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TJ Pitre

Founder & CEO of Southleft, a design-systems and AI-workflow agency; creator of Figma Console MCP.

ExecutiveLeads from the frontNew schoolSystemsAIOrg
He is hands-on building AI tooling that connects design to code at scale while explicitly framing it to amplify human judgment rather than shed teams — the elevate-not-hollow archetype.

Signature win. Built and open-sourced Figma Console MCP — an AI bridge giving assistants full read/write access to Figma design systems — that reached 1.8k stars and real production adoption.

The case

editorial · CCBEI · with sources
Craft20+ years turning UI into reliable design systems; his bar is token architecture, component metadata, and design-code fidelity rather than end-user research, but the discipline is real and exacting.8
CommunicationProlific explainer via Southleft writing, SmashingConf talks, zeroheight/Knapsack interviews, and the 'AI just turns the lights on' framing that makes systems-AI legible to practitioners.8
BusinessFounder/CEO of Southleft, an agency trusted by NASDAQ, Caterpillar, Indeed, and IBM; ties design-system work directly to shipping faster with less friction.7
EducationCo-teaches the AI & Design Systems course with Brad and Ian Frost, open-sources Figma Console MCP (MIT), and frames AI as reskilling designers into implementation literacy and engineers into context engineers.8
InnovationBuilt Figma Console MCP (1.8k stars, 201 forks, 59 releases) giving AI full read/write to Figma — and explicitly positions it to support human judgment, not replace teams; passes the elevate test cleanly.9

Endorsed by peers

illustrative · opens with verified accounts
OverallI'd work for them66
CraftRaised my craft bar67
CommunicationMade the case for design67
BusinessMade design matter to the business59
EducationTaught me something I still use67
InnovationShowed me a new way to work76

Verified peers only — one tap with LinkedIn. Names stay private; we show role and industry. Bars are illustrative until the participation backend is live.

Stories

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