Microsoft Build 2026
Design and motion direction for the Microsoft Build 2026 keynote, launching Microsoft AI’s new model family
The Role:
Design and motion direction, across multiple external agencies.
The challenge:
Microsoft AI was unveiling its first in-house model family, headlined by flagship MAI-Thinking-1, on the keynote stage at Build 2026. A dense technical launch had to feel inevitable and exciting to a global audience, and the motion across the entire reveal had to move as one visual language even with multiple agencies feeding into it.
What I did:
I designed and directed the keynote, setting the visual approach and pulling multiple external agencies toward a single coherent look. I shaped how each model was revealed, turning complex capabilities into sequences an audience could feel, not just follow.
The outcome:
The opening keynote has been viewed over a million times, with the motion carrying the visual tone of Microsoft AI’s biggest launch to date.
The IMPACT:
The keynote was the center of the launch, but the work wasn’t exclusive to the stage. Assets I helped design for it, from the symbols for all seven models to graphics like the frontier tuning layer stack, were lifted straight into the marketing and social rollout.
The keynote wasn’t just built for the stage. It became the throughline for the whole release, and the releases still to come.
The Role:
Design and motion direction, across multiple external agencies.
The challenge:
Microsoft AI was unveiling its first in-house model family, headlined by flagship MAI-Thinking-1, on the keynote stage at Build 2026. A dense technical launch had to feel inevitable and exciting to a global audience, and the motion across the entire reveal had to move as one visual language even with multiple agencies feeding into it.
What I did:
I designed and directed the keynote, setting the visual approach and pulling multiple external agencies toward a single coherent look. I shaped how each model was revealed, turning complex capabilities into sequences an audience could feel, not just follow.
The outcome:
The opening keynote has been viewed over a million times, with the motion carrying the visual tone of Microsoft AI’s biggest launch to date.
The IMPACT:
The keynote was the center of the launch, but the work wasn’t exclusive to the stage. Assets I helped design for it, from the symbols for all seven models to graphics like the frontier tuning layer stack, were lifted straight into the marketing and social rollout.
the work
the rollout
The keynote wasn’t just built for the stage. It became the throughline for the whole release, and the releases still to come.