Andrey sat in his car for half an hour in front of the building where the meeting was supposed to take place. He was about to leave three times. The ignition was on, hands on the wheel, windshield wipers methodically clearing the windshield from the starting rain. I thought, what kind of conversationalist am I? I’ve been in IT for 20 years, half of my jokes are about code. Who needs that? — he says when we met six months after that date, in a cafe on Taganka.
How a good guy ended up alone
Andrey is 38. A successful team lead at a large IT company. His own apartment in Moscow. No bad habits. Yet his last relationship ended six years ago and lasted only four months. I kind of made peace with it, — he says. — Work, gym, TV series. On weekends — meetings with friends who already have families. Wednesday is my favorite day because there’s a discount at the cinema.
Friends had been urging him to try AI-matchmaking for about a year. I agreed because I was tired of arguing, honestly, — Andrey laughs. — Not because I believed it, but because I wanted them to back off. He took a 15-minute visual preferences test, filled out a profile, and forgot about the app. Three days later a notification came: the algorithm found a match with 85 percent compatibility.
First meeting that lasted four hours
I looked at the photo and thought: an ordinary girl, — Andrey recalls. — Pretty, but not wow. Not my type, as I thought. I always paid attention to tall blondes, and here — a completely different look. But I decided: the algorithm knows better, I’ll trust it at least once. I wrote: hi, I see you like jazz — what was the last concert you listened to?
She replied within an hour. They exchanged twenty messages that evening. Two days later he invited her to a concert. I didn’t understand when it happened, — he says. — But by the time we met, I knew more about her than about some colleagues I’ve worked with for three years. And I wanted to know more.
The first meeting lasted four hours. We went into a cafe for coffee, — Andrey recalls. — And came out four hours later. The waiter came twice to hint that the restaurant was closing. I didn’t notice the time. It was the first weekend in many years when I didn’t think about work, didn’t check my phone, didn’t look for an excuse to leave.
Life after the algorithm
Now they’ve been dating for almost a year. Andrey says it’s the best year of his life. I don’t know if the algorithm’s magic worked or we were just ready for each other, — he reflects. — But the fact is, without this service we would never have met. She lives in a different district, goes to a different gym, listens to different music. Our social circles don’t overlap. On Tinder I would have swiped left in a second — not my type. And I would have been wrong.
Andrey’s story is one of thousands. According to a 2025 survey of users of AI dating services (sample — 2000 people), 72 percent of respondents rate their relationships as above average. 68 percent note that the dating process was significantly less stressful compared to traditional apps. Numbers don’t lie: when the algorithm takes over the initial screening, people get a chance to see each other beyond the 300-millisecond filter.
They are planning a joint trip to Europe this summer. Andrey said that for the first time in a long time he stopped being afraid of Friday evening. Previously, Friday meant I’d be alone for two days, — he says. — Now it means we’ll go somewhere together. I asked if he knows how exactly the algorithm that changed his life works. Andrey laughed: I have no idea. And I don’t want to know. The main thing is that it works.
Read also: user journey, dating from A to Z, dating timeline