AI without hype: how does everything really work? Alexander Mashrabov and the first Kazakh unicorn

Alexander Mashrabov, a two‑time ICPC finalist and early neural‑network pioneer at Yandex, shares his journey from 2014’s nascent AI experiments to selling the AI Factory to Snapchat for $166 million and co‑founding Kazakhstan’s first unicorn, Higgsfield AI. The conversation begins with his introduction at 00:00, then moves through his early fascination with AI (00:55, 01:42), the role of big data and Yandex’s culture (04:09, 03:58), and the challenges of staying ahead in a technology race (06:40, 09:18). He reflects on the shift from corporate to startup life (16:20, 19:04), the lessons learned from Snapchat’s AI Factory (34:10, 39:40), and the importance of building a resilient team rather than chasing individual products (44:20, 46:17). The interview also covers venture capital dynamics in Silicon Valley (53:28, 01:02:04), the impact of AI on traditional industries (01:07:29, 01:15:18), and the future of human‑AI interaction (02:47:57, 02:50:30).