AI native · Central Asia
I build AI-agentic systems at the core of the business.
Multi-agent systems that make the business money. In AI since 2017.
About
I see strategy at board level and build, by hand, the systems that execute it.
In ML and AI since 2017, before it was cool. I shipped my first NLP chatbot to production in 2017, long before ChatGPT.
Behind me: 20 years of strategy and creative across BBDO, Publicis, AIDA Pioneer. I worked where fintech meets retail, where everything is measured in money, risk and scale. So for me AI is a lever for unit economics.
- fintech × retail
Co-creator of “Halva”
The #1 BNPL card in Belarus and Russia, 13M+ users. A bank-and-retail bundle that reshaped the installment market.
- award
Grand Prix Effie
The top award for marketing effectiveness, for the “Exponenta” strategy.
- retail
+$21M profit
Gamified children's promos at Eurotorg, one of the region's largest retailers.
- leadership
AIDA Pioneer → #1
Under my lead the agency became #1 in Belarus. 60+ campaigns for the region's biggest brands.
- AI since 2017
NLP in production
A chatbot on VK back in 2017, when nobody was talking about LLMs yet.
- author & speaker
Book, courses, MBA
Author of “Effective Branding. Metaphor” and the “Strategist's Path” course. I teach on MBA programs and at IKRA.
In numbers
- 2017in ML & AI
- 20+years of strategy
- 500+trained in big business
- 13M+“Halva” users
- $21Mprofit, Eurotorg
- #1Grand Prix Effie
What I bring
AI in core processes
Document flow, tenders, estimates, correspondence and corporate knowledge move to agents sitting on a machine-readable context layer.
Hybrid teams
People set strategy and taste, agents execute. I put the process in place: SOPs, skill chains, operator training. Tools get copied in an evening. The working system behind them never does.
Builder's speed
From idea to a working prototype takes days. First I put the data in order, then I accelerate: automating chaos only gives you fast chaos.
Experience
- 2026 →
Co-founder & CTO Majento
AI-native product company. AI software and agent systems for marketing and business processes, deployed at the client via an FDE model.
- 2024–2026
CEO / CTO TDI Group · Tashkent
Ran the agency and its tech. Clients: PepsiCo, Nestlé, Honor, Haval, KIA, Beeline.
- 2023–2024
Head of Brand Marketing & AI Belaruski Narodny Bank
Embedded AI into the bank's in-house creative team and set its continuous self-learning in motion.
- 2022–2024
PMM, Blockchain UniLayer · Dubai
Built the MVP for a complex cross-chain product: market analysis and white paper. Turned interoperability into a clear story.
- 2019–2021
Co-founder / COO kemliva · Almaty
Creative agency: branding, R&D and communications under one framework.
- 2017–2020
Deputy Head of R&D & Gamification Eurotorg
Retail promos, mobile, digital, AR/VR. Shipped an NLP chatbot in 2017. +$21M in profit from children's promo campaigns.
- 2014–2017
Creative Strategist AIDA Pioneer
60+ campaigns for the region's biggest companies. Under my lead the agency became #1 in Belarus. Grand Prix Effie for the “Exponenta” strategy.
- 2013–2014
Creative Group Head BBDO Group
Co-creator of “Halva”, the most popular BNPL card in Belarus and Russia.
Earlier: Publicis, IKRA (taught “Strategist's Path”), Re:fresh · Belarusian State Pedagogical University, history & English.
Open source
I build in the open. Skills, agents, and long-term agent memory used by thousands.
- agent-second-brain ★ 295Always-on second brain: voice notes in Telegram become linked knowledge in Obsidian. Runs 24/7 on your Claude subscription.
- iva ★ 38Open-source personal AI assistant in Telegram: long-term memory, voice, self-hosted. The best tools, hand-picked into one command.
- skill-conductor ★ 106Architecture-first lifecycle for AI-agent skills: create, eval, edit, review, package. Built on Anthropic's eval engine.
- creative-director-skill ★ 88A world-class creative director in a skill: SIT, TRIZ, lateral thinking, and a Cannes-Lions evaluation engine over 571 award cases.
- humanizer-ru ★ 67Strips AI-text markers from Russian writing: kills bureaucratese and the tell-tale patterns of generated prose.
- autograph ★ 37Typed memory layer for always-on agents: schema-as-code for any Obsidian vault. Decay engine, health scoring, link repair.
- osint-skill ★ 74From a name to a scored dossier: 55+ scrapers, 7 search APIs, confidence grades, swarm mode.
Speaking
AI and marketing on stages across the CIS and Central Asia.
- Minsk · 2024
AI DAY Conference · “Sales, Clients, Marketing”
- Minsk · 2024
White Square · “From Idea to Visualization with Neural Nets”
- Tashkent · 2025
Tashkent Marketing Forum · key AI tools for marketers
- Tashkent · 2026
Angel AI Hackathon · mentor & speaker
- Tashkent · 2026
AI-talk · “How AI reshapes marketing in 2026”
- CIS · 2024–2026
PRO BUSINESS Expert Talk · Code IB · brand & marketing days (AKMA)
Scale through people
Rolling out AI across a group of companies is 80% work with teams.
I founded Aimasters and its community. 500+ employees of big business have been through the corporate programs. Getting AI into a large organization is work with people and culture. I know how to embed tools so teams actually keep using them.
- Alfa Bank
- Kaspersky
- MTS
- U-Plast
- A1
- ADM Group
- Roodell
Tools get copied in an evening. The system behind them never does.
Training and a live Telegram channel where I write about AI
FAQ
Who is Serge Shima?
Serge Shima is an AI native based in Tashkent, Co-founder & CTO at Majento, building the AI layer for Central Asia. He has 20 years in strategy and creative (BBDO, Publicis, AIDA Pioneer) and has worked in ML & AI since 2017.
What does Majento do?
Majento is an AI-native product company building AI software and multi-agent systems for marketing and business processes, deployed at the client via a forward-deployed-engineer (FDE) model.
What is Serge known for?
Co-creating “Halva”, the #1 BNPL card in Belarus and Russia (13M+ users); a Grand Prix Effie for the “Exponenta” strategy; +$21M in profit from gamified retail promos at Eurotorg; and shipping NLP to production back in 2017.
Does he train teams on AI?
Yes. Through Aimasters he has trained 500+ people at large companies, and he consults businesses on integrating AI into marketing, sales, HR and analytics.