About Stephen Aris
I am a senior service designer and human-centred practitioner. I map the real process so agents can deliver real value.
Background
I've worked embedded in complex organisations including BT, National Grid, Waitrose, Publicis Sapient, the Ministry of Justice, House of Fraser, Bupa and Sky. The methods are classic service design. The difference is what they now unlock.
Why this maps onto AI work
| Deep stakeholder interviews | Creating the "human API": tacit knowledge that lives in people's heads, made usable |
|---|---|
| Process and journey mapping | As-is reality maps, including exceptions, loops and workarounds, not the clean SOP |
| End-to-end service design across teams, systems and channels | Agents designed to live inside existing systems of record, not a new surface |
| Designing decision points and handoffs | Sorting every step: delete, plain code, agentic or human-in-the-loop |
| Baselines and before/after measurement | Cycle time, straight-through rate, cost per transaction and exception rate, proven rather than asserted |
| Translating operational mess into plain language | A case CFOs, CROs and ops leaders can act on |
What I don't do
I'm not a production agent engineer, and I don't build or evaluate multi-agent systems. I lead the process-reengineering and human-in-the-loop design layer, and I partner with engineering teams so agents are built on an accurate map.
Questions
What is a forward deployed engineer, and where do you fit?
A forward deployed engineer (FDE) embeds inside a client organisation to build and deploy AI agents on real workflows. I'm not an FDE and I don't build production agents. I'm a service designer who does the process discovery, redesign and measurement that forward-deployed work depends on, and I work alongside engineering teams.
Are you available as a service designer or UX consultant?
Yes, for work where AI, automation or complex multi-system services are involved. I have 15+ years of service design, UX and research experience in large organisations including BT, National Grid, Waitrose, Publicis Sapient, the Ministry of Justice, House of Fraser, Bupa and Sky.
Where are you based and how do we start?
I'm based between London, UK and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and work with clients globally. Email hello@stephenaris.com with the workflow you suspect is messier than the SOP says, and I'll tell you honestly whether a Process Diagnostic is the right next step.