# Gennadiy Zakharov

> Marketing leader for IT, AI, and EdTech companies: Head of Marketing, Brand Director, and independent marketing consultant

Gennadiy Zakharov is a marketing leader based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with 10 years of practice since 2016. He has led marketing and brand work for AI products (Brand Director at GPTunneL AI), regional digital marketing for Goethe-Institut across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, digital solutions at Philip Morris International, marketing analytics at Chocofood, and a 30-person marketing team at Salem Social Media. He combines strategy, analytics, team leadership, and hands-on AI product building.

- Location: Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Website: https://zakharov.asia/en/
- Email: gennadiy@zakharov.asia
- CV (PDF): https://zakharov.asia/uploads/gennadiy-zakharov-cv-2026-en.pdf

## Open to

- Head of Marketing, Marketing Director, or CMO roles in IT, AI, SaaS, and EdTech companies
- Brand Director or Head of Growth roles for AI products
- Fractional CMO and marketing consulting engagements
- Corporate trainings and talks on AI and digital marketing

## Key results

- GPTunneL AI: 3x monthly revenue growth in 9 months, 5x brand reach, 1.5x user base as Brand Director
- Salem Social Media: managed and developed a team of 30 marketing professionals; 45 social media accounts with 6M combined users
- Philip Morris International: managed the IQOS website, PWA, microservices, and Telegram bot development with a global agency
- Chocofood: built the Chocolytics marketing analytics platform, ETL, and dashboards in Power BI and Tableau
- Narxoz University: #2 among Kazakhstani universities by Media System 2017
- 300+ consulting projects, 500+ specialists trained, teams of 3 to 35 people

## Experience

### Independent marketing consultant — Zakharov Marketing IE (2016 – now)

- 300+ successful projects
- 40,000 subscribers and 400,000+ social reach
- 10+ marketing studies for clients in Central Asia, Europe, and the Middle East
- PR strategies, brand documentation, and marketing materials

### Digital Marketing Coordinator for Eastern Europe and Central Asia — Goethe-Institut (2023 – now)

- Marketing for German language course promotion across the region
- CJM research and sales process improvements
- Coordination between regional and international teams

### Brand Director — GPTunneL AI (2025 – 2026)

- 3x monthly revenue growth in 9 months
- 5x brand reach growth
- 1.5x user base growth
- Brand positioning, user acquisition, and partnerships

### Supervisor Digital Solutions RRP — Philip Morris International (2021 – 2022)

- IQOS website, PWA, and microservices development management
- UX audits, web performance, and SEO work
- Telegram bot development for shop, services, and campaigns
- Working with a global agency and implementing global strategy

### Senior marketing data analyst — Chocofood (2020 – 2021)

- ETL and dashboards in Power BI and Tableau
- Chocolytics: analytics platform based on internal and external data
- AppsFlyer, Amplitude, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Yandex Direct

### Senior digital marketing manager — Salem Social Media (2018 – 2020)

- Managed and developed a team of 30 marketing professionals
- Average weekly growth of 30,000 users
- 45 social media accounts and 6M combined users
- Marketing data collection and visualization in GCP and Tableau

### Digital Marketing Manager — Narxoz University (2016 – 2018)

- Ranked #2 among Kazakhstani universities by Media System 2017
- Product owner for Narxoz Analytics R&D platform
- Large youth festival at Narxoz University with 3,000+ attendees from 5 countries
- Analysis of 25,000 mentions collected across nine months

## Consulting services

- Marketing strategy and go-to-market for IT and AI products
- Positioning, brand strategy, and communications
- Marketing audits, CJM research, and analytics
- Building and training marketing teams
- Corporate education on AI and digital marketing

- **Strategy:** Marketing strategy, digital channel launch and audit, content systems, performance, CJM research, and product growth.
- **Trainings:** Corporate education, educational programs, and digital courses for teams, universities, and foundations.
- **Consulting:** Task review, positioning, communications, process architecture, and a practical action plan for your project.

## Industries

AI products, IT and SaaS, EdTech and education, FMCG and retail, Food tech, Media, NGOs and international organizations

## Selected projects

- **GPTunneL AI Growth & Positioning** (AI & Digital Products): Positioning and growth marketing for an AI platform, covering brand development, user acquisition, partnerships, and product communications. In nine months, monthly revenue grew 3×, reach 5×, and the user base 1.5×.
- **Regional Digital Marketing for Goethe-Institut** (Strategy & Growth): Regional marketing strategies, research, analytics, and digital channel development for Goethe-Institut teams across East and Central Asia.
- **AskDou.ai Growth Strategy** (AI & Digital Products): Marketing analytics, product strategy, SEO, and referral system development for a LegalTech service with an AI legal assistant.
- **Product Marketing for Storista AI** (AI & Digital Products): Growth strategy, funnel analysis, UX audit, and positioning for an AI platform that creates UGC and product videos.
- **IQOS Kazakhstan Digital Ecosystem** (Strategy & Growth): Development of the IQOS Kazakhstan digital ecosystem: website, PWA, microservices, Telegram bot, UX, SEO, and implementation of PMI’s global product solutions.
- **Marketing Analytics for Chocofood** (Analytics & Research): Marketing analytics development for Chocofood: ETL processes, Power BI and Tableau dashboards, integration of advertising and product data, and work on the Chocolytics platform.
- **Growth Marketing at Salem Social Media** (Strategy & Growth): Leadership of a 30-person marketing team managing 45 social media accounts with a combined audience of 6 million users. Analytics and reporting were built with GCP and Tableau.
- **Mentum.Guru — AI Agent Inside a Digital Product** (Independent products): An own product for onboarding and in-product help: the user describes a task in plain language, and Guru finds the right feature, explains the next step and highlights the action in the interface. The final step always stays with the user. This site’s assistant runs on Mentum.Guru too.
- **GZ Apps — practical software for real work** (Independent products): An independent collection of small tools: GZWhisper, Link2Download, Screendance, AutoCut, Bennu, SubCopy, and GZ Bonsai 27B. Prepared builds, installation notes, and updates are published through Patreon and Boosty.
- **Tsifranuty — Technology and AI Media** (Content & Communications): An independent media project about technology, artificial intelligence, and digital products across TikTok, Instagram, Telegram, YouTube, and other platforms.
- **Digital Marketing and Products at Narxoz University** (Education): Digital marketing and product development at Narxoz University, including the website, Narxoz Analytics, brand research, and promotion of educational initiatives.
- **OpenSMM — Digital Education Platform** (Education): A free digital marketing education platform with online courses, practical materials, and a structured knowledge library.
- **CSO Development School** (Education): Development and launch of an online school for NGOs, including the learning structure, digital platform, and practical organisational development programmes.
- **Digital Marketing Courses for JumysBar** (Education): Practical digital marketing and SMM courses for a broad audience, developed together with the BTS Digital team.
- **Asian Credit Fund PR Strategy** (Content & Communications): PR and communication strategy for Asian Credit Fund focused on trust, awareness, and clear public-facing communication.

## Own products

- [Mentum.Guru](https://mentum.guru/) (AI · EdTech · own product): An AI agent inside a digital product: it understands what the user needs, opens the right feature and guides them to the action. This site’s assistant runs on Mentum.Guru too.
- [GZ Apps](https://github.com/globa-me) (macOS · iPhone · Web): Small apps for work: local transcription, audio and video workflows, content tools, and private AI model runs on Mac.

## Skills

- Hard Skills: Digital marketing strategy, SMM, SEO, PPC, email marketing, SERM, performance campaigns, media planning, CJM research, and product analytics.
- Soft Skills: PR and networking, project management, public speaking, corporate education, leadership, facilitation, conflict management, and adaptive thinking.
- SMM, SEO, PPC, PR, Email Marketing, ORM, CJM Research, Tableau, Codex, Brand Strategy, AppsFlyer, Amplitude

## Languages

- Russian (native)
- English (IELTS Academic 7.0)

## Education

- Bachelor of Business Administration, National Louis University, Chicago, IL, USA (2014 – 2015) — Dual degree
- Bachelor of Arts in Management, Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu, Nowy Sącz, Poland (2014 – 2015) — Cumulative grade: very good (4.54)
- Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & PR, University of International Business, Almaty, Kazakhstan (2011 – 2014) — GPA 3.61, summa cum laude

## Certificates and courses

- IELTS Academic 7.0 — English
- Business Metrics for Data-Driven Companies — Duke University, NC, USA
- Strategic Marketing — High School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
- R Language for Statistics — Bauman State University, Moscow, Russia
- Data Visualization — Duke University, NC, USA
- Branding and Client Marketing — High School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
- Mini-MBA Courses — Chris Haroun, Udemy

## Media and talks

- Where AI can be a valuable assistant (October 2026): Expert commentary for BAQ.kz on AI in industry, energy and healthcare, and why human oversight matters. [BAQ.kz](https://rus.baq.kz/v-kakih-sferah-ii-mozhet-stat-nezamenimym-pomoschnikom-v-buduschem-320047542/)
- TikTok’s AI education initiative (September 2026): Created a video for TikTok’s educational hub explaining how to control the amount of AI-generated content in recommendations. [Bluescreen](https://bluescreen.kz/tiktok-zapuskaet-obrazovatelnuyu-iniciativu-po-otvetstvennomu-ispolzovaniyu-ii-v-kazahstane/), [24KZ](https://24.kz/ru/news/ai-and-digitalization/792218-tiktok-nauchit-raspoznavat-ii-kontent-i-upravlyat-im-v-lente)
- Marketing AI products (May 2026): Listed in the programme of Karaganda’s May Business and Development unconference with a talk on marketing AI products in 2026. [Gov.kz](https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/karaganda/press/news/details/1224127?lang=ru), [Terricon Valley](https://terricon.kz/tpost/6ztjta07t1-v-habe-proidet-maiskaya-nekonferentsiya)
- AI in construction and design (February 2026): Commentary on AI and digital trends at the AI in Construction and Design conference. [Bluescreen](https://bluescreen.kz/kak-ai-mieniaiet-rynok-stroitielstva-i-intierierov-v-kazakhstanie/), [AlmaLife](https://almalife.kz/hi-tech/7680-ai-vmesto-mesyatsev-raboty-v-kazakhstane-predstavili-servis-mgnovennogo-dizajna-intererov)
- The DeepSeek phenomenon (July 2025): Guest appearance on 24KZ’s Guest of the Day programme, discussing DeepSeek and developments in artificial intelligence. [24KZ](https://24.kz/ru/tv-projects/gost-dnya/718430-mnenie-eksperta-o-fenomene-deepseek-gennadij-zakharov), [Video · 24KZ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbgP3G4q08w)
- Social media analytics (June 2023): Social Media Analytics 2023 talk in the programme of the Make It Global marketing meetup in Almaty. [Make It Global](https://make-it.global/meetups/almaty/27-06-2023), [Talk recording · Make It Global](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4hfUHgDRuw)
- The opportunities and risks of AI (April 2023): An interview with Liter.kz on how artificial intelligence is changing work and everyday life. [Liter.kz](https://liter.kz/potentsialnyi-terrorist-ili-pomoshchnik-chto-govoriat-uchenye-ob-iskusstvennom-intellekte-1681114613/)

## Contacts

For job opportunities and consulting requests, email gennadiy@zakharov.asia or message on Telegram or LinkedIn.

- Email: gennadiy@zakharov.asia
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globa_me/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tsifranuty
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tsifranuty
- Telegram: https://t.me/m/2jN7pTPqMmEy
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaharov-gennady/