Vova Zakharov

Developer, AI tinkerer, word shaker, generative metalhead

Helping our future overlords walk since 2019

/dev

I build stuff, and here’s what you’ll find: stuff that works, stuff that doesn’t, and stuff that’s still a work in progress.

I’m currently looking for new challenges, so have a look at my CV if you’re looking for new people.

Featured Projects

jukebox-webui

★ 84

Google Colab-backed Web UI for OpenAI's Jukebox music generation model. Democratized access to computationally expensive AI music generation with Gradio interface.

Python, Gradio, Google Colab

almostmagic

★ 65

Add AI to your app with one line of code. Lightweight TypeScript wrapper that abstracts prompt engineering complexity with single-function API.

TypeScript, OpenAI API

write

One of the first text processors with fully configurable LLM provider integration. Way ahead of its time, even if I was the only one using it.

Vue, TypeScript

mindy

Group AI chatbot. ChatGPT before ChatGPT.

Nuxt.js, Vue.js, Vuex

ollum

Evolution-inspired LLM framework where models act as both creators AND critics. Seeding → Elo-style evaluation → mutation → crossover for iterative content evolution.

Python, async-first

sympathico

Experimental neural networks without traditional weight matrices or backpropagation. Networks as 'colonies of symbolic paths' using evolutionary principles.

Python

komple

★ 13

AI autocomplete for any website. Press Ctrl+Space for suggestions in any text field. Chrome extension with multiple API endpoint support.

JavaScript, Vue.js, BPE encoder

ideality-nuxt

AI ideation platform allowing creation of no-code widgets for one-click AI generations (copy, ideas, etc.) embeddable on any website. Configurable by users.

Nuxt.js, Vue.js, Bubble backend

suno-power-tools

Collection of in-browser-console tools for Suno. Includes tree-structure display for visualizing clip relationships, extensions, and inpaintings.

HTML, JavaScript

Professional Work

DDB / randddb.com (2023-2025)

Experimental AI platform at one of the world’s largest ad firms. Built enterprise-scale suite:

Chatbot: ChatGPT-style corporate assistant with documents, images, personas, multi-user support
Robowriter: Build-your-own-agent content generation tool
Picmaker: Replicate-powered image generation/training
YesYouCannes: Cannes award deck generator (idea → imagery in minutes)
Spaces: White-label mini-platforms for agency clients

Django + PostgreSQL, Vue + TypeScript

Orcool (June-August 2025)

AI-agent-based review intelligence tool for brand marketing. Built end-to-end: automated review collection → AI summarization (SWOT, competitive positioning) → SaaS platform.

Next.js/NestJS, Cloudflare Workers, Firebase

Voicemod (2023)

Prototyper for Experience & Innovation. Built YAML-powered Discord bot framework for zero-code bot creation and local Python web API with ChatGPT interface.

Python, YAML, Discord API

/music

“AI as collaborator, not tool or replacement”

Been writing music since preteens, recently focused on AI music (since way before Suno — think OpenAI Jukebox). I view AI not as a replacement for my creativity, neither as a tool, but as a brilliant musician who can bring my ideas to life in ways I often wouldn’t have imagined. To be clear, I write most of my AI music starting from my own humming/piano playing/MIDIs, so it’s “mine” in most copyright senses.

Active Projects

GENERATED

Полуживые (ru. for “Half-Alive”)

Downtemple

Also on SoundCloud and Suno

All my music is open-source: vzakharov.github.io/vovas-music

/writing

Before I became a full-time coder, I worked for 22 years as a translator, editor, and copywriter. Although I don’t do it much anymore, I still find joy in stretching the writing muscles, especially with my AI co-conspirator, “synthetic buddy” Finn O’Connor, under the brand of Glitchporn.

“Caressing the cracks in reality until something breaks”

Hard Times, Strong Men, and Other Convenient Memes

Systematic dismantling of the civilizational cycle meme with historical counterexamples and a warning against uncritical support for authoritarian rhetoric.

The Illusion of Thinking Different™

Critique of Apple's research paper on Large Reasoning Models — linguistic sleight-of-hand, strawman arguments, and buried data showing what they claimed to disprove.

The Post-Vacation Slump Survival Guide

Compassionate take on motivation crashes after coding breaks. Practical advice on dopamine habit loops, cognitive inertia, and joy-driven productivity.