Mark Theriault, founder of FITY, has transformed the process of developing consumer cooling products by integrating generative artificial intelligence and NVIDIA RTX GPUs throughout his startup´s pipeline. Beginning his journey with hand-built 3D prints in a basement, Theriault scaled to mass production thanks to high-performance graphics technology and specialized AI models. He used a GeForce RTX-powered system as an essential part of prototyping, design, and creative asset generation, viewing artificial intelligence as more than just a tool but as the core of his workflow for bringing new cooler designs to market.
The product design cycle at FITY involves a blend of classic and cutting-edge methods: from initial sketches to computer-aided design and rapid prototyping, all culminating in distinctive products like the customizable FITY Flex cooler. Theriault uses advanced generative models such as Stable Diffusion XL, optimized through NVIDIA TensorRT, and operates with the versatile ComfyUI platform, giving him granular control over image generation. This enables the creation of photorealistic product renders and packaging designs at a speed and fidelity previously unattainable with traditional methods. With NVIDIA´s latest RTX 5090 GPU, model inference times dropped from minutes to mere seconds, providing unprecedented design iteration speed.
Artificial intelligence streamlines the entire business process at FITY, from developing visuals using fine-tuned LoRA models and ControlNets, to generating marketing materials and even drafting patent applications with large language models. The use of NVIDIA´s quantization technology and microservices like FLUX.1 NIM shrinks model sizes and boosts image generation performance, making in-house creativity more accessible even for solo founders. For Theriault, this all-in-one artificial intelligence-enabled pipeline means each creative micro-decision—from textures and accessories to ad copy—becomes manageable, helping him efficiently navigate the complexities of startup life while delivering innovative and personalized consumer products.
