Available For Work
Local Time ( IST )
NDA: 🥇 AI-Powered Custom Merchandise at the Olympics
Role
Solution Architect/Tech Lead
Focus
Technical Leadership
Distributed Systems
Cross-Platform Engineering
Event-Scale Systems
Cloud & Edge Integration
Product-Driven Execution
Company
Sportswear Giant
Location
USA
Industry
Wellness, Sports, Events
Technology
Cloud, Desktop, Edge Integration
Intro
For the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, I was tasked with architecting a cutting-edge solution that allowed event attendees to create and print personalized merchandise, such as hoodies, t-shirts, and bags. The goal was to provide a seamless experience where users could generate AI-powered designs on their iPads and have those designs printed on industrial-grade merchandise in real time, all during the event.
The system involved multiple components working in harmony: a front-end iPad application for design creation, a desktop application for handling print jobs, and industrial printers for high-quality production. My role as Solution Architect was to design and integrate the full system—ensuring that the entire flow, from design creation to printing, was smooth, reliable, and capable of handling large volumes of custom orders in a live event setting.
The solution also had to operate in a hybrid environment, allowing offline operation during the event but also being ready for cloud-based configuration and management for future scalability and events.
Results
The system was successfully deployed and operated flawlessly during the 2024 Olympics, providing a seamless, high-quality experience for attendees:
AI-to-Print Workflow: Attendees created AI-generated designs on iPads. The designs were transmitted to a desktop application via AWS SQS, which acted as an intermediary to ensure smooth communication and to trigger print jobs on industrial printers.
Scalability for Future Events: Beyond the Olympic Games, the system has been successfully scaled for use in other global brand activations, demonstrating its flexibility and long-term viability.
Event-Ready Reliability: Despite limited opportunities for testing with physical printers before the event, the system was designed to be fault-tolerant, handling large volumes of custom orders efficiently and reliably in real time.
The success of this project demonstrated the power of combining AI, real-time manufacturing, and innovative technology to deliver an impactful, memorable experience for event attendees. The system continues to be used for future events, proving its scalability and lasting value.
5+
Live on big events
5000+
Orders processed
20000+
Designs generated
⚙️ Key Challenges & Strategic Solutions
1. Local network limitations
Challenge:
Be network agnostic, as it's impossible to set up and configure local networks at large-scale event venues.
Solutions:
Designed a system using an AWS SQS queue as a proxy communication layer — iPads (or other devices) act as producers and the desktop app as a consumer. This removed the need for knowing IP addresses or managing routers, making the setup plug-and-play in any environment.
2. Enormous size of high res images
Challenge:
AI-generated images had to be in 4K resolution with high DPI for industrial-quality printing, but transmitting such large files over the network in real-time posed performance and reliability issues
Solutions:
Implemented asynchronous uploads to an accelerated Amazon S3 bucket. Instead of pushing the image itself through the message queue, the iPad app only sent lightweight metadata and a file link to the SQS. This decoupled image delivery from print logic and ensured fast, reliable performance even with large file sizes.
3. Limited Access to Industrial Printers
Challenge:
There was no access to the actual industrial printers before the event. There was no simulated environment available, and the entire integration had to be developed and debugged remotely — with only two live remote sessions for testing.
Solutions:
Engineered the system with extreme caution and modularity, relying on deep technical understanding of the printer APIs and low-level C++ integration. Developed detailed assumptions and defensive logic, and validated them through just two remote debugging sessions with the hardware team — enough to ensure it worked flawlessly when deployed on-site.
4. Cross-Platform Constraints & Last-Minute OS Shift
Challenge:
During final testing, was discovered a major limitation on macOS: its single print spooler couldn’t handle simultaneous jobs to multiple serial industrial printers — a deal-breaker for high-volume event operations, uncovered just one day before the Olympics.
Solutions:
From the beginning, the app was built using Electron precisely to prepare for this kind of scenario — I anticipated the need to run on Windows if hardware constraints arose. Thanks to that foresight, we were able to rapidly shift the app to Windows and reimplement the print logic in native C++, replacing the original Objective-C++ code. This allowed multi-printer parallel printing without disrupting the rest of the system — a critical pivot delivered under intense time pressure.
5. On-Site Support Under Pressure
Challenge:
The system had to run reliably in a high-pressure, high-visibility environment with minimal room for failure
Solutions:
Created detailed fallback logic, logging, and monitoring features, and personally supported the event on-site to ensure smooth operation, diagnose edge cases, and apply hotfixes when necessary.
🔒 Additional Key Features
Cloud-Based Configuration Management
Moved printer, layout, and behavior settings to a central cloud database, enabling remote updates and reuse across future events without local reconfiguration.
Admin-Ready Architecture
Designed the system with future scalability in mind — prepared for integration with a full cloud admin panel to manage devices, configurations, and assets centrally.
Multi-Event Reusability
Built the platform to be modular and event-agnostic, which allowed it to be reused successfully at multiple brand activations beyond the Olympics.
Real-Time Print Monitoring & Logging
Implemented real-time status updates and logging from desktop apps to assist in event support and provide traceability in case of hardware issues.
Robust Error Handling & Retries
Added smart retry logic and fault tolerance across the image pipeline — from S3 upload to SQS message processing — to handle intermittent network or device issues gracefully.
Scalable Messaging Design
SQS-based message flow designed to support high-volume traffic, ensuring reliable performance under event-day load peaks.
🧠 Product-Driven Technical Leadership
Strategic Decision Making
Led the choice of Electron for cross-platform support, ensuring flexibility in handling OS and hardware changes.
Cross-Team Coordination
Facilitated collaboration between my team, printer manufacturer consultants, and event managers to meet tight deadlines and ensure smooth execution.
Problem Solving Under Pressure
Tackled unexpected challenges like network limitations and cross-platform issues, delivering solutions under intense time constraints.
Risk Management
Identified and mitigated risks early, ensuring the system was adaptable and resilient despite limited testing opportunities.
Mentorship
Guided junior team members, fostering a culture of innovation and problem-solving throughout the project.
Stack
Conclusion
This project was a true test of technical innovation, leadership, and adaptability under pressure. From designing a scalable, cross-platform system to solving complex integration challenges just days before the event, the experience reinforced my ability to deliver high-quality, resilient solutions in demanding environments. The success of the system — still in use for future global events — highlights my commitment to building sustainable and impactful technologies. This project not only showcased my technical expertise but also my ability to lead teams, navigate ambiguity, and drive results under tight deadlines.
@2025, All Rights Reserved
