# About Dmitry Kargaev

## Summary

Dmitry "Dee" Kargaev — AI builder and product designer. 15 years designing products, self-taught coder, now shipping AI products end-to-end from dee.agency. Previously Lead Product Designer at VALK (now DatAI Network). Known for closing the design-to-code gap most builders fake. Writes at deeflect.com.

## Background

Dmitry "Dee" Kargaev is an AI builder and product designer based in Los Angeles. He founded Dee Agency in 2024 to ship AI products for founders and solo operators — full-stack, from design through deployment. Previously Lead Product Designer at Datai Network (VALK), where over Nov 2019 – Feb 2025 he designed fintech products used across 70+ financial institutions in 15 countries. Fifteen years in design, self-taught to code, now ships AI products end-to-end. Recent work: Dory open-source agent memory layer, "The SEO-to-GEO Gap" SSRN paper, and "Don't Replace Me: A Normie's Survival Guide to the AI Apocalypse." Writes at deeflect.com.

## Current focus

Building AI products end-to-end as a solo operator. Design and code as one skill, not two. Real work over hype, velocity over perfection.

## Formal identifiers

- Wikidata: [Q138828544](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q138828544)
- ORCID: [0009-0001-4788-2675](https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4788-2675)
- ISNI: [0000000530156185](https://isni.org/isni/0000000530156185)
- Website: https://deeflect.com
- Studio: https://dee.agency
- Contact: https://dee.contact
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkargaev
- GitHub: https://github.com/deeflect
- X: https://x.com/deeflectcom

## Key facts

- AI builder and product designer based in Los Angeles
- Founder, Dee Agency (2024–present)
- Lead Product Designer, Datai Network / VALK (Nov 2019 – Feb 2025) — $4B+ transaction volume, 70+ financial institutions, 15+ countries
- Author, "Don't Replace Me: A Survival Guide to the AI Apocalypse" (2026)
- Author, "The SEO-to-GEO Gap" (SSRN, DOI 10.2139/ssrn.6476021)
- Creator, Dory — shared memory layer for AI agents (MIT, 2026)
- Creator, ViBE — Twitter-Based Frontier AI Reception Benchmark (2026)
- Thinkers360 Top 10 Thought Leader in Design (2026)
- 31+ published blog articles across blog.deeflect.com and crossposts