Context

Following the announcement of the sale of Boeing Digital Aviation Solutions, the UX organization was restructured, and I assumed leadership of the DesignOps team. At the same time, AI was rapidly reshaping design and software workflows, but adoption within the organization was fragmented and driven primarily by individual experimentation.

A small AI Design Working Group existed, but participation was limited, and its focus on static documentation was quickly becoming obsolete given the pace of change.

Leadership recognized AI’s potential impact, but there was no coordinated effort to help designers adopt emerging tools, integrate them into workflows, or influence how AI would shape future products.

I took ownership of the initiative to begin establishing a more structured, designer-led approach.

Objective

The goal was to establish the foundation for a designer-led AI practice that would help the UX organization explore emerging tools and prepare for AI-enabled workflows.

Specifically, we aimed to:

• Establish safe pathways for designers to experiment with emerging AI tools within a highly security-sensitive enterprise environment

• Explore applications in prototyping, design systems, research, and analytics

• Ensure design had a voice in enterprise AI adoption alongside engineering and product

• Build organizational readiness for AI-driven product development

Approach

I reorganized the existing working group and began establishing the structure, team, and charter needed to support hands-on experimentation.

1. Shifting the Focus from Documentation to Experimentation

Rather than producing static guidance, I reframed the group as an experimental “Adventure Team,” focused on learning through direct use of AI tools.

The guiding principle was “no designer left behind”—ensuring designers could actively learn and adapt as AI began changing workflows.

The intended focus included:

• Hands-on experimentation with emerging tools

• Rapid prototyping and workflow exploration

• Sharing findings with the broader UX organization

2. Recruiting a Cross-Functional, Global Team

I recruited participants from across the newly forming Jeppesen ForeFlight organization, including:

• Product designers from multiple portfolios

• UX engineers

• The enterprise design system architect working on MCP integration

• The Creative Director with deep AI expertise

• A CX analytics specialist

• Designers from ForeFlight teams

This created a distributed group spanning North America, Europe, and India, bringing together perspectives across design, engineering, and analytics.

3. Planning the Team Charter and Operating Model

I partnered with our design facilitator to plan a workshop to help the group define its mission, priorities, and operating model.

The intent was to explore areas such as:

• AI-assisted prototyping using tools like Figma Make

• AI-supported UI development using GitHub Copilot and the Atmosphere design system

• Applications of AI in research, Voice-of-Customer analysis, and analytics

• Opportunities to accelerate legacy product modernization

This approach was designed to ensure the initiative was practitioner-driven and aligned with real product and operational needs.

4. Aligning with Existing AI and Design System Exploration

The initiative connected with parallel experimentation already underway, including efforts to:

• Generate front-end code aligned with design system standards

• Accelerate prototyping and concept validation

• Explore AI-assisted modernization of legacy enterprise interfaces

My goal was to ensure these efforts were coordinated and that design remained actively involved.