Michelangelo Zampogna
AI Product & Service Design Leader | 0→1 Builder | Agentic Systems & Governance
London, UK
I am an AI Product & Service Design Leader and 0→1 builder with over 17 years of experience across SaaS, eCommerce, travel, media, geolocation and digital services. I work at the system layer across agent architecture, evaluation loops, governance and human-centred product design, turning ambiguous problems into working platforms that reach production and adoption.
Introduction
I'm Michelangelo, an AI Product and Service Design Leader and 0→1 builder based in London. I work at the system layer across agent architecture, evaluation loops, governance and human-centred product design, turning ambiguous problems into working platforms that reach production and adoption. At loveholidays, I lead AI product and service design across an internal multi-agent Voice-of-Customer and data-exploration platform used across 8+ departments. An internal beta assessment reported a 70%+ reduction in manual analysis time and under 5 minutes to reach an insight compared with 4 to 6 hours previously. These are directional internal findings, not independently audited commercial metrics. I am also the Founder and Lead Maintainer of AI Design Blueprint, an open governance standard and tooling layer for agentic AI. Its model is supervised delegation: a person sets intent, authority and constraints, then inspects, steers and approves consequential work. I authored ten principles for agent UX and runtime architecture, maintain the public MCP distribution layer, and built architect.validate to produce severity-weighted, replayable findings against agent codebases. My approach combines service design, conversational UX, coded prototyping, multi-agent orchestration, prompt and context architecture, evaluation, guardrails, design systems and cross-functional team leadership.
Career timeline
Founder & Lead Maintainer
AI Design Blueprint
London, UK - Apr 2026 to Present
Founder and lead maintainer of an open governance standard and tooling layer for agentic AI, covering supervised delegation, runtime architecture, MCP distribution, validation, human review and a Python-based evaluation stack.
- Authored the ten core principles for agent UX and runtime architecture: approval boundaries, recoverable state, visible operations, explicit hand-offs.
- Built and maintain the public MCP distribution layer that lets any coding agent pull the doctrine and score its own architecture in the loop.
- Built architect.validate, generating severity-weighted, replayable validation findings for agent codebases.
- Designed executable evaluation and governance workflows using strict JSON Schema, deterministic scoring, severity modelling and adversarial certification.
- Designed a supervised-delegation model where a person sets intent, authority and constraints, then inspects, steers and approves consequential work.
- Hands-on with Next.js, shadcn/ui, pnpm, pytest, Vitest and GitHub Actions for delivery and quality assurance.
- Advise cross-functional product teams on agentic review operations and governance.
- 20 Aycliffe Rd, London W12 0LL, UK (2025-04 to 2025-12)
AI Product Design Lead
Loveholidays
London, UK - Dec 2021 to Present
AI Product Design Lead designing and shipping an internal multi-agent Voice-of-Customer and data-exploration platform used across 8+ departments, combining service design, conversational UX, orchestration, evaluation and guardrails.
- Led the system from a fragmented component library to governed product infrastructure, inheriting a thousand-row inventory, parallel product libraries and an unsustained token pipeline.
- Ran a full ecosystem audit across tokens, components, Figma state, Storybook coverage, documentation and production usage; used it to drive deprecation, consolidation and rebuild.
- Diagnosed token drift across two divergent routes where a Figma edit could bypass the token source and the build still passed.
- Defined a four-layer token architecture (brand, core, semantic, market overrides) for multi-brand, multi-market and runtime theming, generated via Style Dictionary.
- Chose a parallel re-platform over a single replacement: components rebuilt against the new pipeline and migrated individually. Eight governed and complete; legacy estate deliberately still running.
- Bounded shadcn/ui behind a token preset package with a tier policy requiring approval before it reaches customer-facing surfaces.
- Established component-level accessibility governance, including deprecating a primary button that failed contrast.
- Consolidated design systems and tokenised UI patterns across internal tools and customer-facing surfaces, improving consistency and delivery speed.
- Cut the programme’s own scope in 2026 after engineering feedback, leaving the machine-readable contract as the deliverable.
- Built DesignSync: twenty-two governed tools over a nine-thousand-line registry exposing component metadata, tokens, assets, usage rules and anti-patterns to Claude Code and Cursor over MCP. Validated as a containerised service; in pilot preparation.
- Lead design of an AI-native, multi-agent decision platform and Voice of Customer system that democratises data across 8+ departments, shifting teams from static reporting to conversational insight.
- Design agentic workflows where AI agents triage insight, surface risks and opportunities, and support human decision-making end to end.
- Designed the trust and verification layer: structured-output contracts with self-correcting retry loops, and generated SQL surfaced so users can independently reconcile every answer.
- Own end-to-end service design for insight and decision support: frontstage conversational UI, dashboards and workflows; backstage data pipelines, governance, roles and operating models.
- Produce service blueprints, journey maps and ecosystem models connecting product, data, operations, support and leadership.
- Design and ship production AI using AI-assisted coding (Claude Code, OpenAI Codex), Python and TypeScript, working directly with engineers on orchestration, prompt architecture, evaluation and guardrails.
- Partner with the CPO, Product, Data and Operations on behavioural intent models, segment strategies and AI-assisted decision flows, grounded in Voice of Customer and BI insight.
- Mentor and upskill 6+ designers and researchers on AI-assisted workflows, design systems and conversational UX patterns.
- Loveholidays, Hammersmith: 5th Floor, 3 Shortlands, Hammersmith, London, W6 8DA, UK (2021-12 to present)
Lead CX Product Designer
DirectFerries
London, UK - Nov 2018 to Oct 2021
Led CX and service design across ferry search, booking, post-booking and disruption journeys, including the KAYAK white-label integration, experimentation and cross-functional service improvement.
- Led service design for the end-to-end ferry experience: search, booking, pre-departure communications, disruption handling and post-trip support.
- Produced service blueprints linking web and mobile UX, email and SMS, call centre flows and operator processes, reducing failure points and improving NPS across key markets.
- Partnered with Operations, Customer Service and Marketing to align current-state and future-state journeys using NPS, Voice of Customer and support-log data.
- Led UX for the KAYAK ferry white-label, aligning KAYAK and Direct Ferries brand and product guidelines while integrating inventory and pricing into the core experience.
- Introduced design sprints, experimentation and structured A/B testing for conversion initiatives.
- Mentored designers and conversion specialists; standardised UX patterns and documentation for handover to engineering and marketing.
- Direct Ferries, Portland House: 12th Floor, Portland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5RS, UK, London, United Kingdom (2018-11 to 2020-03)
- Direct Ferries, Chester House: Unit 1, Chester House, Kennington Park, 1-3 Brixton Road, London, SW9 6DE, UK, London, United Kingdom (2020-03 to 2021-10)
Founding Lead UX Product Designer
what3words
London, UK - Jan 2017 to Aug 2018
Built the UX and product design capability for what3words from an early stage, defining the service model, design system and partner experience across apps, SDKs, integrations and mapping products.
- Built a React component library and design system from zero, keeping web, mobile apps and partner-facing tools consistent as the estate grew.
- Set up the UX and product design function: workflows, rituals, documentation and collaboration models with Product, Engineering and Partnerships.
- Defined the first UX strategy and service model for how consumers, partners and developers interact with the ecosystem (apps, SDKs, partner integrations).
- Designed and validated partner integrations with business development for Amazon, Mercedes, TomTom and national postal services.
- Led mapping and addressing UX (Map App, 3WordPhoto), integrating Google Maps APIs and geospatial constraints into consumer flows.
- what3words, Great Western Studios: Studio 301, Great Western Studios, 65 Alfred Road, London, W2 5EU, UK (2017-01 to 2018-08)
Founding UX Design Lead
Squawka
London, UK - Jun 2015 to Dec 2016
Founding UX Design Lead for football data and media products across web, mobile, social and interactive campaigns, including MatchBoss and cross-channel fan experiences developed with Virgin Media and Premier League partners.
- Translated complex football stats and models into intuitive consumer experiences: live dashboards, match centres, prediction and fantasy products (e.g. MatchBoss).
- Led a small UX team, collaborating with Product, Content, Sales and external partners (e.g. Virgin Media, Premier League clubs) on cross-channel fan experiences.
- Defined brand and interaction guidelines across web, mobile, video and social activations.
- Used traffic, engagement and conversion metrics to iterate site architecture, article templates and interactive tools.
- Squawka, Aldgate East: 38-40 Commercial Road, London, E1 1LN, UK, London, United Kingdom (2015-06 to 2016-12)
Senior UX Designer, iPlayer UX&D
BBC - Future Media - iPlayer
London, UK - Jun 2014 to Mar 2015
Senior UX Designer on the BBC Future Media team, leading iPlayer Download Manager work and contributing to TV Guide and BBC TV homepage experiences across large cross-device audiences.
- Led UX/UI for the iPlayer Download Manager and contributed to TV Guide and BBC TV homepage experiences.
- Produced concepts, flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes and visual designs for large cross-device audiences.
- Worked with Product, Engineering, Research and Marketing to run MVT and A/B tests and refine flows based on behavioural data and qualitative insight.
- BBC Future Media, Broadcast Centre: Broadcast Centre, Media Village, White City, London, W12 7TP, UK, London, United Kingdom (2014-06 to 2015-03)
Senior User Experience Designer & Digital Art Director
The Savile Row Company
London, UK - Sep 2013 to Jun 2014
Senior UI Designer
SAENTYS
London, UK - Jul 2013 to Aug 2013
Senior Mobile UI Designer
WHAM - Hutchison Whampoa
London, UK - Dec 2012 to May 2013
Senior UI E-Commerce & Marketing Designer
The Savile Row Company
London, UK - May 2012 to Nov 2012
Digital Designer
UNTITLED London - Schawk!
London, UK - Apr 2012 to Apr 2012
Digital Art Director
SDS Art
London, UK - Oct 2011 to Apr 2012
Digital Designer
Localgiving.com
London, UK - Jul 2011 to Sep 2011
Co-Founder & Creative Director
Effetti Reali, Progetti Multimediali S.n.c
Rome, Italy - Jan 2009 to Dec 2010
Co-Founder & Creative Director
Esperienze Visive S.r.l.
Rome, Italy - Jan 2004 to Dec 2007
Graphic Designer
Sony BMG Music Entertainment Italy S.p.A
Rome, Italy - Apr 2003 to Dec 2004
Multimedia Designer / Computer Graphics Teacher
Accademia delle Arti e Nuove Tecnologie (AANT)
Rome, Italy - Sep 2002 to Dec 2005
Graphic Designer
Seat Pagine Gialle S.p.A.
Rome, Italy - Jan 2002 to Nov 2003
Education
Degrees
- Bachelor Degree in Art Direction and Multimedia Design · Academy of Arts and New Technologies, Rome, Italy · 2002
- Graduation · Experimental Art School 'Advertising graphic Design', A. Caravillani Fourth Art School in Rome, Italy · 1999
Certifications
- Professional Certificate in Comix Animation, Institute of Cinematography - Ministry of Education · Cinecittà, Rome, Italy · 2001
- Certificate, The Art of Book-Making · Biennial International Artist Book, Rome, Italy · 2000