35%
Fewer art revision cycles after workflow automation at Studio Wildcard.
Jason Zielinski · AI fluency × leadership × team design
Build tomorrow’s teams.
Lead what’s next.
My vision is to make AI fluency a human capability, not a technical specialty. I help leaders and teams pair judgment, creativity, and emerging tools to do better work—regardless of profession or sector. Twenty years in games and creative production are the proving ground, not the destination.
- AI fluency
- People leadership
- Tomorrow’s teams
Human judgment. Machine leverage. Shared progress.
AI fluencyPeople leadershipTeam designHuman judgmentChange leadershipCross-sector capability
01 / Evidence
Leadership, made measurable.
Games were the proving ground: high stakes, distributed teams, fast iteration, and outcomes that made better ways of working visible.
22%
Faster vendor delivery timelines through clearer systems and review paths.
3×
International teams led in parallel across three concurrent workstreams, from alignment and coaching through final delivery.
15–50%
Month-over-month revenue growth associated with top-performing visual content at Booming Games in 2018.
02 / Track record
The work behind what comes next.
Major franchises and live-service production are the past-tense proof: I can align people, systems, and technology when quality and delivery both matter.
ARK: Survival AscendedStudio Wildcard · 2023–2024
People leadership / character & creature delivery
Led artists and external partners from concept alignment through review, coaching, approvals, and implementation. Delivered rigging and up-resing of ARK: Survival Evolved assets within a three-month production window while building qualification and evaluation frameworks that improved delivery consistency.
Crash Team RumbleToys for Bob · 2023
Jr. UI Artist
Credited as Jr. UI Artist. Created featured promotional banners and UI graphics, translating franchise energy into clear, on-brand player-facing moments.
RumbleverseIron Galaxy Studios · 2020–2021
Live-service delivery / three international workstreams
Led people across three concurrent international outsource workstreams for a live-service title, aligning schedules, asset reviews, approvals, and delivery across time zones while connecting art direction, design, production, and external partners.
Deadmau5 SlotsMicrogaming / Eurostar Studios · 2019–2020
Complete art suite / animation consulting
Developed the complete art suite and executed advanced Spine animation while advising on visual guidelines, brand alignment, resourcing, and business development.
Pirates of the CaribbeanPinball · 2018
Art · credited as “J Zielinski”
Verified credit: Art on Pirates of the Caribbean pinball (2018), credited as “J Zielinski.” View source.
Dialed In!Pinball · 2017
Animation · credited as “J Zielinski”
Verified credit: Animation on Dialed In! pinball (2017), credited as “J Zielinski.” View source.
Hit It RichZynga · 2011–2016
Live-service systems / multi-studio leadership
Helped establish the art pipeline and scalable live-service processes behind the studio’s move from city-builder to casino products, leading multi-studio partners across resource allocation, schedules, quality, and forecasting.
F.3.A.R.2011
Environment Art
MobyGames-verified credit: Environment Art on F.3.A.R. (2011).
The Hearts of Men: Throne of Deceit2011
By
MobyGames-verified credit: By on The Hearts of Men: Throne of Deceit (2011).
Fracture2008
Texture Artists
MobyGames-verified credit: Texture Artists on Fracture (2008).
StrangleholdXbox 360 · PS3 · Windows · 2007
Associate Weapons Artist
Verified credit: Associate Weapons Artist on Stranglehold (2007) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows. View source.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon2006
Opening FMV Graphics & Animation
MobyGames-verified credit: Opening FMV Graphics & Animation on Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006).
NBA Ballers: Phenom2006
Character Artists
MobyGames-verified credit: Character Artists on NBA Ballers: Phenom (2006).
03 / Vision
AI fluency is a leadership practice.
Tomorrow’s strongest teams will not simply use AI. They will know where it adds leverage, where human judgment must lead, and how to keep learning together.
I build capability, not dependency.
My role is to help people understand the tools, sharpen their judgment, and redesign how work moves—so AI expands what a team can do without eroding ownership, craft, or trust.
01
Context before tools
Start with the mission, the people, and the decision—not the latest model.
02
Develop people and systems together
Give teams shared language, practical standards, and room to build confidence.
03
Keep judgment human
Use AI to expand options and accelerate learning while people own the outcome.
AI-fluent team systemHuman-led
PurposeMission · audience · outcome
→
StandardsQuality · ethics · constraints
PeopleLeaders · makers · partners
→
AI toolsModels · agents · automation
JudgmentTest · review · learn
→
CapabilityConfident · adaptive · durable
The outcome: people who can lead change, not merely absorb it.
04 / Leadership
Building tomorrow’s teams.
The work now extends beyond any one craft or industry: creating AI-fluent cultures, stronger leaders, and operating systems that help people adapt with purpose.
Applied AI fluency
I design and evaluate workflows using procedural generation, LLM-assisted review, in-game agents, and production automation—then translate the technology into language, decisions, and habits a whole team can use.
People leadership at scale
Leadership scale shown here: three international delivery teams led concurrently, alongside multi-studio internal artists, external vendors, and cross-functional partners. I align expectations, coach toward the quality bar, and make ownership clear.
Adaptive operating systems
I build the briefs, review paths, documentation, and feedback rhythms that keep distributed and live-service teams learning while they deliver—principles that transfer across professions and sectors.
The throughline is simple: give people the fluency, confidence, and systems to lead what comes next.
05 / Experience
The path to AI-fluent leadership.
Twenty years of hands-on making, live-service production, global team leadership, and now AI-enabled systems design.
2005 → present
Games built the operating experience. The next chapter applies it wherever people and AI must work well together.
2026—Present
Handshake AI
AI Trainer · workflow evaluation · team-ready AI practices
2023—2024
Studio Wildcard
Art Outsource Manager
2022
Activision / Toys for Bob
UI Artist
2020—2021
Iron Galaxy Studios
Art Outsource Manager · three international workstreams · live-service delivery
2016—2019
Booming Games
Art Director · Art Outsource Manager
2011—2016
Zynga
Lead Artist · Lead Art Outsource Manager
AI fluency · leadership · tomorrow’s teams
Let’s build teams ready for what’s next.
Portfolio / The proving ground
The work behind
what comes next.
Two decades of games, art, and production show the foundation: craft, systems thinking, people leadership, and delivery under real constraints. This is the track record behind a broader, AI-fluent future.
← Back to overview
Interactive worlds
Video games
Production-ready visual work built for real-time and live-service worlds: from character and creature development to UI, optimization, and cross-studio delivery. It is evidence of how I lead complexity, not a limit on where I lead next.
- ARK: Survival AscendedCharacters · creatures · vendor systems
- Crash Team RumblePromotional design · UI art
Casino & entertainment
Slots
Complete visual systems shaped around immediate appeal, readable play, animation, and franchise character—from individual art suites to scalable studio pipelines.
- Hit It RichPipeline design · multi-studio leadership
- Deadmau5 SlotsArt suite · Spine animation
- Booming GamesArt direction · content production
Sequential storytelling
Comics
Illustrated narratives built around pacing, expression, composition, and the transition from one story beat to the next.
- Page designRhythm · hierarchy · reveals
- Visual storytellingAction · emotion · clarity
- IllustrationSketch through final art
Character & creature
Character art
Character work guided by silhouette, personality, material language, and production constraints—designed to stay expressive from concept through implementation.
- Character developmentConcept alignment · iteration
- Creature developmentForm · anatomy · readability
- Production deliveryReview · approval · implementation