Elena Samuylova

Let’s talk about the GOAT Elena Samuylova, straight up, she’s the real deal in AI and startups. This girl jumped into the scene with some serious hustle, and now she’s crushing it as CEO and co-founder of Evidently AI. Basically, she’s building open-source tools to keep machine learning models in check when they’re live, so companies don’t get blindsided by buggy AI. That’s a big change, no cap.

Her process? It’s a wild ride from big corps to startup world. She’s got a background in business dev and AI from Yandex, Russia’s Google, for those who don’t know, where she was the Head of Startup System and even launched Russia’s first corporate startup accelerator. That’s huge. She was all about connecting the dots between tech and biz long before she started her own thing.

Before Yandex, she was grinding in all sorts of roles, from managing business development at JTI to doing market research at Synovate, and even working with Sony as a strategy consultant. She’s got that hustle DNA. Then she co-founded Mechanica AI, an industrial AI startup focused on optimizing factory production with machine learning. She was the Chief Product Officer there, so she’s not just talking; she’s building real products that make a difference.

Fast forward, she jumped into Y Combinator’s Summer ’21 batch with Evidently AI. YC is basically startup heaven, and she crushed it there, raising $125K for her company in exchange for just 7% equity. That’s no small feat; it shows she’s got the skills and the vision. Her current gig is all about building a standard for monitoring ML models, making sure these models are trustworthy and reliable, which is honestly critical as AI becomes more embedded in our lives.

What’s crazy is, she’s also super active mentoring others, like with TalentUp and Alchemist Accelerator. She’s all about giving back and growing the system. And she’s not just in it for herself, she’s genuinely trying to push AI forward in a way that’s open, transparent, and accessible.

So, bottom line? Elena isn’t just some startup founder. She’s a tech builder who’s been around the block, knows how to guide both big companies and startups, and is now shaping the future of AI reliability. Her story is about hustle, smarts, and making a serious impact. That’s why she’s so important, she’s building the tools that will keep AI honest and trustworthy as it takes over more parts of our world.