Annika Helendi
šŸ‘‹ Hi, I'm Annika

I teach marketers to work with AI, without the slop.

I'm a founder and marketer from Estonia with 15+ years in startups like Toggl, PostHog and Bolt. These days I share what actually works with AI on YouTube, in my newsletter and in my community, AI Marketing Masters.

Annika Helendi
5M+inbound signups generated

Where I've worked and consulted

PostHog Bolt Toggl Neurable Scoro Dashbird Klaus Avokaado Vacation Tracker
Annika Helendi above the New York City skyline

A bit about me

I'm from Estonia, a tiny country that's doing big things in tech. I've spent 15+ years in startups, and most of them sold to English-speaking markets, mainly the US and Canada.

I've seen marketing from every seat. I've been a founder, a CEO, a CMO, a head of marketing, an in-house marketer and a consultant. So I know what it's like to own the budget, and what it's like to be the one doing the work.

My thing has always been inbound. At Toggl, SEO brought in 1.8 million signups without an ad budget. Across all the companies I've worked with, it's over 5 million. Now most of my time goes into AI. I test the tools, build the systems and share what works.

I've worked fully remotely since 2012, and I'm a big advocate for remote work. It also makes room for my favorite thing: slow travel, staying somewhere long enough to actually live there for a while.

  • Founder
  • CEO
  • CMO
  • Head of Marketing
  • In-house marketer
  • Consultant
  • YouTuber
15+years in startups
2012fully remote since
1.8MSEO signups at Toggl

What I'm known for

Three topics I keep coming back to, in my videos, my talks and my own business.

1.

AI systems for small marketing teams

The right tools, shared context, Claude Skills, design systems and automations, set up so the whole team uses AI the same way.

2.

Video-first SEO and AI search

Video builds the most trust. I turn one video into the posts, clips and pages that rank on Google and get cited in AI search.

3.

Quality over volume

AI makes it easy to publish more. I care about publishing better, with voice rules and review steps that keep the slop out.

On stage

I talk about AI and marketing at conferences and events, in English and Estonian.

Annika Helendi speaking on stage at the grit. conference
grit. conference, 2025
Annika Helendi presenting on the main stage
Main stage talk
Annika Helendi in an on-stage interview
On-stage interview

Podcasts and interviews

Conversations about AI, SEO and how marketing teams should work now.

Close with Copy, with Audrey ChiaEnglish

How Annika Helendi builds AI workflows for lean marketing teams
Ryan DoserEnglish

Is SEO finally dead? How marketers should be using AI right now
grit. startup marketing podcastEstonian

AI kasutamine turunduses (Using AI in marketing)
AIPowerment Podcast #64Estonian

Turunduse automatiseerimine AI abil (Automating marketing with AI)

Things I build and run

Everything I teach, I use in my own projects first.

YouTube

80+ videos on how marketers can work with Claude and other AI tools.

Watch ā†’

AI Marketing Masters

My community where marketers learn to use Claude in their everyday work.

Join ā†’

AI & Marketing

My Substack newsletter for small teams that want to do big things with AI.

Read ā†’

Blessed Pirate

Done-for-you LinkedIn posts for founders and B2B brands, run on an automated content system I built.

Visit ā†’

Astronaut Marketing

My marketing company, with case studies and my archive of SEO and AI articles.

Visit ā†’

Instagram

The more personal side: behind the scenes, slow travel and everyday life.

Follow ā†’

Let's connect

The easiest way to reach me is LinkedIn. Follow along on the channel you like best.

Message me on LinkedIn