Perihelion: Finding Flow State in an Age of AI Interruption
Architecting focus in the age of algorithmic interruption. A reflection on creative mastery, systems design, and the discipline of subtraction.
Unifying global design systems at Western Union · Founder of Instituto Agéntico
Design Systems Architect & Agentic Systems Director
Architecting today's design systems for the agentic era.
The agents are already consuming your interfaces. I architect the systems that make them intelligible.
Explore the architecture
Manifesto
How I believe digital teams should work
01
Pairs are the new standard
Designers and developers working together from ideation to production. No more silos. No more handoffs. One designer and one developer, together, with an AI agent as the third team member. This is how you build today.
02
One leader, two disciplines
With AI as copilot, one director can lead front-end and design simultaneously without compromising quality. It’s not utopia — it’s the present. AI doesn’t replace the leader, it amplifies their reach. I do it every day.
03
Agentic teams: empathetic, fast, passionate
The modern digital team doesn’t need rigid hierarchies. It needs people with empathy, passion, and drive to build together. Pairs that understand each other, complement each other, and deliver with speed and quality.
CURRENTLY UNIFYING THE AGENTIC CONVERGENCE AT WESTERN UNION. PREVIOUSLY:
Education
Instituto de Diseno Agentico
Executive Program for Design System Architects
8 weeks · Hybrid (Madrid + Online) · Spanish
01Weeks 1-2
The Machine Language
AI-readiness audits, semantic tokens (W3C DTCG), dual documentation for humans and machines.
02Weeks 3-5
Programming Criteria
Project rules that define good design, context engineering, system prompt configuration.
03Weeks 6-7
The Connection
MCP implementation, autonomy ladder definition, governance model establishment.
04Week 8
Integration
Complete Agentic Design System Kit assembly, end-to-end verification, stakeholder presentation.
You leave with an operational Agentic Design System Kit: tokens, rules, MCP connections, and governance framework.
Hire
How I can help your team
Two ways to bring agentic leadership to your organization.
Director of Agentic Area
I lead the transition of your digital team to the agentic model. I implement the pair culture (designer + developer), configure workflows with AI agents, and build governance that scales.
- Team audit & transition plan
- Pair model implementation
- AI agent setup & workflows
- Governance framework
Team operating in agentic model in 90 days.
Let’s talk Front-end & Design Lead (dual role)
With AI as copilot, one person can lead design and front-end simultaneously. Your next hire doesn’t need to be two people — it needs to be one person with the right system.
- Design + front-end leadership
- Design system architecture
- Code reviews & quality
- Team direction & mentoring
One leader, two disciplines, zero compromises.
Let’s talk Coming soon
Si algo falla arriba, la respuesta esta abajo
Design systems don’t fail because of components. They fail because of the decisions that were made — or weren’t made — at the upper layers. When an interface breaks, when a team doesn’t adopt the system, when consistency disappears between products, the answer is never in the visible symptom. It’s below. In the tokens nobody defined rigorously. In the governance nobody designed. In the pairs that were never formed. This book is a manual for design and engineering leaders who want to stop fighting fires and start building infrastructure that works on its own. From semantic tokenization to AI agent readiness, through the pair model and agentic team culture.
Track Record
Where I've Done It
Real systems, real scale, real results
Radical Rationalization
146 disconnected components refactored into 10 atomic generators. Federated governance across 70+ markets.
Multimodal Agentic Commerce
Architected interaction models for Rufus AI Assistant. Auto-generated multimodal components across voice, screens and wearables.
Internal Tooling Innovation
Built ‘Telescope’, a code-first prototyping tool adopted across 4 global hubs. Reduced iteration time by 45%.
Leadership & Strategy
Operating at Scale
My approach to leading design and engineering organizations.
01
01 — Systems are liabilities without measurable ROI
Adoption metrics, performance gains, and engineering velocity are the primary success vectors, never an afterthought.
02
02 — Documentation is the infrastructure
Scalability is limited by self-service capability. If a system requires manual hand-holding, it has failed its architectural intent.
03
03 — AI as an Architectural Multiplier
Leverage AI to collapse exploration and boilerplate cycles, reserving human intelligence for strategic validation and edge-case resolution.
Field Notes
Writing
Briefs on design engineering, system architecture, and AI strategy.
AI & Future of Work
Design Systems MasteryWhy your Design System Manager can’t see ROI
For product and engineering leadership: a technical breakdown of metrics, shared debt, and tactical maneuvers to surface systemic ROI.
AI & Future of WorkYour product depends on the interface. Agents ignore it.
From Alexa to Agentic Commerce: architecting interaction models for a post-screen era. What becomes of the UI when the agent is the user?
The best design system is the one you don’t notice
Plumbing only becomes visible when it breaks. A good design system should be invisible to developers.
Design Systems MasteryYour design system doesn't fail because of bad components
It fails because nobody designed who decides when to break the rules. Governance beats any Figma library.
Design Systems MasteryThe two scales of design: atoms and ecosystems
A question on the last day of a design systems course changed everything—from emotional atoms to Amazon-scale ecosystems.
Design Systems MasteryThe Day Our Perfect Prototype Started Lying to Us
The day our perfect prototype started lying to us.
AI & Future of WorkSystems Thinking in the Age of AI
Systems thinking in the age of AI.
AI & Future of WorkTimeline
Experience
A trajectory focused on the intersection of design, engineering, and scale.
I
Founder & Director
Leading the transition to agent-consumable design infrastructure. Developing the framework and academic standards for Agentic Design Systems.
W
UX Manager (Strategy & Governance)
Architecting the European multi-brand Design System. Strategic consolidation of 146 components into 10 atomic primitives. Improvement of communication processes between roles like product, design, and development. Multimodal design system.
A
UX Engineer Manager
Architected the world's first voice design system for Alexa. Engineered high-fidelity multimodal vision prototypes for 'Rufus'. Project centered on launching Rufus due to competitors (ChatGPT), putting original vision on hold. Redefining and scaling the definition of design systems.
M
Design Systems Professor
Professor in UX and Design Systems. The 'bad cop' convincing designers to leave their comfort zone and learn to read (not write) code. Documenting learned knowledge from over the years.
Connection
Let’s connect
Have a project in mind or want to collaborate? I’d love to hear from you.