After Crossing Continents and Industries, Egor Folley Is Contributing to the Future of AI

Artificial intelligence is actively reshaping how the construction industry operates, thanks to tools that track site conditions, catch risks early, and provide a real-time view of ongoing work. However, there still remains the challenge of actually leveraging these tools to their full potential, as evidenced by the fact that only 1% of companies reach maturity in their AI integration efforts.

This challenge has captured the interest of 27-year-old AI entrepreneur Egor Folley, who has been exploring innovative solutions in the field.

Hailing from Russia and with a background in robotics and software engineering, Egor has built his career around applying AI to solve complex industry challenges. He co-founded Modalina AI, a no-code platform that helps businesses build, deploy, and manage AI agents. These agents work like in-house consultants, turning data like photos and video footage into real-time insights in order to help managers better understand site conditions and make faster, more informed decisions.

From Robotics Research to Tech Entrepreneurship

After studying mechatronics, robotics, and automation engineering in Russia (and graduating in the top 5 of his engineering class), Egor started his career by working as a machine learning and software engineer for a San Francisco-based AI company. By 2021, he ranked among the top 10% of highest-paid engineers in Russia.

His ambition to create impactful tools with real-world applications led him to launch his first company, ARTIAL, in 2022. The platform aimed to enable drones to autonomously navigate complex environments using visual perception — without relying on GPS or remote control. But despite securing $80,000 in early funding, the ARTIAL struggled to make it past initial pilot projects, as the European market was hesitant to adopt relatively untested AI technology.

Determined to keep ARTIAL moving forward, Egor applied to the prestigious Techstars Berlin and AUDI Accelerator, where he received valuable mentorship from industry veterans like the former CTO of a €2 billion mobility company. It also taught him the unfortunate reality of every startup founder: even the most advanced technology will struggle to gain traction if the market is not ready for it.

With this new perspective, Egor realized that ARTIAL needed a clearer market focus. To refocus the company, he took a drastic step, letting go of his team and spending two months rebuilding ARTIAL's autonomy stack alone — a move that finally landed the company its first paying customer and led to $10,000 in contracts with Spanish drone service companies.

While ARTIAL ultimately struggled to gain long-term traction, the experience gave Egor a greater insight into what it takes to build AI solutions that address real, practical problems. This laid the groundwork for his next venture.

Building Custom Artificial Intelligence Agents with Modalina AI

Learning from his experience with ARTIAL, Egor started by defining a clear industry need. He zeroed in on the construction industry, a sector that constantly generates visual data from drone footage, fixed cameras, and smartphone images. However, much of this data remains underutilized due to being untracked and poorly organized. This problem limits managers' ability to monitor progress and respond to potential problems in time, leading to $1.8 trillion in annual losses across the global sector.

Egor believes the challenge can be addressed through Modalina AI solutions. Rather than requiring expensive sensors or complex hardware, the platform empowers organizations to build agents that process the data that teams are already collecting. In the platform's current demo stage, users simply upload site footage, and the system will analyze it to look for issues like misplaced materials, potential safety hazards, and early warning signs of project delays — allowing managers and supervisors to respond before small problems escalate. Early testing indicates that the platform could save 12 hours per worker per week, result in a 70% reduction in reporting time, and eliminate up to $130,000 in annual labor-related costs — reducing overall operational expenses by as much as 21%.

Modalina AI has already gained significant momentum, having since signed its first three paying customers with roughly $12,000 MRR, secured five letters of intent, and been invited to speak at the 2025 BuiltWorlds AI/ML Conference. The company is also working on pilot projects with one of the top three EPC firms in the U.S., marking a significant step toward broader market adoption.

Expanding Modalina AI: Egor's Long-Term Game

Today, Egor is a Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence (GEIR) for the nonprofit Global Detroit. The program, which supports international founders in launching startups and creating jobs in Southeast Michigan, played a critical role in Modalina AI's early development and traction. Egor remains actively involved in Global Detroit's mission to strengthen the region's tech ecosystem and mentor budding startups.

Looking ahead, the long-term vision for Modalina AI is to become a $10 billion company. While its current focus is on B2B markets like construction, the team is planning to expand its capabilities to serve other under-digitized sectors like infrastructure and healthcare, which face similar challenges around unstructured data.

As a GEIR, Egor supports early-stage founders and entrepreneurs through programs in Global Detroit, drawing on his own experiences launching startups in different environments. He's passionate about empowering entrepreneurs and immigrants who, like him, have had to navigate complex markets without a safety net — offering practical advice on how to build tech companies that solve real-world problems.

To learn more about Egor Folley's work, follow him on LinkedIn. For updates on Modalina AI, connect with the team at Modalina.ai.