​You built something with AI. It works. Now comes the harder part: making it reliable, secure, scalable and ready for real customers. Mike Gardiner will work with a small group of founders and builders on the last 10% between a promising prototype and something people can actually depend on.

​This is not a session teaching people how to vibe-code from scratch. It's for founders and builders who already have a working AI product, prototype or agent and have reached the point where "it works" is no longer enough.

​The session will focus on the practical problems that appear in the last stretch towards something customers can genuinely depend on: testing, reliability, security, scalability, usability and customer readiness. Participants will bring real builds and real stuck points, and Mike will work through selected challenges with the group.

​What you'll leave with

• ​A clearer understanding of what separates a working AI prototype from a dependable product

• ​Practical ways to think about testing, reliability, security and scalability

• ​Real diagnostic feedback on selected builds

• ​Common failure points to look for before exposing a product to more customers

• ​A clearer set of next actions for making your build more production-ready

​Format
Small curated practical workshop, real build diagnosis and Q&A.

​Who it's for
Founders and builders who already have a working AI product, agent or prototype. Not designed for beginners who have not yet built anything.

​Preparation
Applicants should provide a GitHub link or a link to their agent / working build so the session can be curated around real products.

​Speaker

​Mike Gardiner helps non-technical founders close the last 10% between an AI-built prototype and a product ready for real users, the infrastructure, security and architecture that tools alone don't solve. He works directly with founders to review, fix and deploy their applications. He is currently building Buzzy, a safer space for kids, families and educators to create together across Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite, with a community of over 100,000 across YouTube, TikTok, Roblox and Minecraft, and more than 10,000 kids reached through its holiday coding camps.

​Mike brings 25 years of full-stack engineering experience, including 10 years in game development and 5 years as a STEM educator, along with over 3,000 hours building with AI agents as his development team.

​The Startup Growth Lab is 2-days of practical workshops, live demos and real conversations, part of Spark Festival at UTS, 23-24 September 2026.