Zach Gonser

Tech Operations Leader & Homelab Architect

I'm a hands‑on technologist with a passion for automation and AI. Ex‑DoorDash and ex‑Apple, I now scale beverage robots at Botrista while building and maintaining a self‑hosted infrastructure that would make any systems architect proud.

Professional Experience

Jan 2025 - Present

Manager, Regional Sales Operations

Botrista, Inc.

Orchestrating beverage robotics across multiple U.S. regions. Leading partner accounts, conducting advanced diagnostics, and scaling operations nationwide. Because someone has to keep the robots caffeinated.

Mar 2023 - Dec 2024

Partner Operations Manager

Botrista, Inc.

Managed partner operational efficiency, enabling scalable growth through process automation. Designed training programs for IT onboarding/offboarding and collaborated on product deployment strategies.

Mar 2018 - Oct 2022

Product Support Manager

Chowbotics by DoorDash

Developed technical support strategies that reduced downtime by 80%. Led a global support team providing advanced troubleshooting for Linux-based robotic systems. The stuff that made autonomous food prep actually work.

Sep 2010 - Nov 2018

Genius & AppleCare Support

Apple Inc.

8 years of Apple mastery. Provided technical support and troubleshooting, managed complex escalations, and trained technicians. Where I learned that great support is an art form.

The Digital Empire

A self‑hosted infrastructure orchestrating 50+ Docker containers across segmented VLANs. From AI model inference to autonomous media servers and custom automation, all behind a reverse proxy that rivals most small clouds.

Media Empire

  • Plex/Jellyfin for media streaming
  • Arr stack for content management
  • Multi-room audio systems
  • 4K transcoding that actually works

AI Playground

  • Stable Diffusion generation
  • Local LLMs via BigAGI/Open WebUI/LocalAI
  • Personal AI assistant pipeline
  • Custom fine-tuning

Automation Hub

  • n8n workflows for everything
  • Home Assistant integrations
  • Zero-downtime update scripts
  • Cross-container orchestration

Monitoring Stack

  • Grafana dashboards
  • Uptime alerts
  • Performance metrics
  • Log analysis

Network Magic

  • Unifi-managed VLANs (3+ segments)
  • Nginx Proxy Manager
  • Dynamic DNS routing
  • VPN gateways & DNS filtering

Dev & Ops

  • Git hosting & CI/CD pipelines
  • Custom deployment environments
  • Backup & disaster recovery
  • Self-hosted everything
0+
Docker Containers
0+
Network VLANs
0.0%
Uptime Target
Tinkering Projects

Project Spotlight

Where bleeding‑edge tech meets caffeinated obsession. These are the crown jewels of my digital empire.

AI Inference Cluster

A distributed compute cluster combining enterprise‑grade and consumer NVIDIA GPUs. It handles Stable Diffusion generation, custom LLMs and fine‑tuned models for domain‑specific tasks with enterprise‑grade reliability.

A distributed compute cluster combining enterprise‑grade and consumer NVIDIA GPUs. It handles Stable Diffusion generation, custom LLMs and fine‑tuned models for domain‑specific tasks with enterprise‑grade reliability.

Key Achievements

  • 40+ models deployed simultaneously
  • Sub‑2 second image generation pipeline
  • Automated model deployment and scaling

Technology Stack

Docker SwarmEnterprise & Consumer NVIDIA GPUsPyTorchOpen WebUI

Automation Nexus

The central nervous system of my homelab. This framework coordinates container orchestration, service monitoring and intelligent workflow management with n8n. It automates updates, scaling and even its own optimizations.

The central nervous system of my homelab. This framework coordinates container orchestration, service monitoring and intelligent workflow management with n8n. It automates updates, scaling and even its own optimizations.

Key Achievements

  • 200+ automated workflows active
  • 99.9% infrastructure uptime
  • Self‑healing container recovery
  • Predictive scaling

Technology Stack

n8nDocker ComposeGrafanaPrometheusHome Assistant

Network Fortress

A zero‑trust network built with Unifi gear, segmented VLANs, reverse proxy routing via Nginx Proxy Manager, Pi‑hole and AdGuard for DNS filtering, and automated threat detection. It maintains seamless user experience while keeping attacks at bay.

A zero‑trust network built with Unifi gear, segmented VLANs, reverse proxy routing via Nginx Proxy Manager, Pi‑hole and AdGuard for DNS filtering, and automated threat detection. It maintains seamless user experience while keeping attacks at bay.

Key Achievements

  • 4 isolated VLANs
  • Sub‑10 ms internal routing latency
  • 99.8% threat detection accuracy
  • Zero security incidents in 2+ years

Technology Stack

Unifi ControllerNginx Proxy ManagerPi‑holeAdGuard

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The Neural Network Behind The Magic

Greetings, I'm Zach. By day I orchestrate beverage robotics across the continental U.S. at Botrista; by night I'm experimenting with AI models, optimizing container stacks and fine‑tuning home automation. My homelab doesn't just run services—it advances my understanding of everything from networking to AI.

With over a decade of experience in AppleCare, Chowbotics/DoorDash and now Botrista, I bridge enterprise reliability and cutting‑edge technology. I believe the best solutions come from understanding both the infrastructure and the human experience.

Arsenal of Digital Sorcery

Unraid
Docker Compose
Stable Diffusion
Local LLMs
n8n Automation
Grafana
Unifi Controller
Linux Systems
Network Architecture
Robotics Support
Operations at Scale
Open WebUI

Initialize Connection Protocol

Ready to discuss robotics domination, homelab supremacy, or the inevitable AI uprising? Let's establish a secure connection and geek out about the future!

© 2025 Zach Gonser. Built with Astro, React, and way too much caffeine.

Try the Konami code for a surprise! ↑↑↓↓←→←→BA

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