Fewer art revision cycles after workflow automation at Studio Wildcard.
Jason Zielinski · Director-level leadership · Chicago
AI operations integrator for tomorrow’s businesses, games & creative studios Building teams, pipelines, and agentic systems that ship now.
Games are the track record, not the destination. Twenty years of shipped titles, live-service production, and international teams are the proof. The forward work is AI fluency and leadership — helping organizations in any sector build the teams, pipelines, and systems that ship what’s next.
- AI operations
- People leadership
- Agentic systems
Human judgment. Machine leverage. Shared progress.
Proof at scale.
The numbers behind the statement — measured in production, not promised in a deck.
Faster vendor delivery timelines through clearer systems and review paths.
Concurrent international workstreams led at Iron Galaxy Studios — three workstreams running in parallel, from alignment and coaching through final delivery.
To deliver ARK: Survival Ascended at Studio Wildcard — rigging and up-resing of Evolved assets completed inside a three-month production window.
Transformation, not just titles.
Three leadership engagements, framed by what changed — the situation I inherited, the system I built, and the result it produced.
ARK: Survival Ascended
Art Outsource Manager · 2023–2024
ARK: Survival Ascended needed its Evolved asset base rebuilt — rigging and up-resing characters and creatures — inside a three-month production window, delivered through internal artists and external partners.
I built qualification and evaluation frameworks for the partner pipeline and put workflow automation into the review loop, so quality was checked against a shared standard instead of negotiated asset by asset.
35% fewer art revision cycles — and delivery inside the three-month window.
Rumbleverse
Art Outsource Manager · 2020–2021
Rumbleverse, a live-service title, was being fed by three concurrent international outsource workstreams — each with its own schedule, partners, and time zone.
I ran the three workstreams as one delivery system: shared alignment, asset review, and approval rhythms connecting art direction, design, production, and the external partners — so decisions stopped waiting on time zones.
Three international workstreams delivering in parallel — one quality bar and one delivery rhythm across every time zone.
Hit It Rich!
Lead Artist · Lead Art Outsource Manager · 2011–2016
Zynga was pivoting from city-builder games to casino products, and Hit It Rich! needed an art operation built for continuous live-service content — not one-off launches.
I helped establish the art pipeline and the scalable live-service processes behind the pivot, leading multi-studio partners across resource allocation, schedules, quality, and forecasting.
A repeatable production system behind the studio’s move from city-builder to casino — the operating pattern I have scaled with distributed teams ever since.
AI fluency, in practice.
Applied, not theoretical. This is the AI work I design, evaluate, and ship in my current role as an AI Trainer at Handshake AI — and the automation practice I built running production pipelines before it.
Procedural generation
Designing and evaluating procedural generation workflows for interactive-content production — systems that produce variations from rules and parameters instead of one-off manual builds.In practice — workflow design & evaluation · Handshake AI
LLM-assisted review
Building review loops where large language models take the first pass against a brief or a standard, so human reviewers spend their judgment on the calls that actually need it.In practice — LLM-assisted review workflows · Handshake AI
In-game agents
Evaluating agent use cases inside games — how autonomous systems decide, act, and stay inside design intent before they ever reach players.In practice — agent use-case evaluation · Handshake AI
Production automation
Automating the repetitive steps inside art and content pipelines, so teams iterate faster with fewer loops and clearer ownership.In practice — workflow automation at Studio Wildcard cut art revision cycles by 35%
Tools change quarterly. Judgment, standards, and team capability are what compound.
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
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
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
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
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
Verified credit: Art on Pirates of the Caribbean pinball (2018), credited as “J Zielinski.” View source.
Dialed In!Pinball · 2017
Verified credit: Animation on Dialed In! pinball (2017), credited as “J Zielinski.” View source.
Hit It RichZynga · 2011–2016
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
MobyGames-verified credit: Environment Art on F.3.A.R. (2011).
The Hearts of Men: Throne of Deceit2011
MobyGames-verified credit: By on The Hearts of Men: Throne of Deceit (2011).
Fracture2008
MobyGames-verified credit: Texture Artists on Fracture (2008).
StrangleholdXbox 360 · PS3 · Windows · 2007
Verified credit: Associate Weapons Artist on Stranglehold (2007) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows. View source.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon2006
MobyGames-verified credit: Opening FMV Graphics & Animation on Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006).
NBA Ballers: Phenom2006
MobyGames-verified credit: Character Artists on NBA Ballers: Phenom (2006).
The path to AI-fluent leadership.
Twenty years of hands-on making, live-service production, global team leadership, and now AI-enabled systems design.
Games built the operating experience. The next chapter applies it wherever people and AI must work well together.
Handshake AI
AI Trainer · workflow evaluation · team-ready AI practices
Studio Wildcard
Art Outsource Manager
Activision / Toys for Bob
UI Artist
Iron Galaxy Studios
Art Outsource Manager · three international workstreams · live-service delivery
Booming Games
Art Director · Art Outsource Manager
Zynga
Lead Artist · Lead Art Outsource Manager
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 overviewHover, focus, or tap any section image to open its full product grid — then hover or tap a tile for JZ’s exact dates and credit on that product.
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 AscendedArt Outsource Manager · 2023–2024
- Crash Team RumbleUI Artist · 2023
- RumbleverseArt Outsource Manager · 2020–2021
- Pirates of the CaribbeanArt · Pinball · 2018
- Dialed In!Animation · Pinball · 2017
Slots
Complete visual systems shaped around immediate appeal, readable play, animation, and franchise character—from individual art suites to scalable studio pipelines.
- Hit It Rich!Lead Artist · Lead Art Outsource Manager · 2011–2016
- Deadmau5 slotSlot Art / Design / Animation Consultant · 2020
- Booming GamesArt Director · Art Outsource Manager · 2016–2019
Comics
Illustrated narratives built around pacing, expression, composition, and the transition from one story beat to the next.
- The Hearts of Men: Throne of DeceitBy / creator · 2011
Character art
Character work guided by silhouette, personality, material language, and production constraints—designed to stay expressive from concept through implementation.
- NBA Ballers: PhenomCharacter Artists · 2006
- Dates
- Released 2023 · Credit year 2023
- Credit
- UI Artist
- Studio
- Activision / Toys for Bob
- Dates
- Released 2023 · Engagement 2023–2024
- Credit
- Art Outsource Manager
- Studio
- Studio Wildcard
- Dates
- Released 2022 · Engagement 2020–2021
- Credit
- Art Outsource Manager
- Studio
- Iron Galaxy
- Dates
- 2018
- Credit
- Art
- Studio
- Jersey Jack Pinball
- Dates
- 2017
- Credit
- Animation
- Studio
- Jersey Jack Pinball
- Dates
- 2011
- Credit
- Environment Art
- Dates
- 2011
- Credit
- By / creator
- Dates
- 2008
- Credit
- Texture Artists
- Dates
- 2007
- Credit
- Associate Weapons Artist
- Dates
- 2006
- Credit
- Opening FMV Graphics & Animation
- Dates
- 2006
- Credit
- Character Artists
- Dates
- 2011–2016
- Credit
- Lead Artist / Lead Art Outsource Manager
- Studio
- Zynga
- Note
- Helped establish the initial art pipeline
- Dates
- 2020
- Credit
- Slot Art / Design / Animation Consultant
- Note
- Complete art suites with Microgaming and Eurostar Studios
- Dates
- 2011
- Credit
- By / creator
- Dates
- 2006
- Credit
- Character Artists