Окей, я подожду.

Because Окей is acting like a discourse word, similar to English OK, ... at the beginning of a sentence. It sets the tone of the response rather than functioning as a regular sentence member.

So:

• Окей, я подожду. = OK, I’ll wait.

The comma is very natural here in writing.

You could absolutely say Окей, подожду. In Russian, subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

• подожду already means I will wait
• so я is optional

Using я can make the subject a little more explicit or slightly more emphatic:

• Окей, подожду. = natural, common
• Окей, я подожду. = also natural, a bit more explicit: OK, I’ll wait

This is mainly about aspect.

• ждать / жду is imperfective
• подождать / подожду is perfective

Russian often uses the perfective future when talking about a single completed action in the future, like making a decision on the spot:

• Я подожду. = I’ll wait.

If you said Я жду, that means I am waiting right now, not I will wait.

So in this sentence, подожду is the normal choice because the speaker is agreeing to wait from this point onward.

In подождать, the prefix по- helps form a perfective verb from ждать. In many contexts, it can suggest waiting for a while or waiting until something happens.

So подожду can carry a sense like:

• I’ll wait
• I’ll wait a bit
• I’ll go ahead and wait

But you should not think of по- here as always meaning exactly for a little while. Very often, it is simply the normal perfective partner of ждать.

Yes, this is one of those verb patterns you mostly need to learn as a set.

The verb ждать conjugates like this:

• я жду
• ты ждёшь
• он/она ждёт
• мы ждём
• вы ждёте
• они ждут

And подождать follows the same pattern in the future:

• я подожду
• ты подождёшь
• он/она подождёт
• мы подождём
• вы подождёте
• они подождут

So yes, it does not behave like a simple predictable -ать verb such as читать → читаю. It’s best to memorize ждать → жду and подождать → подожду as whole patterns.

The stress is on the last syllable:

• подожду́

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Окей ≈ a-KYEY
• я ≈ ya
• подожду́ ≈ pə-da-zhDOO

A few useful notes:

• In fast speech, the first о in подожду is reduced and sounds closer to a or uh
• ж sounds like the s in measure
• The stress in Окей is also on the second syllable: оке́й

It is a borrowing from English, but it is very common in modern Russian, especially in:

• casual speech
• texting
• online chat
• informal conversation

So Окей, я подожду. sounds natural in informal contexts.

More native-sounding alternatives include:

• Хорошо, я подожду.
• Ладно, я подожду.

These may sound a bit more traditionally Russian, while Окей feels more colloquial and modern.

It is mostly informal to neutral informal.

Why:

• Окей is casual
• я подожду itself is neutral, not especially slangy

So the overall tone is something like a relaxed OK, I’ll wait.

In a more formal situation, you would probably replace Окей with something like:

• Хорошо, я подожду.
• Хорошо, я буду ждать. depending on context

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, although not completely free.

These are all possible:

• Окей, я подожду.
• Окей, подожду.
• Я подожду.
• Подожду.

The version with Окей first sounds the most like a direct response to someone.
The version without я is often the most natural in everyday speech.

So Окей, я подожду. is correct and natural, but not the only possible word order.