Speaker Spotlight | SIGGRAPH 2025 Panel: Pixels to Possibilities
What do District 9, Men in Black 3, and your next financial model have in common?
Jon Cowley.
With over 25 years in the visual effects industry, Jon Cowley has helped bring some of Hollywood’s biggest films to life—from Tron Legacy to Furious 7 and beyond. As a senior leader at global studios like FuseFX, Prime Focus, and Image Engine, Jon has spent his career solving massive creative and operational challenges in fast-moving, high-pressure environments.
But it wasn’t the creative chaos that finally broke him.
It was the spreadsheets.
Behind the scenes of every production were constantly shifting timelines, uncertain budgets, and nonstop staffing adjustments—managed with outdated tools and static planning processes. The stakes were high, the decisions complex, and the software… lacking.
So Jon built something new.
đź”® Meet Whatifi:
The AI-Powered Scenario Planning Platform Born from VFXToday, Jon is the Founder of Whatifi—an AI-powered, no-code decision platform that replaces spreadsheets with dynamic, visual scenario modeling. Inspired by film production logic—like capacity planning, resource constraints, and scheduling dependencies—Whatifi empowers studios, startups, and creative teams to test their assumptions before committing to them.
đź’ˇ Want to see how hiring two animators affects your burn rate?
đź’ˇ Curious what happens if funding arrives 60 days late?
đź’ˇ Wondering which pricing tier gets you to break-even fastest?
With Whatifi, you can see it before you live it—and plan with confidence.
It’s decision-making at the speed of storytelling.
Case Study: Blinkmoon Games Uses Whatifi to Predict and Pitch Smarter
Vancouver-based Blinkmoon Games, founded by VFX veteran Hugh Behroozy, recently put Whatifi to work while planning the release of their first competitive, lore-rich title.
Using Whatifi, Blinkmoon was able to:
âś… Simulate pricing models and revenue forecasts
âś… Visualize hiring timelines, budget impact, and runway
✅ Run real-time, interactive financial projections in investor meetings—without touching Excel
“The ability to make changes on the fly and present outcomes in real time is a game-changing tool.”
— Hugh Behroozy, Co-Founder, Blinkmoon Games
đź“– Read the full case study:
👉 https://www.whatifi.io/blog/case-study-blinkmoon-games
🎤 See Jon Cowley Live at SIGGRAPH 2025
Panel: Birds of a Feather — From Pixels to Possibilities: The AI Creative Cloud Journey
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 13, 4:00 – 5:00 PM
Location: Vancouver Convention Centre
Room Setup: Theater
đź”— Session Info
Jon will take the stage at SIGGRAPH to share how the relentless complexity of VFX scheduling led to the birth of Whatifi—and how AI-powered planning is now helping studios, educators, and founders replace chaos with clarity.
🧠Visit the Jon at CenterGrid Booth #511
See how Virtual Studio advanced green AI powered infrastructure is changeing the furture of VFX.
🍸 Join Jon at the Cloud AI & VFX Educators Mixer
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/siggraph-centergrid-cloud-ai-vfx-educators-network-mixer-eric-pinkel-vvaoc
đź“Ť RawBar at the Fairmont Pacific Rim (across from the Vancouver Convention Centre)
📅 Wednesday, August 13th | 5:30–6:30 PM
🎟️ RSVP (Free)
đź”— Explore Whatifi: https://whatifi.ai
