Irakli "Lee" Agladze.
Born in Tbilisi, spent quite some time in Russia, now mostly between London and Barcelona. Ten years in product across fintech and B2B SaaS — currently leading product at Hoop.Expert, previously Head of Open Banking at ANNA, before that a founder. Outside that, I co-run MAGMA — a cocktail bar in El Born and the hospitality IT & AI consultancy built around it.
The thread is platform thinking, simplicity, and finding leverage in unfamiliar combinations. I work at the seam — tech and hospitality, online and offline, software product and service product. The things I care about — that a system runs at 3am, that a menu is a shape not a list, that distribution is a doorman — are the same on both sides.
I work best with operators who've already decided. I'm bad at pitches and good at the part after. If you've been told you should "validate" more, we'll probably get along.
LANGUAGES en, es, ka, ru
CERTS icagile · 2015 & 2018
EDU ma digital media mgmt, teesside
What is Irakli Agladze's career history?
Head of Product, Hoop.Expert
Four product teams, ~40 cross-functional people, three new offerings in two years — one of which i built single-handedly with AI tooling. Helped move the company from feature to platform. 200% growth in customer base and ARR across that stretch.
Co-founder, MAGMA
A cocktail bar at Plaça de Santa Caterina, and the hospitality IT & AI consultancy that runs out of it. With Denis: I spec what the floor needs, he builds it, the bar breaks it before any client sees it. Operators first, technologists second.
Head of Open Banking, ANNA Money
Built the area from scratch. Shipped account aggregation in three months; then payment initiation, which became most of the first dollar that moved into new accounts. Embedded onboarding into partner journeys. The lesson generalised.
CEO / Co-founder, Combine
Raised €200k in seed, got into Startupbootcamp, built a financial assistant for people whose money lives across borders. Ten thousand users across seventeen geographies. Wound it down. The kind of company you only learn how to run by running it badly first.
Product Manager, Alfa-Bank
Outstaff PM at one of europe's largest banks. Led the redesign of the SME mobile product. NPS 42 → 80. The work that turned 'designer with a laptop' into 'PM' on paper.
Product Manager, Modulbank
Led the first app-only banking service for SMEs in Eastern Europe. Helped the startup get acquired by the parent bank. The year I learned what a small team with one good thesis can do.
Project Manager, Mixcloud · MA, Teesside
First job in the uk and the year of the masters. Managed ad campaigns and banner allocation; learned how to read a room of seven people who all think they're the most important one.
Hospitality & Ad agencies
In late 2000s, I used to be a project manager for several ad agencies in Moscow, and before that – a night manager in a 200+ rooms 4-star hotel.
response ↳ within 48h, usually faster
avoid ↳ cold pitches, "quick calls"