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Map where AI will lift quality and speed

Most design teams know AI matters—but struggle to move from scattered experiments to strategic adoption.

The AI Readiness Assessment gives you clarity on where you stand and where to focus first.

Through leadership alignment, team-wide assessment, and collaborative workshops, we identify your highest-leverage opportunities and create a concrete 90-day roadmap.

You'll understand your team's current capabilities, skill gaps, process bottlenecks, and the 3-5 pilot areas that will drive meaningful adoption. No generic recommendations—just a practical plan built from your team's real context.

Design leaders who see AI potential but need clarity on the right next steps.

Your team is experimenting with AI tools, but usage is inconsistent and results vary widely

You need to understand current capabilities and skill levels before investing in training or tools

You want data-driven pilot selection, not guesswork about where AI will actually help

You're looking for a pragmatic roadmap, not a year-long transformation plan

You need to build the case for AI investment with leadership using evidence from your own team

Outcomes

Clear picture of AI maturity

Comprehensive readiness score across skills, tools, processes, and culture.

You'll see exactly which areas are strong, which need development, and where quick wins exist.

Strategic pilot roadmap

Prioritized list of 3-5 high-impact pilot opportunities tailored to your team's workflows.

Each pilot includes success metrics, resource requirements, and expected outcomes—so you can choose confidently.

90-day action plan

Concrete next steps for the next quarter, including skill development priorities, tool recommendations, process changes, and pilot launch sequence.

Clear ownership and timeline for each action.

Timeline

Week 1

Kickoff & Team Assessment

Leadership kickoff (90 min) to align on goals and scope.

Team-wide survey launched to assess current AI usage patterns, skill levels, tool familiarity, and perceived opportunities across the design team.

Week 2

Collaborative Workshop

2-hour workshop with full design team to discuss assessment findings, identify workflow bottlenecks, explore opportunity areas, and validate pilot candidates through group discussion and prioritization.

Week 3

Analysis &
Readout

Deep analysis of survey data and workshop insights.

Final readout session (90 min) with leadership covering readiness score, prioritized pilots, 90-day roadmap, and resource requirements for next steps.

What you’ll get

Readiness assessment report— Comprehensive analysis of your team's AI maturity across skills, tools, processes, and culture. Includes quantitative scores and qualitative insights from team input.

Prioritized pilot opportunities— 3-5 high-impact pilot recommendations with business cases, success metrics, resource needs, and implementation complexity for each.

90-day action plan— Concrete roadmap with sequenced actions, clear ownership, timeline milestones, and success criteria. Ready to execute immediately.

What people have said

Feedback from design leaders and designers about our programs.

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

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!

Juha-Matti Kosonen

Director, Head of Design
Siili Solutions

It really opened my eyes on different ways one can use Gen-AI as a designer in different parts of the design process.

Niina Mäki

Senior service designer
FUTURICE

Everything was valuable.

I joined somewhat skeptically, thinking that 'this is one of those trainings where all the content is produced by discussion, i.e., the participants,' but I was wrong. There was that content too, of course, but it was much more valuable than I initially thought.

Also, all the pre-made material and prompting instructions etc. were really good and I got a lot of tools from them.

Roope Hurting

UX Designer
ETTEPLANj

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.

Sanna Shibasaki-Rosenberg

HEAD OF SERVICE DESIGN
VEIKKAUS

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 UI/UX Designer
FUTURICE

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

The workshop was highly valuable for our team. We left with practical tips that can immediately improve how we use AI in our daily work.

There were also great open discussions which gave us a clearer view of where AI can bring benefits in the future.

Matias is not only an engaging speaker but also a true expert in the field, which made the experience both inspiring and highly relevant to our needs.

Jarkko Karhu

DESIGN TEAM LEAD
SANOMA MEDIA FINLAND

I 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

I really liked the demos - they were eye-opening in terms of the opportunities of AI. The tone of the training was very approachable and well spoken!

Verneri Leimu

Creative&Strategist, Co-Founder
358

I liked a lot the very concrete instructions on what is important when using chat GPT for design.

Elina Laitinen

SENIOR DESIGN EXPERT
KONE

I found the practical, cool examples as the most valuable thing.

Nothing to improve, really good (workshop)!

Antti Saarela

PROJECT DIRECTOR
358

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 Readiness Assessment

Map where AI will lift quality and speed

Design leaders who see AI potential but need clarity on the right next steps.