What I bring to the stage
I talk about what I research and practice: how AI is changing the design profession and what to do so it works in favor of the people who design. Talk, workshop, panel, podcast or class. In person in Florianópolis or remote.
Topics I present
Structural convergence: why AI makes everything look the same
My published research (AIMEDIA 2026) measured how interfaces generated without specification converge to the same pattern, and what specification changes about that.
From design to shipped product
Designers building product with AI agents, with judgment and human review. Current tools as the vehicle, principles as the subject.
Accessibility as an acceptance criterion
What I learned auditing public design systems (277 non-conformities in my thesis, top grade) and ensuring WCAG 2.1 AA conformance in a global-scale product.
The designer career in the AI era
The argument I am developing in the book Design na Era da IA, in production with Casa do Código.
Where I have presented
UX Time 2026: "The hardest problem isn't the screen" (recorded). Watch on YouTube
TDC Florianópolis 2026: workshop and panel.
Sessions at Friends of Figma Florianópolis.
Stage and community
Host of Pixel Init: 3 days of live event, with speakers from Google, iFood, Itaú and Nubank.
Chapter Lead of The AI Collective Florianópolis, the first chapter in the South of Brazil.
Volunteer organizer at IxDA Florianópolis.
Bio for promotion
Thiago Xikota is an AI Product Engineer and Senior Product Designer: he works from problem to product in production, combining research, specification, design and building with AI agents under human review. A researcher at Lemme (UFSC), he published the AIMEDIA 2026 study on Specification Literacy and structural convergence. He is the author of Design na Era da IA, in production with Casa do Código, Chapter Lead of The AI Collective Florianópolis and founder of Xikota Design, a digital product design and building studio.
How to invite me
Write me with as much context as you have: event or organization, date, venue or remote format, type of participation, topic, audience and conditions. I reply personally.
Send an invitation by email