Agentic AI at Bolt: a ux research tool, built by the domain expert who needed it

In this session you'll see what happens when a non-engineer creates a tool with Cursor/Claude Code. Not a prototype. A production tool that streamlines the end-to-end workflow of recruiting, managing, and compensating participants for user research at Bolt.

Julian Siemer is a research operations specialist. Six months ago, we jointly started building a python tool to handle recruiting, screening, scheduling, and incentives. Today it runs end to end, and doubles the number of studies each Research Ops teammate can coordinate per week.

This isn't vibe coding. The tool integrates CRM, messaging, and scheduling systems — agentic engineering work, done by the domain expert closest to the problem, with technical support along the way.

We'll unpack what made this work: the setup, the stack, and the mindset behind it. Then we'll talk about how you can start building something similar in your own context, whatever your role.

What you'll take away

• How non-engineers can use agentic engineering to sharpen continuous customer discovery — past vibe-coding and prototypes, into the kind of cadence Bolt's CYC keeps: 100+ interviews per week, not the aspiration
• The Bolt story end to end: pain, prototype, production, and the shift to self-service
• What shifts when "do we have engineers for this?" stops being the gating question, and the leadership and culture conditions that get you there
• Ten practical moves that take a build from prototype to something a team can rely on

Who this is for

• Researchers, UX designers, and product managers who suspect Cursor or Claude Code is more than a better chatbot — and want to compose the tools their discovery work needs
• Research and product ops leads choosing or composing the tools their teams live in
• Leaders asking what kind of organisation lets non-engineers ship to production

Your hosts and guest

• Stefan Haas, Co-Founder PoDojo. Frames the session.
• Julian Siemer (guest), Research Operations at Bolt. Tells the six-month story.
• Hannah Carlotta Kelbel, Innovation & Design Thinking. On team, leadership, and the "Am I the right person?" side of the build.
• Jochen Ade, Co-Founder & CTO PoDojo. On the engineering reality and the ten things that decide whether your tool lasts.

What to expect (~75 min)

• Welcome & check-in (5')
• Frame: Lean UX at AI speed, and how tools shape culture, Stefan (10')
• The Bolt story: six months, one tool, one non-engineer, Julian (20')
• Am I the right person? Team, leadership, the move that made it work, Hannah (10')
• Ten tips that keep your build from staying a prototype, Jochen (10')
• Q&A (15')
• Wrap & check-out (5')