Thato Dutch

Agent Experience Design

I make AI that sounds like someone, not something.

I started in advertising, writing brand voice for Visa, Emirates and McDonald’s. Now I design the voice and behaviour of AI agents.

For four years at Cashew.ai I designed conversational AI, working across Tripadvisor, Amazon Ads, Honda and others. Voice-first agents, content systems, and the architecture underneath. I treat the system prompt as a design artifact and the conversation as the product.

Now I build agents end to end and ship them as live prototypes. I’m strong on character, guardrails, edge cases, and turning a vague brief into something that holds up once real people start talking to it.

The thread through all of it: an agent should know what it is, what it’s for, and how to talk to people. Most don’t. I design the ones that do.

See the work

Recognition

Mercury Award, 2022. Visit Orlando, U.S. Travel Association.
Campaign Magazine. Named one of 30 Future Leaders.
Loeries, Eagles & Creative Circle. Awards for advertising craft.