Matador Spotlight: Nadiia Huliak
At Matador AI, our success is driven by the people behind the platform. These are the talented, passionate individuals who transform complex challenges into innovative solutions for dealerships. This month, we’re spotlighting Nadiia Huliak, our Product Release Manager, who has been with Matador since 2020!
Q: Tell us about your role at Matador
As a Product Release Manager, I’m the bridge between vision and delivery. My role is to orchestrate the release process — aligning designers, developers, and QA engineers while also addressing requests from product owners and stakeholders. The goal is to ensure that what we ship isn’t just on time, but also meaningful and reliable.
I like to think of myself as an air traffic controller for releases: keeping everyone in sync, anticipating turbulence, and ensuring a smooth landing every time a new version goes live. For me, it’s about turning complexity into clarity and making sure the team’s hard work reaches users without a hitch.
Q: What excites you most about working in automotive AI technology?
What excites me most about working in automotive AI technology is how our platform feels like a well-equipped modern car. Some of the features we’ve built, like Call AI, Follow Up, Sequences, and Superhuman, are like the advanced components you’d expect in today’s vehicles: lane detectors, distance sensors, climate control, even autopilot. The different CRM integrations act as the engine that powers everything. And then it’s up to us. We choose the speed and the driving mode, whether cruise or sport, but either way, we always reach the same destination: a seamless, impactful interaction between dealer and customer.
Can you share a memorable moment or proud achievement you’ve experienced since joining Matador?
I’ve been with Matador since 2020, and one of the things I’m most proud of is how far we’ve come as a team. Our growth, our features, and our success are all the result of tight collaboration and deep mutual understanding between every developer and QA engineer, who knows the platform inside and out. I’m proud of every feature we’ve implemented over the past five years. Each one is like a diamond — shaped through long, meticulous refinement during requirements, carefully cut through precise implementation, and polished through detailed testing to ensure no scenario is overlooked.
Q: How does Matador’s culture influence your daily work experience?
We love to keep things lighthearted with jokes and memes, but at the same time we know the work has to get done — and done well. Our developers are spread across the world, and what makes it special is how we genuinely care about each other’s lives and cultures beyond the code. For example, I’m from Ukraine, and sometimes on calls my teammates in Canada will jokingly use Ukrainian expressions they’ve picked up. It’s a small thing, but it shows how curious we are about each other’s backgrounds and how much we value those connections.
Another example is how we’ve created our own internal memes and quality ‘ratings.’ One of my favorites is when a teammate solved a critical issue so quickly and precisely that someone said, ‘You’re like 007!’ Since then, the 007 emoji has become our inside symbol of excellent work.
Q: What’s your favorite feature or aspect of the Matador platform, and why?
What I love most about the Matador platform is how it constantly pushes us to balance flexibility with structure. At first, that might sound contradictory — structure requires consistency, while flexibility demands quick shifts. But in our team, everyone knows each feature inside and out, so when priorities change, we can regroup, brainstorm, and adapt on the spot. It keeps us sharp and ensures every need gets covered. Matador doesn’t let anyone get bored — this isn’t the kind of work where you spend hours scrolling through documentation. It’s about active change, rapid progress, and always staying one step ahead!
Q: Outside of work, what passions or hobbies energize you the most?
On one side of the scale, I’m drawn to active, fast-paced things like snowboarding, wakeboarding, and riding my motorcycle. On the other side, I value mindfulness through sound healing, yoga, and tea ceremonies.
My collection of teapots, cups, and teas has long surpassed the kind of number you’d want to admit out loud.
Q: What’s a fun or surprising fact about yourself that your teammates might not know?
All these years, my constant work companion has been my blind ginger cat, Bosya. He doesn’t know what time it is, of course, but somehow, exactly one minute before our daily standup or weekly important meeting, he jumps onto the desk and quietly sits there, listening to whatever we share with each other. He’s like our unofficial team member who never misses a meeting.
