Ilya's interest in awareness originated from martial arts. For a period of time Ilya searched for the ways to develop awareness through movement and deepening the understanding of the ways to increase well-being and self-understanding via one's body.

Ilya was dissatisfied with mystic and esoteric explanations and the limitations and biases they imply. Therefore, he started cooperating with psychologists and rationalists researching into more grounded and evidential attitudes to self-understanding and self-support. Ilya works as develops coaching and counseling chatbots that help people with their everyday struggles, self-understanding and productivity. He has written a few books, elaborated courses and programs on the mentioned above subjects. He is also an author of therapeutic games used by counseling psychologists worldwide.