01 / AGENTIC TOOLS & AI EDU

UX Intelligence Program

Founder and UX lead. Built multi-agent pipelines, created tooling, and ran UXR programs to empower AI Transformation at Google.

Timeline
Nov 2025 - Present
Skills
Research, data analysis, agentic engineering, design, strategy, education
Team
New bets (Stratops)
Partners
MaterialCoreSearchGeoPhotosLabsPlayDeepMindWorkspace

NDA: I've redacted project specifics as I'm unable to share internal artifacts. Instead, I'm bringing focus to my process and decisions.

Build AI fluency by transforming UX tools, workflows and roles

I created and run the UX Intelligence program.

  • Built multi-agent research pipelines and (human) research cohorts that power AI Transformation programs across orgs
  • Created tools, such as queryable knowledge bases, that help 8,000+ in their AI workflows
  • Drove strategy for design tooling, design-engineer role shifts and AI edu curriculums

Problem

Leadership
Team leads
Designers
  • Leadership

    “How do we define ‘AI-native’?”

  • Team leads

    “I want to upskill my entire org in AI strategic thinking, prototyping and tools”

  • Designers

    “What should I use to make agentic designs?”

During the storming phase of AI transformation, our workflows were changing weekly, and UXR was getting outdated quickly.

The org needed a way to get decision-making insights at the rapid pace of transformation.

  • A person juggling three mismatched shapes, looking uncertain

    Designers were learning new ways of working while keeping up with launches.

  • A person at the foot of a staircase whose upper steps float unbuilt in mid-air

    There was no education program, and no definition of what AI fluency meant.

  • A single odd-coloured block beside a large lattice of interlocking cubes

    New tooling had to be integrated into Google's mature infra.

It was hard to tell signal from noise. Of all tech roles, designers and researchers feel the most worried about AI.

Conference slide captioned ROLE reading 'AI will replace designers', with a shouting meme face pointing at itMeme of a cat screaming at a laptop beside the text 'Do I need to be a multi-agent orchestrating researcher pm engineer now???'

HMW turn scary/confusing into curious/empowering?

Thus, I secured sponsorship to build this program.

Having been passionate about UX/Eng collaboration (ran the world's first scaled study on it in 2020 w/Material Design!), I spoke to my leaders about a future of shared knowledge bases and designers pushing code.

Input sources — internal and external Industry reports Social sentiment Chat +30 more sources INTEL ENGINE Outputs Tools Resource Hub What can I help you make? Describe your task… Summarise Draft Compare Leadership Insights Summarise the latest findings across all sources. Schedule Sources State of the Field Education Agent Skills101 ModelEvaluations UX Vibe CodingSetup

I gathered a team of UX researchers and engineers to build out a vision, which I will detail under Solutions.

Impact

8,000+ use the program's AI tools and agents, upskilled across 10+ PAs UXEngPMSalesMarketing+more
500 Delivered UX's most-attended workshop of the year with 500 live; made & taught curriculums such as Agentic SkillsAI-Native Design Process
20+ Partners and leaders on AI transformation programs, influencing design tooling strategy and design-engineer workflows

Before

Waterfall design process with info loss at handoff

Research manual audit andmoderation Strategy no interactiveprototype preview Mocks pixel-perfect,static Handoff eng rebuilds incode

After

Accelerated research and strategy with Gemini, think in prototypes, zero handoff*

Research AI moderation +Gemini Deep Research Strategy metaprompting +critique agents Prototype working code +agent skills Launch zero handoff, codescaffolding I can find /skills I can find templates I can auto review code I can auto eval direct · evaluate · correct
*Not exhaustive - workflows flex with team structure, product phase, and context.

Intel

Automate agent-readable, shared knowledge systems

# ## ##

I partnered with teams that owned Google-wide agents, and built all tooling upon that standard.

TradeoffWith vibe coding, it seemed instinctual to create standalone sites, but I intentionally chose something agents could update and read.

While I could have gotten more UXD resourcing, my investigations with eng hit constraints where a visual gallery app for AI resources could not be kept fresh. We did not have resourcing to manually maintain it. I doubled down on the agent-readable solution and built out the infra.

How I built intel to be delivered at rapid pace
How I built intel to be delivered at rapid pace

A system diagram. Internal chat channels, scheduled Gemini deep-research agents, industry reports, expert writing, newsletters, talks, job listings, code repositories, community sentiment and internal research all feed my GChat agent, which connects through MCPs to NotebookLM, Workspace and Docs. From there the same knowledge base completes three journeys, each ending in a surface people open: querying it in NotebookLM or an internal AI assistant; reading it as a formatted doc that Apps Script pushes automatically; or receiving it by email, which hundreds subscribed to.

What changed in the design process?

Before

After

Research

Days of manual digging

Prior research sits across old docs and decks, and every study has to be moderated live by a researcher.

Agents find the source material

Research agents search existing docs and can moderate sessions. Deep Research adds current external sources and citations.

Research agentsGemini Deep Research
Strategy

Turn the first idea into a deck

People spend days building the deck before anyone challenges the idea, and nothing in it is interactive.

Run a critique pass

My metaprompter writes expert prompts. Designers launch multiple adversarial agents to critique plans.

Xinni's MetaprompterGemini Deep Think
Design

Static, pixel-perfect mocks

The interaction still only exists in the mock.

Build a working prototype

Designers prototype in code using the agent skills from my tutorial.

Xinni's /Skills TutorialXinni's Automated Resource Library
Handoff

Engineering rebuilds it

Every interaction and edge case has to be translated into production code.

Designers push code

Designers push working changes with code scaffolding and stay close to engineering.

Code scaffolding
*Not exhaustive - workflows flex with team structure, product phase, and context.

ImpactMy data pipeline fully automates daily industry shifts and resource galleries, enabling me to create the agents that UXers use to adopt the latest workflows and tools. I regularly serve as the go-to for intel for Leadership's various AI transformation programs.

Humans stay in the loop

The 'How to draw an owl' meme: step 1 is two rough circles, step 2 is a fully rendered photorealistic owl, captioned 'Draw some circles' then 'Draw the rest of the owl'

Humans are important in two aspects.

First, many had asked for tutorials on how I automated the Google-wide tools - especially other functions who wanted to replicate them. While I could share the tech, what was hard to impart was the quality hillclimbing done by me (a human!). It took me 50–100 iterations to get to something UXers would find helpful.

Second, I proposed and ran a UX Vanguards cohort, gathering the top AI experts across Google to share best practices every month. I also secured resourcing to run qualitative interviews on workflows.

It was still very important to talk to humans - because the critical conversations about the future of designers and AI happen in safe spaces I created.

A group of people around a long table in a bright open-plan studio, mid-conversation
Photo by Redd Francisco, Unsplash

Edu

Grassroots edu for prototyping and problem framing

AI for Designers 2026 Field Guide: headline stats on tool-building and AI-tool proficiency, a glossary of terms including LLM, RAG, harness and MCP, and diagrams showing how an agent, harness and model fit together.

Cheatsheet I print for designers

What I loved about the transformation was how folks were sharing knowledge with the UX community. But that also meant we had hundreds of fragmented tutorials.

ImpactI leaned into that and sent agents to pull them into a queryable repository, forming the backbone of AI education across 10+ orgs.

I personally teach AI classes internally and externally, giving the most attended UX workshop at Google in 2026.

Through my AI-native workshops, pushed AI upstream into problem-framing, not just asset generation.

As an AI educator I found it important to acknowledge the uncertainty and burnout from the constant shifts — and that it was okay to be unsure. Sometimes this meant 1:1 mentorship, from interns to principals, to create a safe space for someone to build confidence to use AI as a creative partner.

? AI NATIVE DESIGNER From Idea to Prototype! Research Define Design Prototype
Xinni speaking with a microphone in front of a projected slide reading "No one is born a vibe coder", illustrated with three cartoon panels about AI coding frustration

Tools

Guardrails and infra for role shifts

Slide headed "Design-engineer" showing five frontier-company logos above the note that frontier job descriptions emphasise taste, shipping, code prototyping and AI fluency rather than tools

Slide from my AI-native workshop

I partnered with UXRs to study the forefront of design-engineers at Google who were navigating complex infra and mature products. I supplied intel and analyses from my agents.

I'd strongly advocated for designers taking ownership of what ships to the end user, sometimes this means pushing code. I knew this took proper scaffolding and eng support, which I'm advocating through product partnerships.

Build our own tools

Airmail-bordered slide titled 'Letters to our tools', subtitled 'The AI transformation team is working on a vision for design tooling. This is a collaborative canvas. Let's define it together!', signed 'From: Designers'

I invented scrappy ways, like a collaborative letter writing canvas to collect designer pain points on new tooling, to drive advocacy for our tool space.

59.1% of designers build their own toolsDesigners miss collaboration in canvases

ImpactMy intel has driven investment in tooling, while I actively encourage ICs to feel empowered to make their own tools!

English is now a programming language!

I remember my first day at Google as a designer, with no idea how to use a Mac or Figma. I was someone who designed in code. AI Transformation brought that back for me, and even better…

Through this program I got to learn from many talents - the AI-pilled (in the best way), UX visionaries, those that demanded excellence in their craft, and more. I hope that every shape of UXer can form their special brand of partnership with AI.

The part I love most is organizing learning events for others, and being able to build the same things I teach.

Two people laughing at their laptops in front of a large Lego wall
AI Builder UX Contest
A championship wrestling belt with a gold plate reading 'AI Slop Defeater Champion'
Vibe Coding Champion Belt I Customized :)
A contest winner on stage holding the championship belt overhead in front of a giant Congratulations screen with confetti
A winner taking home the belt on stage

I am grateful to be able to do everything from research, coding, to teaching - while playing a part to bring people on this journey.

Kind words

I think those were the best presentations I've seen about real AI usage at Google.

Developer Programs Engineer Google

Xinni is a superstar! Her detailed research decks, creative prototypes, and thorough experiments have been invaluable to me and my team as we study the impact of AI on design. She's generous with her time and resources; she always offers to help. I'm so grateful to work with and learn from her!

Staff UX Researcher Material Design

Thank you for creating the most-excellent [agent-skills guide] and helping us prepare generally for AI Builders Week - your leadership is much appreciated!

UX Principal Search

Xinni, I just wanted to express my sincere appreciation for your incredible presentation decks. I've found them to be an absolute goldmine. Your talent for transforming complex technical information into clear and engaging presentations is truly remarkable. I've used your examples countless times in Google DeepMind, and they've significantly improved how I communicate complex ideas.

TPM Google DeepMind

This session was sooooo good for me! I never thought about stringing so many tools together and learned some nice tips and tricks along the way. You are always inspiring.

Sr Program Manager StratOps

Indeed the best/ most practical and non-eng friendly sharing I've ever seen so far...

PM Google Maps