Beyond Agents: Building Thinking Systems as Strategic Infrastructure
This masterclass is for people who are building AI products, leading AI strategy, or designing AI experiences and are starting to feel the limits of automation-first thinking. This is how to design AI that holds responsibility, judgment, and trust.
Curated by
Vivian Gomes
,
Chief Design Officer, SHNORH
Chief Design Officer | Human-Centered Design Strategist | Responsible AI Evangelist | Web3 | AI Startup Founder
Course Description
Most AI products today are built to act faster.The next generation will be built to help people think better.
Agentic systems are a phase. Thinking systems are the long game.
Students will learn how AI systems shape judgment, how design choices shift responsibility, to move beyond “just make it agentic” & how to design AI that earns long-term trust.
Target Audience
- Product leaders shipping AI features
- Designers working on AI UX
- Founders building AI-native products
- Strategy leaders navigating AI adoption
- Anyone responsible for decisions, not just output
Course Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to achieve:
- A clear mental model for thinking systems
- Practical UX and system design frameworks
- Language to influence leadership and roadmaps
- A Thinking System Design Brief you can reuse
- Strategic clarity most teams lack
Course Curriculum
Week 1
3 Modules
Module 1: The End of the Agent Hype
- Why agents optimize the wrong thing
- The difference between autonomy and intelligence
- Copilot, enterprise AI fatigue, and trust erosion
- Where investors and enterprises are already shifting focus
Assignment
- Write a critique of one agentic AI product using the Action-Judgment Divide.
Week 2
3 Modules
Module 2: Thinking Systems as Cognitive Infrastructure
- Thinking systems vs assistants vs agents
- Long-term memory as design, not storage
- Modeling uncertainty explicitly
- Designing AI that adapts to cognitive state
Framework Introduced
- Thinking System Stack: Memory, Reflection, Context shaping, Decision scaffolding
Week 3
3 Modules
Module 3: UX Patterns for Judgment Support
- Why “more transparency” is often wrong
- Confidence gradients and reasoning layers
- Designing prompts that evolve with the user
- When the system should interrupt vs observe
Hands On
- Participants redesign one screen or flow using thinking-system principles
Week 4
3 Modules
Module 4: Strategy, Risk, and Responsibility
- Why blind execution creates liability
- AI, power dynamics, and responsibility transfer
- Designing for restraint in high-stakes domains
- Governance through design, not policy alone
Case Analysis
- Healthcare, finance, leadership, and education examples
Week 5
3 Modules
Module 5: Building and Defending This Internally
- How to argue against “just make it agentic”
- Roadmap reframing: from features to cognition
- Metrics that measure judgment quality, not output
- Selling thinking systems to executives and boards
Final Deliverable
- A Thinking System Design Brief for your product or idea.
Module 6: The Next 5 Years of AI Design
- Agents as subroutines
- Thinking systems as platforms
- What careers and teams will look like
- What skills designers and leaders must build now
3 Modules
3 Modules
3 Modules
3 Modules
3 Modules
Instructor
Vivian Gomes
Chief Design Officer, SHNORH
Vivian Gomes is the Co-Founder and CEO of SHNORH, USA internationally well-known Futuristic Design Leader, Innovation Evangelist, Certified IBM Design Thinking Coach, UXQCC Trainer, Certified Adult Education Trainer and Google Sprint Trainer. Vivian is a Board member at UXQCC (Austria) and a UX, Design mentor on Google for Startups, initiating innovation and implementing design within organizations to lead and foster a collaborative environment. He has regularly trained professionals in industries such as fintech, BFSI, retail, oil & gas, smart cities, analytics, data Science, healthcare, eComm, delivery, startups, wearables, AR/VR, AI, voice, engineering and the automotive industry.
PhD Computer Science
Former Lead Data Scientist, Tech Corp
Author, Modern Data Science practice
Connect with me through
Frequently Asked Questions
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What experience do I need?
Ans.
This is an intermediate-level course, and requires basic knowledge of certain UX practices, techniques, and methodologies. We recommend checking out our HCD course if you are new to User Experience Design.
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Where do the classes take place?
Ans.
This is an online cohort based class, Attendees will be sent an invite to a Microsoft teams group where the classes will be held.
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How are assignments and assessments submitted?
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Trainers will determine the format of assignments and assessments, which may include one-on-one online evaluations and group projects. All work must be submitted by specified deadlines.
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Additional Information
What's Included
- Consulting sessions with trainers.
- Access to our AADS LinkedIn community.
- Exclusive mentor network.
- Relevant AI fundamentals.
- Quarterly invite-only seminars.
Prerequisites
Certification
You’ll earn a program completion certificate accredited by University of Design, San Francisco, CA USA, when you successfully earn a grade of B (3.0) or higher in this program.
Accredited by
