I’m Mixail Petrochuk (formerly Michael), an autistic, immigrant founder, deep-tech researcher, and values-driven technology leader.

I was born in Russia, and my family fled via Israel before eventually resettling in the United States when I was five. Growing up in the US without much structured support for my neurodivergence, I learned to rely on myself. Most of what I know I taught myself online by following my curiosity, tracking down resources, and trying things long before I felt ready. I have been learning in public and embarrassing myself since I entered school, but that same willingness led me to carve a unique career path for myself.

Once I got my feet under me at the University of Washington, I founded a nonprofit, set a world record, published research in a top-tier conference, and won the largest hackathon in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly after graduating, I started WellSaid Labs, which has grown from $0 to roughly $20M in ARR while serving about half of the Fortune 500. As founder and CTO, I led the development of WellSaid’s patented audio models for enterprise content teams, enabling them to produce consistent, human-sounding audio at scale.

Across both my work and life, I’m guided by a small set of non-negotiables: inclusivity, sustainability, and responsibility. At WellSaid, those principles led us to take an early stance on generative AI by partnering directly with voice actors, giving them both representation in the company and royalties for their voices. In my personal life, I have taken every opportunity to live more sustainably and to support other neurodivergent people.

When I’m not working, you’ll usually find me rollerblading, taking photos, or learning something new.