From Simple Product Shots to Billboard-Ready Visuals: How Olio AI Is Rewriting E-commerce Photography From Simple Product Shots to Billboard-Ready Visuals: How Olio AI Is Rewriting E-commerce Photography In this interview, we talk with Mashraf Aiman (17y/o, Tech Innovator & Enthusiast, national awardee, working with government of Bangladesh, has multiple technology & software businesses, startups & tools), founder of Olio AI, a tool built to solve one of business's most expensive and stubborn problems: high-quality product visuals at scale. Mashraf Aiman , Olio AI Studios are slow. Shoots are expensive. Reshoots are painful. Olio AI proposes a different future, one where a simple product image can be transformed into production-ready visuals without models, studios, or the telltale “AI look.” --- What does Olio AI do, exactly? What does Olio AI do, exactly? Olio AI turns simple product shots into natural, production-ready visuals for product photography, advertising, and social media. simple product shots into natural, production-ready visuals No studio setups.  No models.  No reshoots. No studio setups. No models. No reshoots. Brands upload a basic/raw product image, and Olio generates visuals that look like they came from a professional shoot, without the artificial textures or lighting artifacts that often give AI-generated images away. Pricing starts at $19, bringing the effective cost per image down from roughly $50 to about $0.50, while cutting production time by 10× and cost by up to 100× as teams scale. $19 $50 to about $0.50 10× up to 100× Why is now the right time for Olio AI to exist? now E-commerce has shifted from “a few good images” to high-volume, always-on visual demand. high-volume, always-on visual demand Brands now need: - New creatives every week - Platform-specific visuals for ads and social - Fast iteration for A/B testing - Consistent quality across catalogs Traditional studios weren’t built for this pace. They’re expensive, slow, and rigid. Olio AI exists because brands need studio-quality output with software-speed iteration, and until now, that tradeoff didn’t exist. studio-quality output with software-speed iteration, What traction have you seen so far? What traction have you seen so far? Olio AI launched 15 days ago. 15 days ago In that short window: - The product reached ~30,000 people through cold outreach, social media, ads, and early SEO ~30,000 people - 5 customers were acquired through direct execution, no brand recognition, no launch hype 5 customers The current acquisition channels are already converting. Growth is limited by budget, not by demand or product readiness. converting budget Who does Olio AI serve today? The primary focus is e-commerce, food and beverage brands, and performance marketers who need scalable, repeatable visual production. e-commerce, food and beverage brands, and performance marketers That includes: Product catalog imageryAd creativesSocial commerce visuals Product catalog imagery Ad creatives Social commerce visuals While the technology can extend to larger formats like billboards, the team is intentionally starting with e-commerce, where speed, iteration, and cost savings are most critical. What technologies power Olio AI? Olio AI is built with a lean, modern stack: - Next.js for a fast, responsive frontend experience - Supabase for authentication, databases, and scalable backend infrastructure - Custom AI image workflows focused on preserving texture, lighting, and realism The goal wasn’t novelty - it was reliability, speed, and production-grade output. You’ve acquired paying users quickly. Who’s noticing Olio AI? Despite being just weeks old, Olio AI has already: Secured paying customers via outbound executionBegun building backlinks and SEO foundations for long-term inbound growthEarned a 43 Proof of Usefulness score on ProofOfUsefulness.com Secured paying customers via outbound execution Begun building backlinks and SEO foundations for long-term inbound growth Earned a 43 Proof of Usefulness score on ProofOfUsefulness.com 43 Proof of Usefulness score The focus right now is not press. It’s compounding distribution channels that keep working month after month. Olio AI scored 43 on Proof of Usefulness. Fair score? Olio AI scored 43 on Proof of Usefulness. Fair score? It’s fair for where the product is today. Olio AI is early, but already useful enough that people are paying for it. As retention data, usage depth, and long-term customer behavior mature, that score should naturally rise. The goal isn’t to optimize for a score; it’s to build something people would be frustrated to lose. What excites you most about Olio AI’s potential? This is a business that can realistically reach $50K+ MRR within a year by solving a real, recurring pain point. $50K+ MRR within a year Every e-commerce brand needs visuals.  Every brand wants them faster and cheaper.  Very few are happy with the current options. Every e-commerce brand needs visuals. Every brand wants them faster and cheaper. Very few are happy with the current options. That gap is where Olio lives. What’s your strongest proof that people genuinely need this? Five customers paid within 15 days, with no brand, no audience, and no hype. That matters more than signups, traffic, or impressions. People didn’t just try Olio AI. They pulled out a credit card to solve a problem. pulled out a credit card How do you distinguish real users from “tourists”? How do you distinguish real users from “tourists”? The focus is on: Repeat usageNumber of images generated per accountWhether users return with new products Repeat usage Number of images generated per account Whether users return with new products Retention isn’t being gamed with vanity features. The product wins only if it becomes part of a brand’s regular workflow. Looking ahead 12 months, what will improve the most? Distribution efficiency Distribution efficiency Right now, growth is manual and capital-constrained. With investment, the plan is to: Automate outbound workflowsScale paid acquisition responsiblyExpand free trial credits to reduce adoption friction Automate outbound workflows Scale paid acquisition responsibly Expand free trial credits to reduce adoption friction The engine already works. The next phase is scale. Which outreach channel has converted best so far? Cold email and direct outreach have produced the highest-quality early customers. Cold email and direct outreach It’s slower than ads, but the feedback is sharper, the users are more serious, and the learning compounds faster. How will future investment be deployed? Capital will go toward: Paid acquisition experiments with strict CAC limitsFree trial credits to accelerate activationOutbound automation and toolingContinued SEO and backlink growth Paid acquisition experiments with strict CAC limits Free trial credits to accelerate activation Outbound automation and tooling Continued SEO and backlink growth The objective is simple: 3× growth by scaling what already converts 3× growth by scaling what already converts “Zero AI vibe” is a bold promise. How do you ensure quality? The system is designed to preserve: - Natural texture - Realistic lighting - Product material fidelity The focus isn’t on flashy transformations. It’s on images that pass a simple test: > “Would this look out of place on a real product page or a billboard?” If the answer is yes, the output doesn’t ship. Olio AI didn’t start with hype. It started with execution. In just 15 days, it proved that brands are willing to pay for better, faster, cheaper visuals—without compromising quality. The next chapter is about scale. And that’s where the real story begins.

Olio AI Earns a 43 Proof of Usefulness Score by Building Production-Ready Product Visuals

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

These 6 AI Tools Turn Your Crappy Phone Pics Into Studio-Quality Product Shots — No Fancy Gear Neede

Everything You Need to Know About HackerNoon’s Proof of Usefulness Hackathon

Pantry Pilot Proves Usefulness by Automating Restaurant Food Costing with AI

Why I started a Bitcoin Education Website

How to Enter the Proof of Usefulness (PoU) Hackathon

Charmpay Earns a 53 Proof of Usefulness Score by Building Secure Escrow-Based Payments for Online Transactions

These 6 AI Tools Turn Your Crappy Phone Pics Into Studio-Quality Product Shots — No Fancy Gear Neede

Everything You Need to Know About HackerNoon’s Proof of Usefulness Hackathon

Pantry Pilot Proves Usefulness by Automating Restaurant Food Costing with AI

Why I started a Bitcoin Education Website

How to Enter the Proof of Usefulness (PoU) Hackathon

Charmpay Earns a 53 Proof of Usefulness Score by Building Secure Escrow-Based Payments for Online Transactions

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Minty

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps