Team

A World-Class Team Behind WRD

WRD is led by a team of seasoned founders, creators, and innovators who have shaped global-scale products in technology, gaming, and education. Together, they've achieved over 1 billion app downloads, hundreds of millions in revenue, and over $5 billion in ad spend managed.

Their combined expertise in AI, design, product strategy, business development, and marketing drives WRD's mission — to make learning faster, smarter, and more human.

Pavel Ahafonau — CEO & Head of R&D (Lithuania)

Founder and CEO of Happymagenta, Pavel created some of the App Store's top-performing products, generating hundreds of millions in revenue. Formerly at IBM — and later at Happymagenta — he built and optimized complex systems, algorithms, and products that were featured by Apple, Google, BBC, and Forbes.

At WRD, Pavel leads innovation, system architecture, and long-term research strategy.

Aleksandr Novoselov — VP of Design (Lithuania)

Aleksandr oversees WRD's creative direction, UX, and visual design. Previously VP of Design at Happymagenta, he led the art and design behind games with over 1 billion downloads worldwide.

His design philosophy blends usability, emotion, and aesthetics — making learning naturally intuitive and engaging.

Eugeny Maroz — Chief Product Officer (Lithuania)

Eugeny transforms WRD's deep AI research into simple, effective, and enjoyable user experiences.

He leads product strategy and execution, ensuring every feature delivers measurable progress and ease of use for learners across all levels.

Nikolai Sitnov — Chief Marketing Officer (Ireland)

Nikolai drives WRD's global marketing and user growth. Previously Head of User Acquisition at Playrix and General Marketing & Producer at Paygendary, he managed a combined $5 billion in ad spend across both companies.

His expertise lies in scaling performance-driven marketing and building sustainable, data-backed growth strategies for worldwide audiences.

Leonid Eletskikh — Chief Business Development Officer (Germany)

Leonid leads WRD's business expansion, partnerships, and B2B initiatives. Before joining WRD, he held senior roles at Adjust and Affise, where he helped scale global operations and enterprise collaborations.

At WRD, he focuses on forging strategic partnerships that accelerate the company's global reach.

Nadzeya Haurylenka — Head of UX (Lithuania)

Nadzeya leads the user experience at WRD, creating intuitive, emotionally engaging, and efficient learning flows that shape how learners interact with the platform every day.

She drives UX strategy and UI solutions, ensuring every interaction supports clarity, motivation, and steady learning progress — making language learning feel natural and rewarding.

Yana Baranovskaya — Head of Linguistic Science (Lithuania)

Yana ensures linguistic accuracy and consistency across all WRD languages. She verifies translations, manages localization checks, and validates AI outputs to maintain natural and reliable results.

Her work focuses on improving translation efficiency and maintaining consistency for learners worldwide.

Andrew — Head of iOS Development (Poland)

Andrew leads WRD's iOS development, combining advanced technologies with a deep focus on performance, design, and code excellence.

With broad experience in crafting high-quality apps for the Apple ecosystem, he drives technical strategy, mentors engineers, and ensures every product delivers a seamless and powerful user experience.

Alexandr Bikov — Head of Android Development (Poland)

As Head of Android Development, Alexandr ensures that WRD's mobile experience feels natural, responsive, and beautifully simple to use. He bridges product vision and technical execution, turning new ideas into intuitive and dependable features.

His focus on thoughtful details and steady improvement helps make learning with WRD enjoyable and effortless on every device.

Aliaksei Shchepko — Head of QA (Poland)

Aliaksei is responsible for the quality of WRD's products. He focuses on testing, process management, documentation, and requirements — ensuring efficient and transparent QA workflows.

His goal is to improve product reliability and user satisfaction across all platforms.

A Team Built on Shared Vision and Experience

Every core member of WRD's team has been working together for years — their collaboration began between 2015 and 2020 within Happymagenta's internal project incubator, a creative hub where ideas turned into global-scale products.

It was there that WRD first took shape — growing from an experimental concept into a shared mission to make learning faster, smarter, and more human.

Over years of building together, the team developed not just deep technical expertise but also mutual trust, precision, and creativity — the kind of connection that can only come from people who have already succeeded side by side.

That same passion, discipline, and unity now drive WRD forward — transforming powerful technology into a tool that helps millions of people learn, grow, and connect across languages and cultures.