replacement for human expertise, Kozak argues that automation is becoming a necessary operational layer for agencies trying to survive in an increasingly competitive digital economy.

“Agencies are not losing because they lack talent,” Kozak says. “They’re losing because manual processes simply cannot keep pace with the volume and speed of modern marketplaces.”

That belief emerged from firsthand experience. Before launching Getmany, Kozak spent nearly a decade operating agencies on Upwork, reportedly generating more than US$5 million in total agency revenue and personally earning more than US$1 million through the platform. During that time, he observed a growing imbalance between the effort required to win projects and the actual time agencies could dedicate to delivering quality work.

According to Upwork’s own marketplace data, millions of freelancers now compete globally for digital contracts across software development, design, marketing and consulting. Meanwhile, research from McKinsey & Company estimates that generative AI could add between US$2.6 trillion and US$4.4 trillion annually to the global economy by improving productivity across knowledge industries. Much of that transformation is now reaching freelance and agency ecosystems.

Automation Moves Into the Freelance Economy

The premise behind Getmany is relatively straightforward: automate the repetitive parts of business development while allowing agencies to focus on delivery, strategy and client relationships.

The platform uses AI to scan Upwork listings, evaluate project fit, generate tailored proposals, and manage communication workflows. Agencies can integrate the system with tools such as Slack, HubSpot, Notion, and Pipedrive, effectively turning fragmented outreach efforts into a centralized workflow.

In the middle of a rapidly evolving AI landscape, you can automate your Upwork agency with Getmany: an AI-powered Upwork automation tool. This has emerged as part of a broader shift toward operational automation inside digital services businesses.

Kozak says the platform was born not from theory, but necessity.

“When we were running agencies ourselves, we realized sales teams were spending entire days doing repetitive actions that software could already handle faster and more consistently,” he explains. “The real opportunity was creating systems that help agencies scale without proportionally increasing overhead.”

The numbers behind the industry suggest the timing may be right. A 2025 report from the World Economic Forum found that AI and automation are expected to transform nearly 86% of businesses globally by 2030, with digital-first industries among the earliest adopters.

Getmany claims agencies using its platform can automate up to 85% of their Upwork workflows, while reducing hours spent on bidding and lead qualification. Some customer case studies published by the company report substantial increases in reply rates and reductions in manual labor, although outcomes naturally vary depending on agency size and execution.

Building During Instability

Part of Getmany’s story has also attracted attention beyond the software itself. The startup was founded in Ukraine during a challenging period, adding another layer of complexity to building a technology company in a shifting geopolitical environment.

Kozak says the experience shaped the company’s culture and urgency.

“When you build during instability, you become extremely focused on efficiency,” he says. “You learn to prioritise what genuinely creates value and remove everything else.”

That mindset appears to resonate with agencies facing economic pressure globally. Rising client acquisition costs, shrinking margins and increased competition have forced many service firms to rethink how they operate. Automation, once viewed cautiously by freelancers, is increasingly being reframed as a survival tool rather than a luxury.

Research from PwC has projected that AI could contribute as much as US$15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, with productivity gains accounting for a significant share of that growth. For small and mid-sized agencies, the appeal lies less in replacing workers and more in enabling leaner teams to compete internationally.

Beyond Bidding Bots

Kozak is careful to distinguish Getmany from what he describes as “spam-style automation” often associated with earlier freelance marketplace tools.

“The goal isn’t sending more generic proposals,” he says. “The goal is sending fewer but smarter proposals with better targeting and better context.”

That distinction matters in an environment where platforms are increasingly monitoring quality, authenticity and compliance. Getmany positions itself as operating within Upwork-compliant workflows, while emphasising personalised outreach over volume alone.

Industry analysts suggest this broader evolution reflects a wider trend across professional services. AI is no longer being adopted only by large enterprises with massive infrastructure budgets. Smaller agencies and independent firms are now implementing automation tools to remain competitive in crowded global marketplaces.

For Kozak, the future of freelance work will likely belong to agencies that combine human expertise with intelligent systems rather than relying exclusively on either.

“The agencies that win over the next decade won’t necessarily be the biggest,” he says. “They’ll be the ones that adapt the fastest.”