vienna, austria - designer-led ai builder

Mario Simic

I'm not a CS-degree developer. I come from marketing, design, and 25 years of building things that actually work for real people - first website in 2001, at thirteen. I ship AI tools the way a designer would: currently Skales (local-first desktop agent) and AIPointer (the AI cursor companion). More on the way.

Mario Simic - designer-led AI builder, Vienna
25years of
digital craft
live - skales · 14k+ installs · 600+ daily users · 40+ countries · ★ github real numbers, fetched live

or hold ⌥ alt / right ⌘ - or wiggle your mouse - and point at anything

or tap the button below - point & ask, the AIPointer pattern

Four products, live

Built and shipped by one person, same design philosophy throughout: make it feel good, make it ship, make it useful. The numbers below update themselves.

loading preview…

Skales

A local-first AI desktop agent for Windows, macOS and Linux. 140 tools, 15+ AI providers, 12 languages, GDPR compliant. No Docker, no terminal, no cloud account needed. 600+ daily active users in 40+ countries. 100.000+ organic video views on TikTok and YouTube.

14K+

unique installations worldwide

since march 2026 - live count

loading preview…

AIPointer

The AI cursor companion. Hold a key, ask a question, get an answer about whatever your cursor is pointing at. Vision-capable, multi-provider, voice in and out. BSL-1.1 source-available, bring-your-own-key - no cloud account, no telemetry, sub-2-second answers.

You're inside the demo - this site runs the AIPointer pattern.

loading preview…

lakecity

A hyper-local social feed for one Vienna Grätzl - Seestadt Aspern (1220). A private little Instagram for the neighborhood: you can only post when you're physically there. A 16-point GPS polygon around the Seestadt verifies your position before any upload is accepted. Photo, video and text posts, AI image moderation, admin curation, installable as a PWA. No ads, no tracking, no algorithm - just neighbors.

loading preview…

shopliste.at

A non-profit, ad-free directory of Austrian online shops - and the very first shop directory of Austria, now relaunched on a modern stack. A clean, curated way to discover and support local webshops across a wide range of categories. Free to use, free to list, no ads, no tracking, no algorithm - just Austrian businesses worth finding.

What I bring to the table

  1. 01

    Design & Visual Identity

    UI/UX, brand identity, graphic design. From rough wireframe to pixel-perfect result - I care deeply about how things look, feel, and communicate. This is where it starts.

  2. 02

    Generative AI - since 2023

    Chatbots, AI assistants, automated pipelines, AI-generated video, photo and sound. Multi-model routing, prompt engineering, agent systems - not a trend, it's how I build.

  3. 03

    AI-Assisted Product Engineering

    Designer's instincts plus AI-assisted development to ship production-ready desktop apps. Skales (140 tools, 9.968 lines of orchestrator code, 12 languages) is the proof.

  4. 04

    Strategy & Concept

    End-to-end digital strategy from brief to launch. Brand positioning, content architecture, and multi-channel campaigns for SMEs and public institutions.

  5. 05

    Photography & Video

    Photo and video production for brands and campaigns. AI-assisted editing and content creation for modern channels - Reels, TikTok, YouTube, and beyond.

  6. 06

    Web Technology

    WordPress/WooCommerce, CMS, React/Next.js frontends, Node.js backends, SEO & SEM. I build and ship fast - lean, without agency overhead.

  7. 07

    Performance Marketing

    Google Ads, Meta Ads, social media strategy and analytics. Focused on measurable outcomes - new customers, qualified leads, sustainable growth.

  8. 08

    Project Management

    Leading cross-functional teams, managing client relationships, bridging sales and technical implementation from first brief to final delivery.

Technologies & Apps

Tools are just a means to an end, but here's what I currently use to build, automate, and scale digital experiences.

code & web build

React / Next.jsNode.jsJavaScript / TypeScript Electron / TauriPHPHTML / CSS / Tailwind WordPress / WooCommerce

ai & automation

Anthropic / ClaudeClaude CodeGoogle Gemini OpenRouterOllama / Local LLMsn8n Workflow Automation MidjourneyComfyUIRunPod

design, video & audio

FigmaAdobe CC (Premiere, PS, AI)DaVinci Resolve Ableton LiveUI/UX Prototyping

marketing & analytics

Meta Ads ManagerTikTok AdsGoogle Ads SEO & SEMGoogle Analytics (GA4) / GTMBrevo / Mailchimp

Clients & Partners

From municipal energy providers and public institutions to industrial SMEs - digital strategy delivered across Vienna, Linz, Graz, and beyond. Much of it through my own agency, Gorilla Network (2017-2025).

Press

heute.at

Wiener Start-up greift Unternehmen unter die Arme

Covered by Austria's largest daily news portal for helping businesses get their digital presence right.

Der Standard

Online-Shopping ohne Amazon

Shopliste.at was featured as a reliable directory for local Austrian webshops to support the domestic economy during the pandemic.

futurezone.at

Wie Online-Betrüger das Weihnachts-Shopping im Netz ausnutzen

Mentioned Shopliste.at as a safe and credible alternative to international retail giants during the Christmas season.

aspern Seestadt

Unternehmen des Monats: Gorilla Network

Featured as Company of the Month in Vienna's aspern Seestadt district. "A place where ideas grow like trees."

2001 → today

The AI tools above aren't a lucky first try. Design, video, marketing, graphics, 3D and audio have run through my life like a mother tongue - 25 years of building, selling, and knowing when to stop.

2001

The first website - age 13

Built in an era before Google had answers - no Stack Overflow, no AI, just view-source and stubbornness. I coded my school's entire website in pure HTML, frames and all, and automated their mail-merge letters while I was at it. I've been "the tech guy" in every room since: what's switching an HDMI input for one person reads as genius to another.

happyhops.at

Bouncy castle rental

#1 on Google two weeks after launch. Within six weeks: the most-booked provider for private kids' parties, with the most Google reviews in the category.

viralmedia.at

Photo & video content studio

Plus 360° video booths for rent across Austria - fully autonomous and bookable online end to end, which nobody else in the Austrian photobooth market offered at the time.

derwebstore.com

Digital goods store

A complete WooCommerce shop for logo animations, print-on-demand shirt designs, stationery and business card designs - instant downloads, 24-hour delivery on the rest.

folleo.net

Social media marketing

Audits and strategies, productized and sold online.

breathin-shop.com

Urban streetwear from Vienna

Print-on-demand, fully automated storefront.

2023 →

The AI era

Every venture above was wound down deliberately, before its market saturated - knowing when to stop is what funds the next thing. Since 2023 it's all-in on AI: Skales, AIPointer, lakecity, shopliste.

The full picture

sound & rap

Music & Sound Design

A background in rap and sound design shaped how I think about rhythm, pacing, and structure - skills that translate directly into how I approach content, storytelling, and brand voice.

tv appearance

Willkommen Österreich

Featured in ~10 episodes of the Austrian cult comedy show during my school years. An early lesson in presence, timing, and how to hold a room.

languages

Multilingual by nature

Native German and Croatian speaker, conversational English. Communicating across cultures isn't a skill on my CV - it's just how I grew up.

Connect

I'm open to projects, partnerships, and interesting conversations. Let's build something together.

Drop me a message - I reply fast and I'm easy to talk to.

[email protected]