Associate Director, UX for AI Agents

Vista Equity Partners is seeking a hands-on Associate Director of UX to shape how humans interact with AI agents across our 90+ portfolio companies. This role is embedded in Vista’s Agentic Factory, our methodology for collaborating with portfolio companies to identify high-value agentic use cases and rapidly build production AI agents that deliver measurable business impact. 

The best AI agent is only as good as the experience around it. You will be the person who makes sure that enterprise users actually trust, adopt, and get value from the agents we build. That means designing conversational flows, crafting the interaction patterns for human-in-the-loop checkpoints, and prototyping interfaces fast enough to keep pace with compressed Agentic Factory delivery timelines. 

This is a builder role. You will be prototyping, testing with real users, and iterating alongside AI engineers and portfolio company product teams. You should be as comfortable in Figma as you are  designing specific interactions and touchpoints that promote user trust across agent flows. 

Agentic UX Design & Rapid Prototyping 

• Design and rapidly prototype user experiences for AI agents, conversational interfaces, and human-in-the-loop workflows as part of Agentic Factory engagements with portfolio companies. 

• Create low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes that bring agent interactions to life, moving from concept to testable artifact in days, not weeks. 

• Design the UX patterns for how agents communicate status, surface decisions for human review, handle errors gracefully, and build user trust over time. 

• Develop conversational flows, dialog models, and interaction patterns that feel natural in enterprise contexts where accuracy and auditability matter. 

Portfolio Company Collaboration 

• Partner with portfolio company product and engineering teams to translate agentic use cases into intuitive user experiences aligned with their existing products and user base. 

• Collaborate closely with AI engineers and data scientists within the Agentic Factory to ensure UX decisions are grounded in what the underlying models can reliably deliver. 

• Work across multiple portfolio company engagements in parallel, adapting your approach to different industries, user maturities, and technology stacks. 

• Communicate design concepts and rationale clearly to both technical teams and executive stakeholders. 

User Research & Iteration 

• Conduct targeted user research and usability testing during Agentic Factory sprints to inform, prioritize, and validate design decisions quickly and incorporate feedback into the next iteration. 

• Analyze how users interact with AI agents in production to identify trust gaps, friction points, and opportunities to increase adoption. 

• Develop and refine reusable UX patterns and interaction templates that can accelerate future Agentic Factory engagements across the portfolio. 

What You Are an Expert In 

Technical Expertise 

• Conversational UI design for AI agents, chatbots, and LLM-powered interfaces 

• Rapid prototyping tools and techniques (Figma, ProtoPie, Framer, or equivalent) 

• Human-in-the-loop interaction design, including trust calibration, confidence signaling, and escalation flows 

• Human-Computer Interaction Research and Design, with deep expertise in user behavior and attitudes towards emerging technology in enterprise environments 

• UX for complex enterprise workflows where AI augments rather than replaces human decision-making 

• Natural language processing concepts and how they shape conversational design considerations 

• Design systems thinking and the ability to create reusable design systems, libraries, and components 

Operational Expertise 

• Rapid iteration within compressed timelines, delivering testable prototypes in days 

• Cross-functional collaboration with AI engineers, data scientists, and product managers 

• Managing multiple concurrent engagements across different portfolio companies and industries 

• Translating technical AI capabilities and limitations into user-centered design decisions 

• Presenting design work and research findings to executive audiences 

• Facilitation, communication, and storytelling expertise around design and innovation 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction, UX Design, or a related field and / or relevant experience. 

• 5+ years of experience in UX design and development, with recent experience designing for AI, conversational, or agent-based interfaces. 

• Strong portfolio showcasing rapid prototyping, user-centered design, and work on complex interactive systems. 

• Proficiency in modern UX design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, ProtoPie, Framer). 

• Understanding of natural language processing and conversational AI concepts sufficient to design within technical constraints. 

• Excellent communication, presentation, and collaboration skills. 

• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, high-ambiguity environment. 

• Experience within consulting, private equity portfolio companies, or multi-client environments is a strong plus

The annualized base pay range for this role is expected to be between $160,000 - $210,000. Actual base pay could vary based on factors including but not limited to experience, subject matter expertise, geographic location where work will be performed and the applicant’s skill set. The base pay is just one component of the total compensation package for employees. Other components may include an annual cash bonus and a comprehensive benefits package.