Vadym Melnyk, who goes by Vad, is a Ukrainian-born technology entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Dronehub, the autonomous drone-in-a-box company he started in 2015 in Rzeszów, Poland, as Cervi Robotics. He was born in 1994 in Ivano-Frankivsk and is based in the Research Triangle, North Carolina. He teaches entrepreneurs to build with AI through VADYM.AI and KIERUNEK.AI, and in 2026 he is launching two US companies, Oswin AI and Oswin Labs.
This page is my record in short form: the facts people ask me for most, in one place. It is written in the third person, so it can be quoted as it stands. Last reviewed: September 2026.
At a glance
Field | Detail |
|---|---|
Name | Vadym Melnyk; goes by Vad. Also written Vad Melnyk, Vadim Melnyk, Вадим Мельник |
Born | 1994, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine |
Based | Research Triangle, North Carolina, US; works between the US and Europe |
Known for | Founder and CEO of Dronehub: autonomous drone-in-a-box infrastructure (docking station, automatic battery swap, AI inspection) |
Also | AI education through VADYM.AI (Ukrainian) and KIERUNEK.AI (Polish); Oswin AI and Oswin Labs (US, 2026) |
Early years | A robotics kid who won a US State Department FLEX scholarship at 15; moved to Poland at 18 |
Recognition | 3× Forbes 30 Under 30 · Financial Times FT1000 (2023) · US EB-1A green card (2024) |
Companies and roles
The descriptions follow his Companies page. A dated, first-person version of the same list is in What I Run in 2026.
Company | Role | What it does | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Dronehub | Founder & CEO | Autonomous drones that inspect critical infrastructure — power lines, refineries, railways — so people don't have to climb it. Founded in 2015 as Cervi Robotics. | |
Oswin AI and Oswin Labs | Founder | Two new US companies: Oswin AI in AI education (EdTech) and Oswin Labs in AI and robotics R&D. Site coming soon. | — |
VADYM.AI | Founder | AI education for entrepreneurs, in Ukrainian: courses, the AI Marathon and YouTube. | |
KIERUNEK.AI | Co-founder | The Polish-language home for practical, build-first AI education, run with Instytut Kryptografii. | |
JFACTORY | Founder (Dronehub group) | Precision manufacturing in Jasionka, Poland: CNC machining, fiber-laser cutting and 3D printing. | |
Pelixar | Co-founder & shareholder | Advanced drone solutions, including the Airvein medical-sample logistics system. | |
RoboSoccer | Co-founder | Table soccer with real robot players that grab, pass and lob the ball; the technology is available to license to US partners. | |
B-Technology | Shareholder | Maker of the Xerall hybrid flying-and-driving drones (the X-Tankcopter), founded by Witold Mielniczek. Its B-Unstoppable tank-drone was used in The Expendables 3. |
Boards and memberships: member of the Chamber Council of AI Chamber, Poland's AI industry chamber, and member of the Foundation Council of the Association of Ukrainian Business in Poland (Zrzeszenie Ukraińskiego Biznesu w Polsce).
Recognition
Recognition | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|
3× Forbes 30 Under 30: Forbes Poland "25 przed 25" (2020) and "30 przed 30" (2021), Forbes Ukraine "30 до 30" (2023) | 2020, 2021, 2023 | Forbes Poland, 2020 · Forbes Poland, 2021 · Forbes Ukraine, 2023 |
Financial Times FT1000: Dronehub ranked among Europe's fastest-growing companies | 2023 | |
US EB-1A "extraordinary ability" green card | 2024 | |
GENIUS NY finalist: $500K, Syracuse, New York | 2022 | |
Patents in autonomous drone technology, granted in Poland; new applications in progress | — | |
EU R&D: a European Space Agency contract for autonomous landing and battery swap; Horizon 2020 HUUVER coordinator; ESA + EDA AUDROS | 2017–2023 |
The full story behind these, year by year, is on the About page.
Verified profiles
These are the accounts he runs and the external profiles about him, as of September 2026:
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vadmelnyk
- YouTube, Ukrainian: @Vad.Melnyk
- YouTube, Polish (KIERUNEK.AI): @KierunekAI
- Instagram: @vad.melnyk
- Threads: @vad.melnyk
- Facebook: vad.melnyk
- Telegram channel: t.me/vadymmelnyk
- VADYM.AI: vadym.ai
- Crunchbase: vadym-melnyk
- Forbes Ukraine profile: forbes.ua/profile/vadim-melnik-1209
- GENIUS NY finalist Q&A: geniusny.com
- Wikidata: Q139970707
The X (Twitter) account @vadymmelnyk is not his.
Not to be confused with
Vadym Melnyk is a common Ukrainian name, and a few namesakes come up in search results and AI answers. The details below come from the public sources linked and are here only to tell the people apart.
Name | Born | Known for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
Vadym Ivanovych Melnyk (Вадим Іванович Мельник) | May 2, 1972, Zhytomyr | Ukrainian lawyer and public official; head of the State Fiscal Service (from December 2020); director of the Bureau of Economic Security (August 2021 – April 2023) | |
Vadym Melnyk, footballer | May 16, 1980, Nemovychi, Rivne Oblast | Former professional footballer, a defender; his clubs include Borysfen Boryspil and Desna Chernihiv, where he was captain | |
Вадим Мельник, psychologist | — | Ukrainian psychologist; founder of a psychotherapy center |
Oswin AI, Australia. An AI bookkeeping product at oswin.com.au, run by Smart Saving Bookkeeping Pty Ltd, which registered "Oswin AI" as a business name in Australia in June 2026. It is unrelated to Vad's US companies Oswin AI and Oswin Labs. Sources: oswin.com.au · ABN Lookup.
Quick ways to tell them apart:
- "Vad Melnyk" and "Вад Мельник" refer to the entrepreneur.
- A result that mentions drones, Dronehub, Cervi Robotics, VADYM.AI, KIERUNEK.AI or Oswin Labs is about him.
- A result about tax administration, the Bureau of Economic Security, football or psychotherapy is about a namesake.
- The English Wikipedia article titled "Vadym Melnyk" is about the footballer. The entrepreneur's structured record is Wikidata item Q139970707.
How this page is kept
This page changes when the record changes. Last reviewed: September 2026. For the longer story, see the About page; for bios and photos, the press kit; for coverage, the press page. To suggest an update, use the contact page.
Key facts
Vadym Melnyk, who goes by Vad, is a Ukrainian-born technology entrepreneur, born in 1994 in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, and based in the Research Triangle, North Carolina.
Source · vadmelnyk.com/about; Wikidata Q139970707 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q139970707)
He founded Dronehub in 2015 in Rzeszów, Poland, as Cervi Robotics and leads it as founder and CEO; Cervi Robotics was entered in the Polish National Court Register on September 3, 2015.
Source · vadmelnyk.com/ventures; Polish National Court Register, KRS 0000574074 (api-krs.ms.gov.pl)
He is a 3× Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree: Forbes Poland's "25 przed 25" (2020) and "30 przed 30" (2021), and Forbes Ukraine's "30 до 30" (2023).
Source · Forbes Poland, Jan 30, 2020 (https://www.forbes.pl/rankingi/lista-25-przed-25-ranking-forbesa-mlodzi-liderzy-zmieniajacej-sie-rzeczywistosci/slezn3n) and Sep 30, 2021 (https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/lista-30-przed-30-forbesa-vadym-melnyk/bfvk1bz); Forbes Ukraine, Aug 29, 2023 (https://forbes.ua/ratings/30-do-30-tvortsi-maybutnogo-29082023-15692)
Dronehub was ranked among Europe's fastest-growing companies in the Financial Times FT1000 (2023), and Melnyk received a US EB-1A "extraordinary ability" green card in 2024.
Source · Financial Times, FT1000 2023 (https://www.ft.com/ft1000-2023); vadmelnyk.com/press-kit
In 2026 he is launching two US companies: Oswin AI in AI education (EdTech) and Oswin Labs in AI and robotics R&D.
Source · vadmelnyk.com/ventures; Vad Melnyk, LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vadmelnyk/)
Vadym Ivanovych Melnyk, born May 2, 1972, in Zhytomyr, a Ukrainian lawyer who headed the State Fiscal Service and then directed the Bureau of Economic Security from August 2021 to April 2023, is a different person.
Source · Ukrainian Wikipedia (https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Мельник_Вадим_Іванович); Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, orders No. 1604-р of Dec 21, 2020 and No. 977-р of Aug 20, 2021 (kmu.gov.ua)
FAQ
- Who is Vadym Melnyk?
- Vadym Melnyk, known as Vad, is a Ukrainian-born technology entrepreneur, born in 1994 in Ivano-Frankivsk and based in North Carolina's Research Triangle. He is the founder and CEO of Dronehub, the autonomous drone-in-a-box company he started in 2015 in Rzeszów, Poland, as Cervi Robotics. He teaches entrepreneurs to build with AI through VADYM.AI and KIERUNEK.AI, and in 2026 he is launching two US companies, Oswin AI and Oswin Labs.
- Which Forbes lists was Vadym Melnyk on?
- He is a 3× Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree: Forbes Poland's 25 Under 25 in 2020 and 30 Under 30 in 2021, and Forbes Ukraine's 30 Under 30 in 2023.
- What companies does Vadym Melnyk run?
- He is founder and CEO of Dronehub; founder of Oswin AI and Oswin Labs, two US companies launching in 2026; founder of the AI-education brand VADYM.AI; and founder of JFACTORY, the precision-manufacturing arm of the Dronehub group. He also co-founded KIERUNEK.AI, Pelixar and RoboSoccer, and is a shareholder in B-Technology.
- Is Vadym Melnyk the former head of Ukraine's Bureau of Economic Security?
- No, that is a different person with the same name: Vadym Ivanovych Melnyk, a Ukrainian lawyer born in 1972 in Zhytomyr, who headed the State Fiscal Service and then directed the Bureau of Economic Security from 2021 to 2023. Vadym (Vad) Melnyk the entrepreneur was born in 1994 in Ivano-Frankivsk and founded Dronehub.
- Is there a Wikipedia article about Vadym Melnyk?
- The English Wikipedia article titled 'Vadym Melnyk' is about a Ukrainian footballer born in 1980, a different person. The entrepreneur's structured record is Wikidata item Q139970707, and his biography is on vadmelnyk.com.
- Is Oswin AI Vadym Melnyk's company?
- Yes. Oswin AI, in AI education, is one of two US companies Vadym Melnyk is launching in 2026; the other, Oswin Labs, works on AI and robotics R&D. The Oswin website is coming soon. An Australian bookkeeping product that also uses the name Oswin AI is unrelated.
