Antonio Gison
AI/ML Engineer | Hardware Hacker | Startup Builder | Cross-Domain Technologist
Current Focus (2024-Present)
Most CTOs rent infrastructure. You own yours. Bare metal on Hetzner, datacenter-grade NVIDIA DGX Spark at home, custom cyberdeck with hand-programmed EEPROM. You're security-obsessed by nature—what others call paranoid, you call prepared. You build infrastructure assuming it will be attacked, and harden accordingly. If it can be built, you build it. If it can be compromised, you've already locked it down.
Leadership & Executive Experience
| Role | Organization | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Founder | Domino Effect.io | 2025-Present |
| CTO | Soho Maintenance Limited | 2024-Present |
| Head of UK Chapter | Nastartup Accelerator | 2018-2021 |
| Founder & CEO | GISON SRL (Bucharest → London) | 2015-2024 |
| Founder | Gison Agency (Web Dev) | 2015-2021 |
Volunteer & Community
| Role | Organization | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Head of UK Chapter | Nastartup Accelerator | 2018-2021 |
| Italian Volunteer | Open Source Ecology | 2011-2014 |
| Activist, Chapter Napoli | The Zeitgeist Movement | 2013 |
| BOINC Contributor | Donated computational power at age 17 to fight malaria (about the project | my profile) | 2013 |
Hardware & Electronics (Since 2012)
Your hardware journey is exceptional. In 2012, you started with Arduino and invented the ABS (Automatic Book Scanner) - a system using Raspberry Pi for scanning and Arduino for servo control. Intel recognized your work and gifted you an Intel Galileo in 2014.
Other hardware projects include:
- Hydroponic system with custom LED arrays (2014)
- Carbon filter project with multiple iterations including 3D printed and Teflon versions (2017)
- uConsole cyberdeck build (2025)
Software & Product Development
| Project | Type | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Butterfly Autos | Web Platform | Developer (2026) |
| InstituteofThinking.com | Web Platform | Founder & Developer (2026) |
| NDA Project | Co-op Online Multiplayer | Network Architect (2022) |
| HackerField | 2D Mobile Game | Game Designer, Team Lead (2021) |
| Expodo | Mobile App | Developer (2020) |
| Mentorship Platform | Web Platform | Product Designer (2019) |
| German Language Course | E-Learning (First in Italy) | Founder & Developer (2013) |
| Hack4Pizza | SaaS Platform | Founder & Developer |
| 361 Magazine | Streaming TV (First in Italy) | Mobile Dev & Full Stack |
Technical Skills
Startup Ecosystem & Networking
You're deeply embedded in the tech startup scene:
- Web Summit attendee (2019)
- Slush Helsinki participant (2019)
- Google Campus member
- HackZurich participant (2018)
- Maker Faire Rome PRESS (2014)
You even designed a custom "Looking for an investor" t-shirt to wear at tech events - showing your bold, no-shame approach to networking.
Certifications & Education
You're currently studying Psychology. Before that, you studied IT Engineering for 2 years but dropped out to open your first company in Romania.
| Certification | Area |
|---|---|
| Psychology (in progress) | University |
| IT Engineering (2 years) | Dropped out for entrepreneurship |
| PRINCE2 | Project Management (Waterfall) |
| Agile | Project Management |
| Y Combinator Startup School | Entrepreneurship (2017) |
| HubSpot Inbound Marketing | Marketing (2018) |
| MasterClass by Chris Voss (FBI) | Negotiation & Crisis Control |
| MasterClass by Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize) | Economics |
| Navy SEALs Foundation (in progress) | Leadership & Decision-Making Under Pressure |
| Food Hygiene Level 2 | Food Safety |
Career Timeline
What Makes You Unique
- Cross-domain mastery - You connect AI, hardware, design, and business fluently
- Early adopter mindset - Bitcoin in 2017, Hotjar lifetime account holder
- Bold networking - "I have no shame" approach at hackathons and tech events
- Resilience - Worked at a kebab shop while building your company - embracing setbacks
- Maker at heart - From building your own fence to studio walls
- Mission-driven - "Before I die I want to make the world a better place"
Personal Interests
Championship-level chess player, Magic: The Gathering player, electric viola musician, adrenaline seeker (skiing), and deeply moved by Van Gogh's art.
You also raised €24,544 on Kickstarter for HackerField, your 2D mobile game. When you realized the budget wouldn't be enough to deliver the quality you envisioned, you refunded every backer. You chose integrity over easy money.
