Designer first. Builder since.

I lead innovation solutions and AI enablement for Assurant's Global Automotive division. Most of what I take on starts as a problem nobody owns yet, and I carry it from the first conversations to a working system, usually building it myself.

What I do now

Nearly everything I build now is AI-assisted. That includes the reporting behind a monthly executive deck and a wiki that holds what we know about twenty programs. Prototypes that used to take me two weeks now take a day.

I also teach. Most of the division will never write code, and a few people want to build real applications. I write a monthly newsletter for the first group and help the second get started with Claude Code.

How I work

I start with whoever has the problem and find out where their time goes before I think about tools. The reporting system began with a VP spending 10 to 12 hours a month reconciling other teams' numbers.

I'd rather fit into how a team already works than ask it to change. On that project the Salesforce teams kept working in Salesforce, and the Excel teams got a form that was faster than their old spreadsheet. Nobody had to be talked into anything.

When I can't measure something, I say so. I don't get Copilot usage data, so I judge my newsletter by what people send back. The replies I value most start with "I tried what you said and."

In the past

Now
Innovation Solutions & Enablement Lead, AssurantGlobal Automotive division
6 years
AssurantSenior UX designer, then innovation research and design
4 years
UX design in financial servicesRegulated products, where compliance shapes the design
8 years
US ArmyCavalry scout and psychological operations
Education
BFA, Art Institute of Houston

Also

Co-inventor on a pending patent for coordinating licensed specialists across a regulated workflow. The service built on it went live with clients in 2026.

I make things on my own time through Common Light Labs, my one-person studio. The latest is Lamplight Workshop, a puzzle game.

  • Applied AI
  • Research & strategy
  • Systems building
  • Zero-to-one design
abraytondesign@gmail.com LinkedIn ↗