Training

Co-create your comprehensive guide to strategic AI integration

Your team already knows AI has potential. Now it's time to systematize it.

Through collaborative workshops and theme-based pilots, we'll create your living playbook covering AI use principles, workflows, stakeholder collaboration, knowledge sharing, roles and responsibilities, and curated toolkit recommendations.

The result: a comprehensive living guide that becomes your team's reference for responsible, effective AI use—owned and evolved by the people who'll use it daily.

Design leaders ready to transform scattered AI experiments into organizational capability.

Your team has AI skills and interest, but usage remains inconsistent without shared frameworks

You need systematic approaches that scale beyond individual contributors

You want to build team-wide confidence and establish clear governance without bureaucracy

You're ready to run focused pilots that prove impact and refine your approach

You need documentation that evolves with your team, not a consultant's PDF that sits unused

Outcomes

Systematic AI integration

Team-wide alignment and capability.

Shared principles, workflows, and standards replace ad-hoc experimentation. AI becomes embedded in your team's operating rhythm.

Proven patterns and guardrails

Reusable patterns for common scenarios give teams proven starting points.

Clear guardrails around quality, privacy, and client transparency enable responsible autonomy.
‍

Measurable pilot results

Theme-based pilots demonstrate tangible improvements in speed and quality.

Real-world testing validates what works and surfaces what needs adjustment before wider rollout.

What you'll take away

AI Playbook: Your team's comprehensive guide documenting how AI is used across the organization. Co-created with your team.

Covers principles, workflows, stakeholder collaboration, knowledge sharing, roles and responsibilities, and curated toolkit.

Delivered as living document (Google Slides/Keynote/Notion) owned by your team.

AI Patterns Library: Collection of 5-8 proven patterns developed and tested during pilots.

Each pattern includes when to use it, step-by-step process, example prompts, quality checks, and guardrails. Shared in accessible format (Google Slides/Notion).

Pilot results summary: Documentation of measurable outcomes from theme-based pilots, including what worked, what didn't, and recommendations for broader adoption.

Timeline

Week 1

Kickoff with leadership

Align on program goals, success metrics, and scope with design leadership. Review current AI usage patterns and identify priority areas for systematic integration.

Week 2

Playbook ideation workshop

Collaborative 3-hour session to define principles, map workflows, establish stakeholder collaboration strategies, and create initial governance frameworks.

Teams begin forming theme groups for pilots.

Weeks 4-7

Theme-based pilots

Small teams run focused pilots in priority areas (e.g., research synthesis, concept generation, knowledge sharing).

Brief mid-point check-in to troubleshoot challenges and share early wins across groups.

Week 8

Iteration workshop

2-hour session to review pilot results, refine playbook based on real-world learning, and establish ongoing evolution processes.

Finalize documentation and next steps.

What people have said

I found the training really useful. It had plenty of practical lessons on using AI in different design roles.

This training was a great addition on our journey to make Siili's deliveries truly AI-powered.

Thank you Matias!

(Matias's note: Our Siili Solutions collaboration included both AI training and playbook for 80+ design team).

Juha-Matti Kosonen

Director, Head of Design
Siili Solutions

The workshop was overall very valuable to our team.

We have been exploring different AI tools in our daily work, but the workshop gave us more "flesh on the bones", a broader perspective as well as some beneficial tips and tricks.

I also value that AI was put into a historical perspective to understand the paradigm shift we are living in.

Lotta Buss

Head of Service and Digital Design
KONE

The workshop had useful tips for using AI for design research.

There was nothing to improve, it was perfect.

Matias is a clear and concise presenter.

Hanna Oksanen

Senior UX/UI Designer
Futurice

The training had excellent framing of the topic with versatile real-life use cases, practical examples, and exercises for design practice.

Matias is an outstanding trainer and expert who knows his field thoroughly. I found the training really useful. It had plenty of practical lessons on using AI in different design roles.

This training was a great addition on our journey to make Siili's deliveries truly AI-powered.

Sanna Shibasaki Rosenberg

Head of Service Design
Veikkaus

Just wanted to say it was really nice sessions we had last week!

Spending two (even though not full days) on focusing and actually thinking how AI can benefit my work, was really cool!

And I did like your facilitation a lot ❤️ considering such a range and levels of our knowledge in the group, you did a great job! :)

Tatyana Aromaa

Digitalisation Lead
Fortum

We were delighted to have you!

Thank you for the very inspiring session, including valuable insights, exercises and discussions!

Casper Rosenberg

Design Lead &
Lead Service Designer
Napa

Matias Vaara

I help design teams navigate AI adoption—building teams that use AI systematically, not sporadically.

Over the past few years, I've guided design teams at companies like KONE, Siili, and Futurice through their AI adoption journey. I also write and speak about what's actually working for design teams exploring AI.

My background spans 15 years in design and strategy, working with brands like Philips, Cisco, and Audi. This work has been featured in Wired, TechCrunch, and Fast Company.

Before founding Vaara&Co, I was a Design Director at Idean (now part of frog), strategist at N2, and analyst at Facebook (now Meta).

AI Playbook for Design Teams