Higgsfield AI

Co-founded AI Factory in Ukraine (2018), a deepfake-style personalization tool acquired by Snap for $166M in 2020. At Snap, became Director (then Head) of Generative AI, building early AI camera features. Prior to founding, competed in the ACM ICPC World Finals twice (2014, 2016) as a student at Innopolis University, and later earned an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas. Launched Higgsfield AI in 2024, focusing on cinematic camera-language control in AI video generation. The startup reached 15M+ users and a $200M revenue run rate within its first year, hitting a $1.3B valuation in early 2026. Known for an unusually aggressive speed-to-market philosophy—publicly argues that a small team can ship a competitive AI product in 90 days.

Began his career at Apple in 1989, then joined VeriSign as part of the early startup team, rising to VP of Engineering. Went on to co-found and serve as CEO of AdMarvel, a mobile ad platform acquired by Opera Software in 2010, after which he led Opera Mediaworks as CEO. In 2016, co-founded Amplify.ai, an AI-powered customer engagement platform; the company was acquired by TrillerNet in 2021, where he became CEO. Joined Higgsfield AI as Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer in early 2025. His career spans mobile advertising infrastructure, conversational AI, and consumer platforms — each informing Higgsfield's focus on giving creators cinematic-grade, AI-native video tools.

A self-taught developer from Kazakhstan who began studying programming and engineering independently at a young age. Before founding Higgsfield AI, Dulat had no formal university education — his personal website lists "Education: None" — and no notable prior startup exits. He initially pitched an infrastructure platform for training large neural networks to venture investor Murat Abdrakhmanov, who invested $250,000 in May 2023, allowing him to assemble a team. That seed evolved into Higgsfield AI, where Dulat serves as CTO and Chief Research Officer, later joined by Snap's former Director of AI Alex Mashrabov as co-founder. The company reached a $1B+ valuation within roughly two years of founding.