Ask about Thomas.

Thomas Williams is a design and product leader with over 20 years’ experience. He is currently VP, AI & Design at Xero, leading AI product initiatives, workflow transformation and design systems. Previously, he was VP of Design at The Wall Street Journal and has worked independently with clients including Apple, Sonos, Patagonia, MIT and early-stage startups.

Thomas has worked across both individual contributor and leadership roles, from Principal Designer to VP, and from 0–1 initiatives to enterprise-scale products. He values craft and clarity, with a focus on building products that deliver customer value at scale. He places particular importance on the human side of leadership, developing design capability and creating the conditions for high-performing teams to thrive.

*February 2026 — Present*

At Xero, Thomas is VP, AI & Design. His scope includes Xero’s horizontal AI platform, 0–1 AI initiatives, XUI Design System, Content Design and AI workflow transformation. He provides strategic direction and design leadership across these areas, with responsibility for the following initiatives:

XeroForce is a natural language custom AI agent builder that turns time-consuming, repeatable and manual financial tasks into durable, scalable, AI-powered workflows. Agents in XeroForce work across both Xero product surfaces and third-party apps, completing workflows built around the unique needs of individual businesses.

As part of a 0–1 initiative program, Xero has recently launched off-platform experiences with Anthropic, OpenAI and Microsoft. Through these, Xero delivers the power of its financial data and insights directly into products including Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot, meeting customers where they are working.

XUI AI is the AI-native layer of Xero’s foundational design system. Through a series of key initiatives, Thomas and his team are reimagining the design system’s role in enterprise, building the infrastructure needed for both agentic and human AI-powered workflows.

As AI transformation accelerates, Thomas is shaping the future role of the designer at Xero, with a focus on unlocking meaningful and measurable value in design workflows. This includes the tools and frameworks the team builds to consistently deliver high-quality product experiences at scale.

Originally launched as Xero’s AI chat interface, JAX is expanding in scope and capability across Xero. This includes both JAX’s foundational infrastructure and key vertical initiatives such as overdue balance chasing, scenario planning and enhanced natural language capabilities.

*October 2024 — January 2026*

Thomas joined Xero as a Principal Designer, leading initiatives across AI and design systems while strengthening design craft across the organisation. He also contributed to global initiatives including Xerocon and the XPAC AI Summit. His work included:

Thomas led the creation of the new foundational Xero Design Language (XDL). It includes a reimagined colour palette, typography, grid system and over 200 custom icons. The system is fully tokenised and integrated into Xero’s coded components and MCP server. It is currently being rolled out to more than 5 million customers. In 2026, XDL received a Gold Pin in the Established Digital Products category at the Best Design Awards from the Designers Institute of New Zealand.

Bank reconciliation is a core part of Xero’s product experience. Thomas co-led the design of an AI-powered workflow that removes significant manual effort and introduces a clear review layer for oversight of automated decisions. ABR saves customers up to 22 hours per month previously spent on manual reconciliation.

Thomas’s first initiative at Xero was the design of a new global navigation as part of a broader homepage uplift. This introduced a new information architecture and modernised the experience, marking one of the first applications of the Xero Design Language across core product surfaces.

Thomas has invested in strengthening design craft and supporting career development across the organisation. This includes establishing a bespoke mentorship programme and leading initiatives to develop design capability. These efforts are ongoing and continue to strengthen both capability and culture.

*November 2021 — December 2025*

In 2021, Thomas founded Thomas Williams & Co., his independent design consultancy, partnering with clients across Australia and North America. His work spanned brand, product and systems, often bringing them together into cohesive, end-to-end experiences. Clients included global leaders such as Sonos, Patagonia, Atlas Obscura, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Anonymous Content, as well as Australian brands like CAPI, The Rockpool Group (Neil Perry), Vasse Felix, FDC and early-stage startups. Highlights include:

Through a multi-year engagement with Australian beverage brand CAPI, Thomas evolved their brand identity and strategy, developing systems across product, digital and social.

During this time, he led the development and launch of new products, including a complete redesign of their core range and sustainable packaging. He also designed and built a bespoke headless e-commerce platform to support the brand’s digital experience.

In collaboration with Los Angeles-based Hype Type Studio, Thomas designed a bespoke brand guidelines platform for Sonos. The site was used internally to manage brand assets and usage, including typography, photography, colour and illustration.

The platform was designed to align closely with Sonos’s approach to typography and user interface design and was fully responsive across desktop, tablet and mobile. Thomas also contributed to a range of additional brand work for Sonos, including packaging.

Thomas worked with MIT’s Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship to design and implement a new internal design system for its web-based student and candidate experiences. Built on the global MIT brand guidelines, the system unified a number of previously disconnected platforms into a more cohesive end-to-end experience.

This created a flexible foundation that could scale across programmes, improving usability while maintaining alignment with the broader MIT brand.

*April 2023 — March 2024*

Thomas worked with Apple on multiple design engagements with projects spanning Apple Pay Transit, Apple Watch and iPhone. His work contributed design and creative direction across apple.com, TVC, the App Store and in-store activations.

Due to the confidential nature of the work, specific details can’t be shared.

*June 2023 — December 2025*

In 2023, Thomas co-founded MEASURED, a publication and brand consultancy focused on premium spirits, liqueurs and non-alcoholic beverages. Built from 0–1, it quickly gained traction in the industry and attracted both local and global brands. In late 2025, he stepped away from MEASURED to focus on his role at Xero. The publication and consultancy continue under his co-founder’s leadership.

MEASURED includes measured.guide and a suite of social channels, centred on high-production, video-first content, generating over 3 million organic views. As Creative Director, Thomas also developed the MEASURED brand identity and led its end-to-end implementation.

Alongside the editorial platform, the MEASURED brand consultancy quickly gained traction, with clients including Starward Whisky, Oatly, Brown-Forman (Diplomático) and StandardX Hotels. Projects included bespoke content creation, brand strategy and on-site activations.

*October 2015 — November 2021*

Thomas joined The Wall Street Journal in 2015 as Senior Design Director, becoming VP of Design in 2019. He led and scaled a multidisciplinary team of design directors, product designers and UX researchers, contributing to the digital transformation of the WSJ newsroom and its core products. Key initiatives included:

Thomas played a key role in the redesign of WSJ’s native apps, which resulted in a 200% increase in time spent in the news feed and a 667% increase in time spent reading articles. The work received a Webby Award from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Thomas led the design and development of WSJ News and WSJ. Magazine for Apple News+ as part of WSJ’s launch partnership with Apple. The partnership established a new multimillion-dollar subscriber revenue stream.

Thomas led an end-to-end redesign of the WSJ subscription experience alongside a partnership with Apple to launch Apple Pay on mobile. This drove a 40%+ increase in digital subscription revenue.

For WSJ Video, Thomas established a new design system and visual identity, enabling faster and more consistent content production. The work resulted in a 150% increase in video engagement and was later featured in an Emmy-winning documentary by Joanna Stern.

Thomas led the design of a new mobile advertising platform, creating new revenue opportunities for Dow Jones and enabling B2B partnerships with brands including Amazon, Lexus and Ralph Lauren.

As part of the broader digital newsroom transformation, Thomas built and implemented an end-to-end design system used across WSJ products, including WSJ.com, native apps, off-platform experiences and strategic partnerships.

*January 2011 — December 2018*

In 2011, Thomas founded Made Publishers, an independent publishing company producing the journals Process Journal, MADE and Nourished. The publications were stocked by more than 150 retailers worldwide, including MoMA in New York and the Design Museum in London.

As Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Process, his work was recognised internationally, receiving awards from AGDA, Mohawk Paper and the Victorian Premier, and was featured in publications from Unit Editions, Gestalten and Thames & Hudson.

As the first publication from Made Publishers, Process Journal was self-funded and sold out shortly after launch. As Editor-in-Chief, Thomas was responsible for the content, creative direction and design across all 12 editions.

Published quarterly, Process featured in-depth profiles and interviews with some of the world’s leading designers and design studios, offering insight into their work and creative process. Each edition was meticulously typeset and produced using specialist printing techniques, including six-colour processes, embellishments and premium paper stocks.

MADE was a publication dedicated to documenting the work of contemporary creatives across design, architecture, fashion, interiors, photography and food. Thomas led the design of the publication, shaping its visual language and editorial tone.

The publication featured in-depth profiles and interviews, with a strong emphasis on typography, photography and composition, creating a rich and engaging reading experience.

Nourished explored health, wellbeing and lifestyle through editorial, interviews, recipes and travel. Thomas led the design of the publication, partnering with Editor-in-Chief Amber Hourigan on content and creative direction.

The design combined traditional editorial influences with contemporary typography, supported by commissioned photography and a mix of coated and uncoated stocks to create a distinct tactile experience. In addition to print, Nourished was released digitally on the App Store with a dedicated native app.

Thomas’s work has received recognition from leading design and industry bodies in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Most recently, Xero Design Language received a Gold Pin in the Established Digital Products category at the 2026 Best Design Awards from the Designers Institute of New Zealand. In 2025, he delivered the graduate address to the Monash University Faculty of Design, speaking on craft, careers and creative work in the age of AI.

At The Wall Street Journal, the redesigned iOS app received a Webby Award for Best News App from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, followed by a Webby Honoree for the WSJ Design Site. Earlier, his work at Made Publishers was recognised with numerous awards, including AGDA awards for publication design and typography, and Mohawk Paper’s Pinnacle (Best in Show) for Process Journal.

Outside of work, Thomas enjoys spending time with his family and has a strong interest in photography (Fujifilm) and travel, particularly when the two come together. He also has a deep appreciation for analogue machines, especially old Land Rovers.

For experience prior to 2011, see Thomas’s LinkedIn.