# Jason Herring > Creative Director, Engineering Leader, Javascript Enthusiast, Smart Speaker Believer Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/jasonherring We're living through the most exciting moment in creative technology—and I'm building at its edge. Design and engineering have collapsed into each other. AI isn't a tool anymore; it's a collaborator, a medium, a new kind of raw material. For the first time, the distance between imagining something and making it real is nearly zero. I've never felt more capable of building anything I can dream up. As a Staff Design Technologist at Intuit, I lead experimentation where design, AI, and product vision converge—transforming speculative ideas into high-fidelity prototypes that change how leadership thinks about what's possible. My work lives in that charged space between storytelling and engineering: multimodal intelligence, voice interfaces, dynamic systems that feel genuinely alive. I've architected AI-driven personality engines. Created lifelike conversational avatars. Led immersive workshops that give creatives and executives hands-on fluency with emerging tech. Whether I'm teaching designers to code or designing systems that feel human, I'm chasing the same question: what happens when intelligence itself becomes a creative medium? This is the moment. The tools are here. The only limit is what we're willing to prototype. I don't wait for the future—I make it visible. The goal: move beyond imagining the future—prototype it. ## Work Experience ### Group Manager, Design Technology - Foresight @ Intuit Jan 2026 – Present | Mountain View, CA ### Senior Staff Design Technologist - AI + Futures @ Intuit Jan 2025 – Jan 2026 | Mountain View, CA Key builder on a 100+ person innovation team called Futures. Multi-Modal Prototyping & Experience Innovation The interfaces of the future won't live on a single screen—they'll flow across devices, voices, and contexts. I led rapid experimentation at Intuit to discover what that actually feels like. Working across design, engineering, and AI, I built high-fidelity provocations for leadership: functional prototypes showing how voice, vision, and ambient intelligence could reshape financial interactions. Real data, natural language, multi-device ecosystems—making the speculative usable. Conversational AI & Personality Systems I designed and built a real-time AI personality engine from the ground up—a living framework where natural language, emotional intelligence, and embodied avatars converge. Pioneering ultra-low-latency conversational pipelines (Vapi, Hume AI, LiveKit, HeyGen), I created digital agents that don't just respond—they communicate. Character-driven. Emotionally present. Each prototype pushed one question: what does it mean for a brand to have a voice that feels human? Leadership Demos, Workshops & Knowledge Activation The best way to shift culture is to put tools in people's hands. I've delivered flagship demos across executive forums and summits, and built learning experiences that turn curiosity into capability: Demystifying Python, Shipping Conversations, AI Avatars and Voice. These seeded organization-wide momentum—giving teams permission and fluency to build with intelligence as a creative medium. Core Tools & Technologies Generative AI, Conversational AI, LLMs, Prompt Engineering, RAG, Voice UI, Multi-Modal Interfaces, Design Systems, Figma, Rapid Prototyping, Interaction Design, Python, TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, API Design, Real-Time Systems, Innovation Strategy, Design Leadership, Workshop Facilitation, Executive Communication. ### Staff Design Technologist - AI + Futures @ Intuit Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | Mountain View, CA Multi-Modal Prototyping Built functional prototypes exploring how voice, vision, and ambient intelligence could change financial interactions. Worked across design, engineering, and AI to turn speculative ideas into something leadership could actually use — real data, natural language, multi-device flows. Conversational AI & Personality Systems Designed and built real-time conversational pipelines from scratch — low-latency, character-driven, emotionally present. Explored what it means for a brand to have a voice that feels human. Tools included Vapi, Hume AI, LiveKit, and HeyGen. Demos, Workshops & Knowledge Sharing Delivered demos at executive forums and built hands-on workshops to help teams start building with AI — Demystifying Python, Shipping Conversations, AI Avatars and Voice. Core Tools & Technologies Generative AI, Conversational AI, LLMs, Prompt Engineering, RAG, Voice UI, Multi-Modal Interfaces, Figma, Rapid Prototyping, Python, TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, Real-Time Systems. ### Director Of Design and Technology @ Aleph Incorporated Jan 2020 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco, California, United States ### Director of Digital Design and Development @ KQED Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area At KQED, I helped modernize how public media connects with its audience—leading design and technology efforts that transformed KQED.org and the systems behind it. My work focused on prototyping, modernization, and creating the technical foundation for new kinds of storytelling. KQED.org Modernization Led the multi-year redesign of KQED.org, rethinking some of the site’s most complex experiences. Partnered with design, engineering, product, and AlephSF to build a modern, accessible platform that reflects the evolving role of public media in the Bay Area. Infrastructure & Prototyping Rebuilt our CI/CD pipeline—migrating Docker containers from AWS to Kubernetes on Google Cloud. The move enabled canary deployments, instant rollbacks, and faster experimentation, allowing design teams to test and ship with confidence. CMS & Audio Innovation Migrated KQED’s massive WordPress CMS to GCP Kubernetes, powering hundreds of thousands of articles and partner feeds (NPR, Apple News, Google News). Designed automated audio workflows for Alexa, Google Assistant, and NPR One—normalizing audio levels and publishing segmented clips for emerging voice platforms. Election 2018 Coverage Created the infrastructure for real-time election results across every Bay Area county. Built scrapers, editorial workflows, and automated publishing systems that made the coverage both fast and reliable. Leaving KQED was bittersweet, but I’m proud to have helped shape a modern foundation for public media and a culture of experimentation that continues to evolve. ### Lead UX Designer @ KQED Jan 2015 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area As Lead Product Designer at KQED, I helped transform the station’s digital presence from a traditional broadcaster into a modern, audience-driven media platform. My work blended UX strategy, product design, and hands-on prototyping to shape how millions of listeners and readers engaged with KQED’s journalism and storytelling. The Listening Project Led a complete redesign of KQED Radio, News, Arts, Science, and the homepage—introducing a persistent audio player that kept listeners connected across the site. Designed a flexible content system for editors to dynamically group and display stories, and launched a real-time “trending” experience that guided users seamlessly through related news. 2016 Election Voter Guide Spearheaded design and UX for KQED’s interactive voter guide—one of the first single-page applications deployed by a public media organization. Partnered with developers to build a custom WordPress-to-Elasticsearch pipeline and a React front end that allowed voters to navigate ballot issues with clarity and ease. The guide became a model for civic engagement design within NPR member stations. WordPress Modernization My first project at KQED was migrating core properties into WordPress—a foundational step in unifying content management and design across teams. Initially leading the project as an external vendor, I later joined the organization full-time to continue shaping its evolution into a modern, digital-first newsroom. These years were about more than design—they were about helping KQED reinvent how public media connects with communities in a rapidly changing digital landscape. ### Creative Director @ OrdinaryKids Jan 2001 – Jan 2015 OrdinaryKids was formed in the midst of the dot com fallout and produced a decade of award winning, thought provoking work. By developing mostly direct to client relationships, OrdinaryKids was able to shape and augment various brands in the skate, architecture and fashion world. Clients included MoMA, Nike NSW, Adidas Skateboarding, Arta Tequila, Aesop Rock, Tracy Chapman, Rebel8, theNorthFace, Stussy, Huf, BART and more. ### Partner and Creative Director @ Dualforces Jan 2010 – Jan 2013 DualForces is a creative application studio working at the intersection of fashion, streetwear, and emerging culture. We design experiences that move fluidly between digital, physical, and cinematic worlds—merging art direction, technology, and cultural storytelling into one practice. With roots in fashion and design, DualForces has collaborated with some of the most influential brands in culture, including Nike, Stüssy, UNDFTD, Vans OTW, Pepsi, DreamWorks, and SA Studios. Each project begins with cultural observation—tuning into the frequencies of street culture, art, and media—then evolves into immersive executions that span digital products, retail environments, and large-scale installations. Our philosophy is simple: creative energy should flow freely. We build bespoke teams and hybrid workflows that dissolve the traditional boundaries between product design, film, and technology. Whether designing limited-edition apparel, crafting brand experiences, or prototyping new retail concepts, DualForces thrives in the experimental space where culture, technology, and design collide. ### Senior Web Developer @ Oven Digital Jan 2000 – Jan 2002 Lead developer on numerous projects. Primarily developed using DHTML(html+css+javascript) but also coded Java and JSP. ### Senior Web Developer @ Inspired Arts Jan 1999 – Jan 2001 Led a small team of creatives and coders to build website for Bank of California and other regional accounts. Also got to lead design on FUCTs website. ### Jr Web Designer @ iXL Jan 1998 – Jan 1999 This was the job I earned my chops at. Developed tons of homepages for companies including Holiday Inn, Mazda, AOL, Andersen Consulting and more. ## Education ### None in dropped out senior year, English University of South Florida ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ok-jason-herring - Portfolio: http://www.ordinarykids.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/jasonherring JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/jasonherring/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13