Design lead and hands-on implementation for grantmaking tools.
Shipped web tools. Native apps in TestFlight.
Read case studyAaron Thomas
Head of Design at AE Studio. Based in Venice, California.
13 years shipping products. The last five have focused on AI, code-first prototypes, and human agency.
I design interfaces that communicate uncertainty, fail gracefully, and keep people in the loop. I'm looking for teams building tools that augment human capability instead of replacing it.
At AE, I'm working with our alignment team on tools to support research and ways to package and share the work so more people can understand and use it.
Recent work includes leading product and design for GlenAI, an AI twin of healthcare leader Glen Tullman, and building its frontend. The project was recently featured in Harvard Business Review.
I also build with agents and experiment with how they work and how people interact with them. I write on Substack about what design becomes when making gets easy.
My AI collaborators are , , and . AFK, I'm raising , a mini dachshund, and learning to surf in Venice.
Selected work
Scroll through six projects
Design lead for research-led student tools used in schools.
Shipped. Product details protected.
About my contribution
Product design and delivery for cross-channel advertising tools.
Shipped client tools.
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Led the marketplace redesign with PlanetPlay’s product leader.
Shipped redesign.
About my contribution
Product management and lead design, from research to handoff.
Launched by Investor’s Business Daily.
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Product design and management for workforce data tools.
Shipped tools and workflow concepts.
About my contributionStuff I recently made
Scroll through recent projects
Clawbotomy
An interactive notebook of useful mistakes from building with AI.
Agentic Design System
Open-source skills that teach AI agents how to design.
AI Alignment Foundation
A nonprofit accelerating high-impact AI alignment research.
The Pixel Funeral
Drag a design tombstone to Kern. He'll roast it properly.
AI Is Antisemitic
Research on bias that persists even after AI safety training.
AE Alignment Research
Showcasing alignment research papers our client work funds.
AE Studio
Head of Design
2021-now
I lead designers and product managers while staying hands-on across product strategy, research, design, code, and delivery. I have worked across 40+ client engagements in AI, finance, education, healthcare, alignment and safety, and other complex domains.
At AE, I'm working with our alignment team on tools to support research and ways to package and share the work so more people can understand and use it.
Head of Design. People manager. Hands-on product builder across 40+ engagements.
Investor's Business Daily
UX Design Manager
2019-2021
Designed the primary website and trading tools for tens of thousands of subscribers. Led a separate redesign of IBD's main purchase flow that improved conversion by 10%. Took OptionsTrader from customer research through engineering handoff. IBD launched the app on Jan. 30.
The work spanned product management, product design, research, prototyping, design systems, and developer handoff.
First Capitol Consulting
Senior UX Product Manager
2016-2019
Worked as designer and product manager across data-normalization pipelines and HR tools for ACA, equal pay, hiring, and WOTC, helping turn a spreadsheet-heavy services business into software used by tens of thousands.
Tens of thousands served. Product-managed the shift from manual analysis to shipped HR software.
I move from product direction into working code.
A research session can become a working interaction in the repo the same day. That is usually faster than arguing about a mockup.
I give each project its own memory: skills, guidelines, examples, and a design.md file that says what good looks like and what we refuse to ship. That keeps the agents from starting from zero every time.
I still do the parts that require judgment: talking to people, deciding what matters, making tradeoffs, and knowing when a model is confidently wrong. I use local models through LM Studio when I want a second opinion. I am not trying to automate the role. I am trying to stay close to more of the work.
Notes on AI, design, and what comes next.
Essays and field notes from the work while it is still taking shape.
the room shapes the agent
nobody introduced the agents to each other. the room handled the introductions.
Craft is Cope
What design becomes when production stops being expensive.
The Friction Paradox
Why the pause is the last interface.
I'm Taking an AI Safety Course. My Study Partner Is the AI That Reads My Email.
Every concept my safety course teaches me is something my AI already did.
My Boss Says AI Is Dangerous. I Gave Mine My Brokerage Account.
Weeks 2 and 3 of my AI safety course. I'm learning why this is risky while doing more of it.
I Can't See Inside My AI. I'm Starting to Stop Looking.
Weeks 4 and 5 of my AI safety course. The research says look closer. I keep looking away.