From users to builders: exploring AI across teams
Mina Landøy and Anna Ringstad Lundgård didn’t just want to use AI, they wanted to build with it. Through Vend’s Builder program, the two teamed up to explore how AI could solve real workflow challenges and help their teams work smarter together.
Anna Ringstad Lundgård is the Product Manager for Vend’s Design System team, while Mina Landøy works as a Language Specialist within the Content Design team. Although the teams have different areas of responsibility, they often work on the same user problems from different angles.
“Design and language requests almost always arrive at the same time, so it made sense to build a unified solution.”
Building the Dan Icon Assistant
That shared perspective became the starting point for a project focused on improving how designers work with Vend’s icon library. The team saw an opportunity to reduce manual work, simplify documentation, and make it easier to find the right resources across several systems.
“We built the Dan Icon Assistant, a bot that helps over 100 designers navigate our Warp Icon Library. It automates feedback loops and helps users find the right icons or documentation instantly.”
Building the assistant required the team to connect workflows across Figma, Jira, and GitHub while also deciding where automation could genuinely improve the process, and where human judgement still mattered.
“It taught us a lot about finding the balance: knowing what can be automated to save time versus what requires a human touch to maintain high quality.”
Moving from AI users to AI builders
The experience has also changed how they think about AI more broadly. Instead of relying only on existing tools, they’ve developed a deeper understanding of how AI systems can be shaped, managed, and applied inside the organisation.
“We’ve moved from just being users of AI to understanding how to actually build and fully own the data in our LLMs.”
Creating space for experimentation and learning
For both, one of the biggest lessons has been the importance of giving employees enough time and space to learn.
“Consistent, protected time is the only way to effectively upskill.”
They say initiatives like Vend’s dedicated AI learning day make a real difference by creating room for experimentation alongside day-to-day work.
“The fact that everyone at Vend now has a dedicated AI day is super impactful; it gives us the breathing room to actually innovate rather than just trying to keep up.”