"AI is not a replacement for the developer, but his superpower." Interview with the manager of the front-end guild of the Israeli company Wix in Ukraine and photo report

Israeli IT company Wix, which has offices in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Lviv, recently announced the acquisition of startup Base44 for $80 million. This is a project for vibe coding — based on a text request, the service creates a full-fledged application with a database, storage, authentication, analytics, and integrations. In the 6 months of its existence, the startup for non-technical users has already gained almost 250,000 fans.

Wix, which has made website creation a simple process for millions, including through the active implementation of AI solutions, continues to grow both globally and in Ukraine. According to DOU, in the second half of 2024, Wix was one of the leaders in hiring in Ukraine, attracting more than 100 new specialists.

So we talked to Andriy Mokhovyk, the manager of the Wix front-end guild in Ukraine, about vibe coding, the nuances of implementing artificial intelligence and the AI future, as well as about hiring and funny interview incidents related to the same AI.

"Intellectual" beginning and development

Wix was founded in Tel Aviv by three technology enthusiasts, Avishai Abraham, Nadav Abraham, and Giora Kaplan, back in 2006. The Wix team believed that the Internet should be open to everyone for free expression, development, and interaction, so they decided to create a platform that would allow them to build professional websites and their mobile versions.

By April 2010, the company already had 3.5 million users, and two years later Wix launched a new HTML5 website editor. This allowed the company to attract 25 million users and earn $60 million in 2012. And the company's initial public offering of shares on the NASDAQ exchange took place on November 5, 2013 and brought in $127 million.

In 2016, long before the AI boom, Wix launched Artificial Design Intelligence — an AI-powered solution for automatic website creation. It was the first solution on the market that could create a website in minutes by generating it based on the information entered — the algorithm was based on the depths of a database of 86 million+ users, collected content from social networks and the web, and formed a website from billions of combinations.

According to Andriy Mokhovyk, Frontend Guild Manager at Wix's Ukrainian and Polish offices, the company has since continued to improve its products to help users grow their businesses and achieve success using the numerous opportunities provided by artificial intelligence.

"Today, ADI has evolved into a new generation of website building tool called Wix AI Website Builder. This technology uses a combination of deep learning and generative AI algorithms, such as large language models (LLMs), including our own proprietary models specifically adapted to the ecosystem, to provide users with personalized solutions that meet their needs. Most of our clients don't want to spend hours writing copy, designing layouts, or paying for professional photography," Andriy told us.

The company views artificial intelligence as a strategic tool that enables millions of entrepreneurs to accelerate the development of their businesses.

"Our AI platform combines the most advanced and sophisticated technologies with an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making advanced tools accessible to companies of any size, regardless of technical training. What used to take weeks can now be done in minutes," the manager explained.

In addition to creating websites, Wix also currently has a developed AI infrastructure:

▪️ Astro is a business assistant that is integrated into the administration panel for effective business management: from tracking site performance and SEO optimization to managing subscriptions and creating content; it provides real-world analytics and personalized recommendations through a simple chat interface;

▪️ AI Marketing Agent — an agent for creating marketing strategies based on site data that generates personalized marketing briefs and action plans, supports content creation, SEO, and multi-channel campaigns, helping users increase visibility and stay on track with their goals;

▪️ Wix Model Context Protocol — a server for developers and power users that provides integration between Wix’s business infrastructure and compatible AI clients; using natural language commands, users can generate code, manage business operations, and build solutions with tools like Claude and Cursor without complex setup or hand coding;

▪️ Wixel is a proprietary, self-contained AI visual design platform built to democratize professional design; with an intuitive interface and powerful AI models running in the background, users can create, edit, and customize high-quality visuals, from product photos to social media content, without any design experience.

The era of Artificial Intelligence has arrived

Recently, Microsoft announced that it wants to include the use of AI tools in employee performance evaluation criteria. Vice President Julia Lewson stated that AI is now a fundamental part of work: "Just like collaboration, data-drivenness, and effective communication, the use of AI is no longer an option — it is a foundation for every role and every level."

According to Andriy Mokhovyk, the era of artificial intelligence is no longer a matter of the distant future - it has already arrived. "AI is rapidly integrating into all spheres of life, including the field of software development. Today, knowledge and skills to work with AI tools are a competitive advantage for a developer. But tomorrow it will become a basic market requirement. Developers who ignore these changes will find themselves in a less advantageous position, because the very approach to creating products is changing. Artificial intelligence not only optimizes work processes, but also forms a new development culture. As a result, not only tools are changing, but also the role of the developer himself," the specialist said.

According to him, the company launched the Wix AI Learning initiative, which aims to explore how artificial intelligence can actually improve workflows, decision-making, and the developer experience — from engineering and product to UX and content — to rethink the entire development pipeline — from idea to result.

"Teams that use AI can move faster, build smarter, and deliver better experiences. Those that don't risk being left behind. It's not about replacing developers, it's about empowering them to focus on what's important, automate the rest, and navigate complexity with confidence. This requires not only tools, but also trust, understanding, and a new set of shared practices. We truly believe that AI is not a replacement for the developer, but their superpower. That's why we're exploring how to better integrate AI into our workflows, how to make decision-making more accurate, and how to make everyday work more comfortable. And we're taking a holistic approach to this," noted the head of the Wix Frontend Guild.

Regarding vibe coding, the manager also noted the acquisition of startup Base44, which should help the company expand its activities in this area: "This acquisition highlights Wix's desire to push the boundaries of AI-based creation."

The specialist also shared tips that will help businesses integrate AI into their products:

▪️if your product is based on SaaS solutions, such as Wix, then you probably already have various AI tools available "out of the box" - this means that many artificial intelligence functions are already integrated and ready to use;

▪️if you develop the product yourself, the possibilities are wider - you can easily integrate modern AI models through public APIs such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini - these interfaces allow you to connect powerful artificial intelligence algorithms to your product, expanding its functionality and making it more intelligent and useful for users;

▪️at the same time, the best assistant in selecting relevant materials and resources for integration is artificial intelligence itself.

"The ability to use AI to learn how to use AI is the most important message of the entire interview, and this is where your mindset will begin to change," said the manager of the Wix frontend guild in Ukraine.

AI tools, hiring, interviews

Andriy Mokhovyk himself also actively uses various AI tools, which, according to him, have become indispensable assistants. "ChatGPT helps me analyze information, edit texts, create short summaries of articles, and perform many other tasks. For writing, reviewing, and refactoring code, I use Claude Sonnet models via the Cursor platform. I also tried using Preplexity for Internet research, but after Google integrated its Gemini AI assistant into the search engine, I returned to the usual search. For creating and editing images, I use Wixel," the IT professional told us.

In his opinion, artificial intelligence is developing extremely quickly, and models, protocols, and tools are changing literally every week. "In the future, AI will become an indispensable assistant in many areas of human activity. Therefore, we need to change our thinking today to be ready for these changes and effectively use new opportunities," Andriy Mokhovyk emphasized.

According to the manager, many of the company's developers now use AI tools every day in environments such as Cursor or the GitHub Copilot extension.

They help with code writing, reviews, and refactoring. In these integrated development environments (IDEs), IT professionals have access to advanced AI models that can be used for a variety of tasks, from simple queries to complex engineering solutions. In addition, the company has its own assistant, Astra.

"We don't just give tools and expect results. We want everyone to feel confident using AI. That's why we launched the Engineering AI Weeks initiative. This is a series of practical sessions that help developers better understand how to effectively use AI in their daily work. The workshops were conducted by engineers themselves, who already have deep expertise and are actively applying AI in their tasks," the specialist said.

With the introduction of AI, the company has begun a global rethinking of approaches to the candidate search process. Currently, Wix is working here in two directions:

▪️analyzes the recruitment process and all types of professional assessment that currently exist for engineering positions; identifies what part of the assessment of experience and knowledge can be carried out using AI tools and consistently tests all available technologies; plans to begin implementation soon;

"What are we already doing? We ask candidates about their experience with AI tools, and their knowledge and work experience are now considered a significant advantage. We are open to using AI tools when completing homework, and in this case, part of the conversation is devoted to analyzing the tools and logic that the candidate used if he/she performed part of the work with the help of AI assistants. We believe in core engineering education, professional experience, and technical knowledge. For us, AI is an additional skill and tool that can make a talented engineer even more effective, but will not turn anyone into an engineering genius," Andriy Mokhovyk told us.

According to the IT professional, AI has not only opened up new opportunities for development, but also created certain challenges - the company has increasingly encountered unscrupulous candidates who try to bypass the system during interviews, using AI assistants to receive answers in real time.

"Recently, a candidate couldn't answer a fairly basic question, so we moved on to the next one. And suddenly he had an "epiphany": he started giving an extremely detailed answer, almost verbatim from a textbook, including terms that would hardly be familiar without prior preparation. This situation looks suspicious and raises doubts about the candidate's sincerity. We are positive about the use of AI tools in interviews, but it is important for us that it is open and honest. We are always ready to dive deeper into the experience of each AI engineer, to learn about what the candidate knows and is able to do in this context, and such experience can even become an advantage. Therefore, there is simply no point in tricks," the specialist concluded.

It is also worth mentioning that at the end of May 2025, Wix acquired another Israeli startup, Hour One. This is a platform for generating videos with characters based on real people. This startup uses solutions for corporate training, marketing, and other business tasks where personalized video is required. Thus, Wix plans to further expand AI integrations, expanding the tools for creating professional AI videos.