About
About AI Business
AI Business is an independent, outcome-first guide to the business of artificial intelligence. The goal is simple: cut through the hype and show how AI actually creates value — for independent operators, founders, and investors — with real numbers and honest ROI.
Why this exists
Most coverage of AI is either breathless hype or a directory of 28,000 tools with no view on which ones earn their keep. We take the opposite approach — fewer, deeper answers built around a single question: does it work, and is it worth it? Every piece is anchored in concrete figures, named companies, and usable frameworks rather than speculation.
What we cover
- Solo — AI for independent operators — services, productized offers, and lean systems.
- Startups — Funding, go-to-market, and the economics of building AI products.
- B2B — Enterprise implementation — cost savings, ROI, and what actually works.
- VC — How capital moves in AI: funds, rounds, valuations, and returns.
- Government — Public spending, procurement, regulation, and sovereign AI.
- Robots — The economics of physical AI — costs, supply chains, and opportunities.
- Society — How AI reshapes jobs, education, and daily life — beyond the hype.
- Learn — AI skills, careers, and the certifications that map to real salaries.
- Tools & Models — 350+ AI tools reviewed against ROI, plus an LLM model leaderboard.
Editorial standards
We prioritize verifiable numbers, clearly stated assumptions, and practical takeaways. When something is uncertain, we say so. When a tool or strategy has a downside, we name it. The site also publishes daily AI-business news and offers a free AI-visibility (GEO) audit for any website.
How these articles are made.Research and first drafts are produced with the help of AI; every article is then edited and fact-checked personally by Sergei Ponomarev, who holds editorial responsibility for everything published on this site. AI helps gather material and draft — the judgment, the checking, and the final word are human.
Who’s behind it
AI Business was founded and is led by Sergei Ponomarev, who writes and edits across the site.
For more than 20 years I’ve studied how digital services actually get built and adopted inside government. In 2014 I defended a PhD in Political Science at Moscow State University on the implementation of e-government in Russia, completed a fellowship on government openness at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C., and taught for 14 years as a university lecturer. For seven of those years I ran applied research at a public-policy center — leading nationwide monitoring of state and municipal services, running independent evaluations and “mystery shopping” to find where citizens actually get stuck, authoring the Information Openness Standard for the Perm City Duma, and commenting as an expert in print, on radio, and on TV. I then served 5 years as an aide to a municipal deputy and spent 4 years training entrepreneurs. Along the way I worked across social entrepreneurship and impact investing. For the last year and a half I’ve been building software and AI agents hands-on.
AI Business is where those two worlds meet — two decades of understanding how institutions really adopt technology, pointed at the question everyone now asks: where does AI create real value? Connect on LinkedIn.
Education
- PhD in Political Science — Moscow State University (2014)
- MA in Political Science — Moscow School of Social & Economic Sciences, validated by the University of Manchester (2004)
- Specialist in Political Science — Perm State University (2003)
Selected publications
- “E-Government: Administrative and Civic Practices in Contemporary Russia” — PhD dissertation, Political Science (2014)
- “Open Government: Theoretical Model and Russian Practice” — Political Science Yearbook 2014, Russian Association of Political Science (2014)
- “Problems of Introducing ICT into Public Administration in Russia: Is E-Government Retiring?” — Ars Administrandi, No. 1 (2014)
- “Crowdsourcing: Administrative, Political and Civic Practices in Contemporary Russia” — Bulletin of Perm State University, Political Science, No. 4 (2013)
- “The State on the Net: New Institutions of Communication” — Vlast (Power), No. 11 (2012)
- “Government and NGOs: New Forms of Cooperation in Poland and Russia” (2013)
- “Monitoring the Quality and Accessibility of State and Municipal Services” — co-authored, HSE Publishing House (2011)
- “All-Russian Monitoring of the Introduction of Administrative Regulations” — HSE, Moscow (2010)
International programs & fellowships
- 2005 — Berlin, Germany — Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ASF)
- 2005 — Sofia, Bulgaria — Centre for Liberal Strategies & Institute for Regional and International Studies
- 2007 — Strasbourg, France — Summer University of Democracy, Council of Europe
- 2012 — Washington & St. Louis, USA — “Open World” programme
- 2012 — Warsaw, Poland — Training Program for Russian Policy and Opinion Makers
- 2014 — Segovia, Spain — Municipal Governance and Territorial Development in Spain
- 2014 — Oxford, UK — British Culture, Institutions and English Language
- 2015 — Washington, USA — Experience of Open Government and Public Oversight Practices
- 2015 — Washington, USA — Promoting Public Citizenship in the 21st Century
- 2016 — Washington & New York, USA — Best Practices of Supporting Social Entrepreneurship
- 2016 — Zagreb, Croatia — Eurolab Workshop: European Practices of Social Entrepreneurship
- 2017 — London, UK — Young Leaders Programme, John Smith Trust
- 2017 — Paris, France — Global Social Business Summit
- 2017 — Berlin, Germany — “In Search of Lost Universalism”, Moscow School of Civic Education
- 2018 — Oslo, Norway — Public Oversight in the Management of Natural Resources
- 2018 — Paris, France — Role of Administrations and Civil Society Organisations in France
- 2018 — Taipei, Taiwan — Social entrepreneurship seminars, National Taiwan University
- 2019 — Riga, Latvia — Civic Education for a Society of Citizens (three seminars)
- 2019 — Berlin, Germany — “In Search of Lost Universalism”
- 2024 — Tbilisi, Georgia — John Smith Trust alumni meeting
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