# Ilya Kazantsev

`AI Product & Systems Engineer · full-stack Python + TS`

I build AI systems where autonomy has boundaries — model output becomes reviewable action, not silent state mutation.

**Location:** Vietnam · UTC+7  
**Hours:** EU / US / CIS hours friendly  
**Availability:** Open to work

| | |
|---|---|
| 5+ yrs end-to-end product engineering | |
| systems · ERP · CRM · stock · media · games | |
| 6 public cases · since Oct 2025 | |

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## About

> Decisions documented, architecture first.

I'm most useful in ambiguous operational software — lead funnels, inventory workflows, media timelines, internal tools — where AI can draft, search, route or edit, while the backend owns permissions, audit trails, cost tracking and operator handoff.

Boundary first, tools second. The work is choosing what the system refuses to do automatically — permissions, audit trails, cost tracking, operator handoff — then making the manual surface fast. Same loop across operational backends, AI agents, game engines and systems tools.

### Best fit

- AI-heavy internal tools and operational workflows
- Telegram/WebApp products with full-stack Python + TypeScript
- Human-reviewed AI actions over mutating state
- LLM tool APIs, callbacks and agent contracts
- Hash-verified diffs, audit logs and rollback surfaces
- Multimodal R&D — media timelines, workspace tools, code surfaces
- Prototype-to-production handoff with specs, runbooks and walkthroughs

### How I work

- Async-first: specs before implementation, PR-sized increments, written trade-offs
- Prefer small verifiable increments over heroic rewrites
- Keep AI actions reviewable: logs, diffs, human confirmation
- Handoff with specs, runbooks and codebase walkthroughs for teams that inherit the system

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## Stack

Tools I've used in shipped systems, R&D and hands-on product work.

**AI & Agents.** MCP-style tool design · LLM orchestration · Agentic workflows · Audit trails · Hash-verified diffs · Multimodal I/O · RAG & embeddings · Prompt & context eng. · Eval & cost discipline

**Backend.** Python · FastAPI · Django / DRF · asyncio · Celery · aiogram · httpx · respx · SQLAlchemy · Pydantic

**Frontend.** React · TypeScript · Vite · Tailwind · shadcn · Radix UI · react-router · Zustand · Telegram WebApp · MapLibre GL · Remotion

**Infra.** PostgreSQL · SQLite · Redis · Docker / Compose · Nginx · Ubuntu · macOS · launchd · pf · sing-box · structlog · n8n

**Models.** GPT · Claude · Gemini · Grok · DeepSeek · Qwen · Kimi · Llama

**Game / Media.** Luau / Roblox · Rojo · DataStore · Blender + MCP · Pillow · ffmpeg · Remotion rendering · Adobe ExtendScript

**Automation.** Playwright · Selenium · browser orchestration · proxy / VPN routing · anti-bot

**Gen media.** Flux · SDXL · Stable Diffusion · Midjourney · Nano Banana · Veo · Kling · Seedance · LTX-Video · Hunyuan · ElevenLabs · whisper.cpp · ComfyUI

**AI dev loop.** Claude Code · Codex · Cursor · MCP servers · MCP clients · multi-agent workflows

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## Cases

### 01 — AI CRM · Real Estate

`01 · ai-crm · Delivered`

Production AI agent with MCP-style 19-endpoint tool API, audit trail, and operator handoff. Qualifies real-estate leads, runs project research, books viewings.

**Scope:** Solo · 7 weeks  
**Proof:** Code walkthrough on request  
**Surface:** Deployed to client server  
**Stack:** Django · Celery · aiogram · React · Gemini · n8n

Read full case study → https://ilyadev.xyz/cases/ai-crm.md

### 02 — Restaurant Stock AI Agent

`02 · ai-warehouse · MVP`

Restaurant stock AI agent with two-tier Gemini routing and draft→Confirm safety boundary. Receipts, prep and write-offs start in Telegram; the WebApp keeps review, WAC and dashboard impact visible.

**Scope:** Solo · 1 week  
**Proof:** Code walkthrough on request  
**Surface:** Telegram bot + WebApp  
**Stack:** FastAPI · SQLAlchemy · Postgres · React · Gemini 3

Read full case study → https://ilyadev.xyz/cases/ai-warehouse.md

### 03 — AI Video Editor

`03 · ai-video-editor · R&D`

Local AI video editor as an MCP-style substrate — file-level tool API with hash-verified diffs and audit trails. Timeline, scripts and async TTS as code, Gemini as orchestrator.

**Scope:** Solo · 3 weeks  
**Proof:** Code walkthrough on request  
**Surface:** Runs locally in Docker  
**Stack:** React · Zustand · FastAPI · Remotion · Gemini

Read full case study → https://ilyadev.xyz/cases/ai-video-editor.md

### 04 — Bullet Reign · Roblox

`04 · roblox-game · Published`

Bullet-heaven game for Roblox with a custom MegaMesh renderer (300 enemies at ≥55 FPS on mid-range mobile, 500 hard cap) and the full art pipeline running through Blender + MCP agents — solo, no artist.

**Scope:** Solo · 6 weeks  
**Proof:** Live on Roblox · performance walkthrough  
**Surface:** Published on Roblox  
**Stack:** Luau · Rojo · Blender + MCP · DataStore

Read full case study → https://ilyadev.xyz/cases/roblox-game.md

### 05 — macOS VPN · per-app routing

`05 · macos-vpn · Personal tool`

Per-app macOS routing tool with fail-shut pf gate, launchd boot persistence and live traffic monitoring. Included as a systems reliability/security case.

**Scope:** Solo · ongoing  
**Proof:** Daily driver · code walkthrough  
**Surface:** macOS networking tool · self-hosted  
**Stack:** Python · sing-box · macOS pf · launchd · Clash API

Read full case study → https://ilyadev.xyz/cases/macos-vpn.md

### 06 — Portfolio Site

`06 · portfolio-site · Open source`

The site you're reading. React · Vite · TypeScript with token-first CSS modules, typed EN/RU content, Markdown mirrors, privacy-first telemetry and route-aware navigation.

**Scope:** Solo · ongoing  
**Proof:** Live · public source · Markdown mirrors  
**Surface:** Public portfolio artifact  
**Stack:** React · Vite · TypeScript · CSS variables

Read full case study → https://ilyadev.xyz/cases/portfolio-site.md

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## Timeline

### Oct 2025 — now — Independent AI Product & Systems Engineer

`Current`

Solo independent build cycle. Six selected cases — see Cases below. Off-site by NDA or scope: closed client engagements, internal tooling, ongoing prototypes, generative-media R&D, automation pipelines. Not absent — not standalone cases. Focus across all: LLM orchestration, MCP-style tool design, multimodal intake, audit trails, production handoff.

### 2024 — Sep 2025 — AI & Generative Media R&D · self-directed

`R&D bridge`

Hands-on map of the local and provider AI stack: LM Studio, Ollama, Automatic1111, ComfyUI, whisper.cpp, Stable Diffusion, Stable Video Diffusion, LTX-Video. In parallel: prototype architectures for AI wrappers, custom UIs around models, multiple Obsidian knowledge-system iterations, first agent prototypes, local inference and fine-tuning experiments, prompt/tool design, multimodal generation workflows. Foundation for the Oct 2025 product cycle.

### 2023 — Summer 2024 — Full-stack Developer · operational ERP for a financial-exchange network

`Sole engineer`

Six-month initial build for an operator-heavy exchange network: multi-level RBAC (owner → chain → branch → operator), automated rate engine, in-Telegram operator console (one bot, many parallel chats), full cashflow accounting and fee breakdown. Then 10+ months of production iteration through summer 2024 — rate-engine and messenger refactors driven by operator and end-user feedback.

### late 2022 — early 2023 — Developer · Telegram tooling + first chatGPT integrations

`Salaried`

Multi-track role for a single private employer. Built: OPDS-library Telegram WebApp (community-channel file parsing, metadata extraction, cover lookup, search and filters), small landing pages, lightweight e-shops with Telegram-admin panels, plus the first chatGPT integrations for the same employer — transcribe+summarize utilities, autoresponders, niche analysis probes.

### 2021 — 2022 — Automation & Backend Engineer · distributed pipelines + financial-scale Telegram tooling

`Systems`

Two parallel tracks. First: a 1,900+ VPS auto-provisioning rig (Ubuntu+GUI, multi-threaded task distribution, monitoring, browser automation, anti-bot, proxy/VPN orchestration, reliability under rate limits). Second: commercial Telegram bot tooling at financial scale — admin panels for transaction monitoring, multi-channel signal pipelines, custom messenger primitives that later seeded the 2023 exchange ERP.

### 2020 — 2021 — Python Backend · Telegram bots

`Freelance`

Freelance Telegram bots on aiogram: niche calculators, marketplace trackers (Ozon/WB), monitoring dashboards, multilingual subscription bots.

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## Contact

> Available to hire, consult, or just say hi.

Replies within 24 hours.

- **Email** — ilya@ilyaDev.xyz
- **Telegram** — @ilyaDev_xyz
- **GitHub** — ilyaDev-xyz/portfolio
- **LinkedIn** — ilyaDev-xyz

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Source: https://ilyadev.xyz/ (HTML)
Index: https://ilyadev.xyz/llms.txt — case-study list for agents