FOUNDER HUB

Founder Category thinker Building the architecture of choice

I design systems that help humans choose

Explore my work
Ekaterina Shalel, founder of SKINBOT
01

SKINBOT

The AI layer for beauty retail

Personalized recommendations, product discovery and routine intelligence, unified in a decision system that understands skin, context and intent.

7 pilots live · Moscow and Europe · 85%+ completion
  • Skin understanding engine
  • Intent and routine intelligence
  • Retail and brand integrations
  • Privacy-first by design
Explore SKINBOT
≡ ◯

Your skin, understood

Personalized routine for you

Routine
Insights
Progress
CLEANSE
TREAT
MOISTURIZE
PROTECT
Katya Shalel portrait
02

Founder · Builder
Architect of decision systems

I partner with extraordinary teams to build systems that scale clarity.

My work lives at the intersection of AI, commerce, beauty and human decision-making. I believe in thoughtful technology, elegant products and the power of informed choice.

Read my story
03 View all essays

The Layer Eats the Model

Value is migrating out of the model and into the callable layer above it, and Anthropic just confirmed the thesis with its own product strategy

Jul 2026 · Neutral Layer series

Beauty Retail Already Pays for Guidance

Why an AI advisory layer should not be measured only like a performance widget, and why decision confidence comes before revenue attribution

Jul 2026 · Essay

Beauty Commerce Is Becoming Distributed

As shopping moves into ChatGPT, Gemini, stores and QR journeys, the advantage belongs to retailers that help customers decide with trust

Jul 2026 · Essay

The Store Is No Longer Where the Decision Begins

Retail spent twenty years optimizing access, assortment and checkout. AI is taking over the part it left unresolved: helping people decide

Jul 2026 · Essay

The Neutral Layer

A six essay cycle on neutral AI recommendation layers, decision infrastructure and agentic commerce

More essays

Decision infrastructure, AI as a thinking environment, founder visibility
04 Browse all notes →

AI &
Decision Systems

Beauty
Tech

Commerce
Innovation

Consumer
Behavior

Product
Thinking

Ethics &
Privacy

05 All publications on vc.ru
vc.ru · Marketing
Последние 30 секунд: где beauty-ритейл теряет деньги на самом деле
Mar 2026
vc.ru · Marketing
У покупателя в beauty retail нет нейтральной точки опоры
Mar 2026
vc.ru · AI
Почему маркетплейсам нужен не один AI-ассистент, а маршрутизатор субагентов
Mar 2026
vc.ru · Marketing
Почему гиперперсонализация в beauty-ритейле начинает ошибаться
Apr 2026
vc.ru · Career
Я училась на врача. Это оказалось лучшей подготовкой к построению AI-продукта
Mar 2026
vc.ru · Personal experience
AI теперь не только инструмент. Он становится средой мышления
Jul 2026
06
in LinkedIn vc VC.ru M Medium S Substack Telegram Instagram @ Threads
07
"

Choice is not a product feature.
It's an architecture we design.

E. Shalel

08

Ideas become impact
with the right partners

I'm always open to conversations about building, investing and shaping the future of commerce.

Or write directly: k.skinbot@gmail.com