Into depth, 🔍 research, working with data, and best practices
I feel a strong kinship with Gwern here
Most of my career has been in interface design. Still, calling myself just a designer feels too narrow — my interests have always run wider
Early on, dabbled in programming: C++ and web dev. Moved from code to the intersection of visuals, technology, and product logic
Did illustration and graphic design for a while, though I’ve always felt stronger on the technical side. I click well with developers, understand how modern systems work, and know the technical constraints of shipping a product
Worked on a Fintech CRM, at a strong design studio, and at AI startups. Shipped projects for major corporations and agencies
Know what good process looks like and care about the details
Since the AI boom, I’ve been following all the models and vibe-coding, with a clear sense of their practical limits
More details in the toggle below
Teslak and AI
⚙️ In early 2024, joined an RPA startup building a semi-local assistant that controls a computer, like Claude computer use. Since 2025, been building AI agents for various companies
Not an ML engineer, though I’ve done basic model training (OCR CNN, fine-tuned Qwen). Mostly adapt others’ work for practical use
First real dive into AI began with an article about Artbreeder and its impressive (for the time) image generations
Midjourney’s 2022 release blew me away — spent days generating nonstop, though it was miles away from today’s models
Used GPT even before ChatGPT launched (peak of that era + the post right before it), including Russian adaptations, and wrote about the release of GPT-3.5 on the very day it came out
Built agents using LangGraph, LlamaIndex, and n8n, automating some browser tasks with Harpa. When OpenClaw dropped, moved most of my pipeline over, dissecting its architecture and how it evolved. Now on Hermes. Keeping an eye on devtools and the evolution of harnesses
Experimenting with local LLMs, I’m skeptical of anything that isn’t at least 27B
Actively follow all LLMs: using them, reading papers, checking out RAG and deep research implementations, and experimenting hands-on. Have a high-level grasp of transformers, attention, training stages, hardware, and inference
🐧 Running Fedora on desktop, NixOS on the server
🗃️ Big on structuring data. Loved Obsidian since the early betas; before that, used Zotero, Roam Research, and Notion, which I still love and use for team workflows
Feel like I keep up with a changing world. COVID, for instance, pushed me to dive into biology, vaccines, and clinical trials
Have a soft spot for bioinformatics
I’ve read ~50 fiction books — not into fiction anymore. Switched to non-fiction: work, philosophy, art, and pop science. Sometimes tech, biology, and economics too, though I prefer articles for those
Did some photography, though more into the technical side and art theory
Into writing and editing. I write everything myself!
Left Russia a few years ago. ✈️ Traveled to far-flung countries and keep actively exploring the world
Don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs
Blogging
In 2020, started a Telegram channel for occasional posts, and a second one shortly after for daily reposts and unedited thoughts
I have plenty of gripes with X, Telegram, and most platforms + want to be closer to the global English-speaking community — all of that, along with a drive for independence, led me to this site
✏️ Used to write on practical topics: broad takes on how the world works and niche tech and financial analysis. For now, adapting and rewriting those older ideas for this blog
Nickname
In 2018, decided to come up with a decent handle
My last name is Iskra, which means “spark” in Russian
According to the Russian Wikipedia, lightning is an electric spark discharge in the atmosphere (in the English wiki, the spark connection is mentioned elsewhere)
Lightning and electricity naturally point to Nikola Tesla
Not that I’m a fan of Nikola himself: he was peculiar, prone to wild claims, and slightly mad. Even less of a fan of Tesla Inc., though the cars are nice
Now Teslak is my handle everywhere
The “k” at the end doesn’t mean much. Maybe KDE Plasma had an influence back then, since lightning is plasma, too
Avatars
Used various avatars, especially knights, and never real photos for privacy. After adopting the Teslak handle, switched to a lightning bolt
Wanted something more personal and distinct, so I designed a character, hired an illustrator, and edited the result. Grew tired of it, hired another artist, did even more edits myself, and that elf ended up sticking around longer
With the release of Midjourney v4, created a robot with a nod to Master Chief and Soundwave; with v5 in 2023, made another one and stuck with it
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