I’ve spent the last seven years building the systems that make AI useful in production.
Agents are more than just models, and that’s where I focus. The orchestration layer, the platforms, the execution environment: everything that turns a language model integration into something that solves real problems and that businesses can actually ship.
Most of that time was at OpenDialog AI, where I joined as the second engineering hire and became the primary contributor to the conversation engine, the component that orchestrated LLMs, deterministic classifiers, entity extractors, and RAG pipelines into coherent conversational experiences across voice, mobile, and web chat. I led the teams that shipped Semantic Intent Classification, LLM Actions, and a chatbot that became an insurtech client’s primary new business channel, and built an Alexa audiobook skill used daily by people with reading disabilities. I started in 2019, when this work was called chatbots and conversational applications, and kept building through the LLM boom that gave it a new name: AI agents.
Now at Contentful, which powers many of the world’s biggest websites, I’m building the agents platform that enables internal teams to develop and ship their own agents.
I studied Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Sussex, graduating with a first class degree in 2019. My dissertation explored image saliency masking models for attribute prediction. Before that I co-founded TRIM-IT, a barbering startup, as the technical founder. That experience taught me more about product and business than any course.
On this website, I write about AI agents, large language models, and the UX of conversational interfaces. I’m also interested in the bigger picture: how AI reshapes society and what that means.
Based in Brighton, UK.
What people have said
[Elliot] combines technical excellence with business acumen and leadership qualities that drive both product success and team growth.
Maaike Coppens, AI Product Leader, Public Speaker & Published Author
Elliot’s exceptional technical skills meant he was able to jump into any challenge hands-on, providing both strategic direction and practical solutions when needed.
Jacob Stone, ML Engineer @ Faculty