Founder
Kirill Artsymenia
Kirill leads Proof Engine's product, validation, GTM, and studio strategy work. He focuses on helping teams turn unclear opportunities into sharper product, build, and market decisions.
About
Proof Engine is a lean, AI-native product, engineering, and GTM studio.
We help founders, operators, companies, and partners validate opportunities, build the right product artifacts, create market motion, and make better decisions before large commitments are made.
The studio is built around one belief: product, build, and GTM work should stay connected to evidence.
Most teams do not fail because they lack activity.
They fail because the work is disconnected. A team builds before demand is clear. Marketing runs before the offer is sharp. An MVP exists, but nobody knows whether the issue is product, positioning, buyer, or channel. A company launches an AI or modernization initiative before the workflow and adoption risk are understood.
Proof Engine exists to keep the work connected. We use validation, product strategy, engineering, AI, GTM, and growth work as parts of one proof system.
A focused core team, extended by the right specialists.
Proof Engine is intentionally lean. The founder team shapes the problem, holds the product and proof logic, and builds the right squad around the engagement. Today the operating bench includes 2 founders, 6 contractors, and 2 advisors. Depending on the work, that bench can include engineers, designers, marketers, researchers, AI builders, cloud specialists, analysts, or GTM operators.
We are a focused core with flexible execution capacity: able to assemble squads of up to around 10 people quickly, and expand toward 20+ people over a medium-term engagement when the scope earns it.
Core team
Operating bench
Specialists on call
- Core team — founders who hold the product and proof logic
- Operating bench — contractors and advisors engaged per engagement
- Specialists on call — engineers, designers, AI, cloud, and GTM as the work needs
- Small senior teams over bloated delivery layers.
- Proof before scale.
- Artifacts that support decisions.
- Clear ownership and direct communication.
- AI-native workflows where they improve speed, quality, or leverage.
The full range of work this bench can call on is described in capabilities.
Leadership
The founder team holds the product and proof logic on every engagement, and stays hands-on from the first framing call to the final recommendation.
Co-founder
Anton Griev
Anton helps lead Proof Engine's technical, product, and execution work across software, AI, workflows, and scalable delivery systems.
What we believe
The judgment behind the work.
Validation is not a ritual
It should change what the team builds, sells, stops, or scales.
MVPs are instruments
The goal is not to ship something small. The goal is to create the right evidence.
GTM is product work
Positioning, buyer path, demo, onboarding, sales, and product experience all shape whether the market responds.
AI is useful when it fits a workflow
The best AI work starts with users, data, operations, adoption, and measurable value.
Proof can say no
A stopped initiative can be a good outcome if it saves time, budget, and focus. See how we apply this in our methodology.
What we are not
Clear boundaries on how we work.
- We are not a generic dev shop that takes specs without questioning the product logic.
- We are not a marketing agency that treats campaigns as separate from product and buyer evidence.
- We are not an accelerator, fund, or broker.
- We are not the right fit for teams that want lots of activity without a clear decision or owner.
Explore Proof Engine
More ways to understand the studio.
Or just tell us your situation.
Methodology
How we keep the work connected to evidence. Read methodology
Capabilities
What the studio can do across product, build, and GTM. Review capabilities
Case studies
Anonymized proof patterns and the decisions they enabled. Read case studies
Offers
Stage- and decision-based engagements. Explore offers
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Kirill Artsymenia (Founder) and Anton Griev (Co-founder). Kirill leads product, validation, GTM, and studio strategy work. Anton leads technical, product, and execution work across software, AI, workflows, and delivery systems. Both stay hands-on from the first framing call to the final recommendation.
Intentionally lean: the current operating bench is 2 founders, 6 contractors, and 2 advisors. Squads of up to around 10 people can be assembled quickly, expanding toward 20+ over a medium-term engagement when the scope earns it.
Both. The founder team holds the product and proof logic on every engagement and stays hands-on throughout. Execution capacity comes from a senior bench of contractors and advisors across engineering, design, AI, cloud, data, and GTM, assembled to match the decision in front of the team.
Proof Engine is not a generic dev shop that takes specs without questioning the product logic, not a marketing agency that treats campaigns as separate from product and buyer evidence, and not an accelerator, fund, or broker. It is also a poor fit for teams that want activity without a clear decision or owner.
Fewer handoffs between strategy, build, and GTM, faster translation from customer signal into product decisions, and better scope control because the work stays tied to proof. Most product work crosses those boundaries, and a lean core avoids turning each boundary into a separate vendor relationship.
Yes, deliberately. The studio runs from two core locations — Buenos Aires, Argentina and Belgrade, Serbia — extended by a senior bench of contractors and advisors. The team shape is assembled per engagement rather than fixed, which is what lets a lean core work across product, engineering, and GTM.
Contact
Bring us the decision you need to make.
Tell us where you are, what you are trying to prove, and what would make the next move worth it.
Prefer a conversation first?
If you would rather talk it through before sending a brief, book a short routing call and we will point you to the right next step.