Piotr
Markielau
software engineer · civic activist · researcher
I'm a software engineer who leads teams of AI agents and builds civic institutions that hold power to account, working toward a free Belarus and an open society, built by people, with tools they control.
Education
ISM University of Management and Economics is a prestigious AACSB-accredited international university located in Vilnius, Lithuania. My focus is innovation and organisation management, applied to the non-profit sector — building capacity, scaling impact, and leading change-driven organisations. Studies supported by the EU4Belarus programme for political refugees.
A private university in Prague rooted in the CEVRO liberal think-tank, known for its focus on political economy, law, and social sciences. My program was uniquely interdisciplinary, combining economics, political philosophy, and jurisprudence. Studies supported by a scholarship from the Prometheus Foundation.
Belarus's oldest and highest-ranked university. Expelled after 3.5 years of studies for political reasons — a direct consequence of civic and opposition activism; academic performance was never in question.
Professional Experience
Leading full backend implementation for a job networking platform serving the hotel and catering industry across Scandinavia — a community of 20,000+ members from 89 nations. Building LLM-powered tooling for intelligent candidate-employer matching, and developing integrations with third-party platforms to extend the ecosystem and automate workflows.
A software solutions company of 40+ professionals building custom software globally. Contracted here to work on the Staffers project — developing Python integrations and analytics tooling to extend the platform's data capabilities and connect it with external services.
A global software engineering company with 3,000+ engineers and 25+ years of experience. Contributed to established client projects using PHP and Node.js — working within mature codebases and shipping features across multiple production systems.
$ cat AGENTS.md
# Working with me Backend lead, building with coding agents. They draft. I own the architecture, the review and what reaches production. ## AI Claude Code · LLM agents · LLM-powered product features ## Build Go · Python · JavaScript · Django · DRF · Gorm · Next.js · Node.js ## Run PostgreSQL · Docker · Linux · GitHub Actions Google Cloud · DigitalOcean ## Focus civic technology · investigative platforms
$ uptime --since
My projects
The challenge of the 21st century for societies living under authoritarianism isn't the lack of brave people — it's the absence of infrastructure. Every platform I build, every dataset I compile, every space I co-found is a brick in the infrastructure of an open society that doesn't yet fully exist, but must.
A revival of Syn Bielarusa — the Belarusian-language newspaper published in Vilnia in 1924 until Polish authorities shut it down after 42 issues. Back after a 102-year break, written in classical Belarusian orthography, with English and Russian editions and the original 1924 issues republished in its archive.
An investigative platform documenting political repressions in Belarus and war crimes in Ukraine. Built and maintained independently, grounded in the principle that tolerance of aggression is incompatible with an open society. A living archive for accountability and historical memory.
A civil movement co-founded to advocate for humane and evidence-based drug policy in Belarus — challenging one of the region's most punitive and ineffective approaches to drug regulation. Building public discourse where none was allowed to exist.
A community-run creative space in Vilnius offering a home for artists, activists, and civic initiatives from across the world. Part gallery, part crypto bar, part coworking collective — hosting political seminars, film screenings, Bitcoin meetups, and concerts by independent Belarusian musicians.
Latest research: The Aid Paradox: What 800 Belarusians Actually Want From Civil Society
Organisational Memberships
In the past
Bio
Born in Maladziechna, Belarus in 1994. Grew up under Lukashenko's authoritarian regime, which shaped both my political convictions and my understanding of what civil society must do to survive. Studied theoretical physics at BSU alongside civic and opposition activism, which ended my time there and has shaped my work ever since. Completed a Bachelor's in Business, Politics, Economics at CEVRO Univerzita in Prague while building a career in software engineering, co-founding civic organisations, running campaigns, and creating spaces for political education and free expression. Currently completing a Master's in Innovation & Technology Management at ISM University in Vilnius, where I have been based since 2024.
My work sits at the intersection of software engineering, civic technology, and democratic accountability. I build tools that give civil society organisations more capacity, conduct research that turns lived experience into evidence, and organise spaces where Belarusian culture and political thought can develop freely. The thread across all of it: a belief that a free, democratic Belarus must be built, not waited for — and that the building requires both technical craft and civic commitment.
In the media
Profile by Daniella Lukach: from physics student to exile, and why I question parts of the Western funding system for Belarusian civil society.
Announcement of ZOLAK, a Belarusian space in Vilnius, naming me among its founders.
Interview on how luka.zone works and what its database of people involved in political repression lets anyone search.
One of five Belarusians profiled during the crisis: five arrests, 67 days in jail, and leaving through the woods.
Contacts
- Signal signal.me/#u/pmarkielau.01
- Telegram t.me/pmarkielau
- Instagram @konnikpahoni
- LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/konnikpahoni
- GitHub github.com/KonnikPahoni
- Email [email protected]
