Women in Tech Summit 2026 - building the opening game

Hey, AI, build me an IT system / a game for the opening of the [Perspektywy Women in Tech](https://www.linkedin.com/company/perspektywy-summit/) Summit 2026, a conference with 10'000-15'000 participants - that could've been the beginning of an unusual opportunity you can't miss… but that’s not true - AI was just a supplement, a tool to accelerate ideas and real work done by real people. The idea, vision, and energy came from the founders, organizers, speakers, and others involved, including [Bianka Siwinska, PhD](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bianka-siwinska-phd-02335a15/), [Ula Nazarko-Mrugacz](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ula-nazarko-mrugacz-745085110/), [Joanna Maraszek-Darul](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-maraszek/), [Estera Kot, PhD](https://www.linkedin.com/in/esterakot/), and [Pamela Krzypkowska](https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-krzypkowska/). This year, [Clouds On Mars](https://www.linkedin.com/company/clouds-on-mars/) had the pleasure of serving as a technology partner for the Women In Tech Summit 2026, organized by Polish Perspektywy Foundation. We were right at the heart of the event, as my team, under the guidance of [Estera Kot, PhD](https://www.linkedin.com/in/esterakot/), developed an interactive game that served as part of the countdown to the event’s grand opening - the coordination with the production and lighting had to be planned down to the second. Challenges? - The system was a one-off project - we don’t plan to reuse it, so it made sense to learn something new and optimize delivery costs accordingly - We anticipated 10,000 requests per second at peak and an average of 1,000–5,000 requests per second, and needed to optimize for that - During the event, with tens of thousands of people, mobile networks often go haywire, and the on-site Wi-Fi available to participants was limited to a few Mbps - The system had to work, and it's almost impossible to do organic (non-synthetic) tests for such a load under unpredictable conditions - It was a live event, so the system needed to be remotely customizable and actionable without added latency or reloads. If somebody told us we needed to postpone 30 seconds, we needed to be able to do it within seconds for reaction. Results? - We did it, and it went flawlessly! - The user frontend was lighter than... the fonts used in the event’s visual branding - The AI-powered system was delivered 2-3 times faster than originally planned… and, incidentally, it once again confirmed the belief that human-in-the-loop is essential, because the AI struggled to meet the requirements and “grasp” an architecture that would run stably. Out of curiosity, we did 1-2 rounds of purely vibecoded prototyping and created systems that were not able to meet load demands. A great opportunity to learn, meet exceptional people, and take a break from the daily challenges of consulting!