AI PRODUCT · 0→1 · FRONTIER TECHNOLOGY

I turn technical potential into products that earn adoption and drive growth.

I connect the dots between what users need, what technology makes possible, and what the business needs to win. Hands-on 0→1 product and strategy generalist helping teams figure out what is worth building, turn ambiguity into a clear product direction, and move from technical capability toward adoption and commercial value.

View Work CV

UX STRAT APAC Bangkok Workshop

Singapore Design Week Panelist

SUTD 2-day HCAI Sprint

National AI Office Event Sharing

SUTD AI Mega Center Talk

Speaker at UX STRAT Amsterdam

Workshop at UxL Lisbon

Companies I've worked with

(02) MY STORY

I built my career around one question: what makes technology matter?

I started in Product Design because I wanted to understand people: how they behave, what they need, where systems break down, and why some experiences just work. Then I moved closer to technical products because I wanted to understand how ideas become real systems. Venture taught me to step back and ask a harder question: is this opportunity worth building in the first place? GTM and commercial work added another: even if the product is strong, will anyone care enough to adopt, switch, or pay? Building companies taught me that none of those answers matter unless you can turn them into execution. Design taught me customer empathy. Technical products taught me how ideas become systems. Venture taught me judgment and market discipline. GTM taught me adoption and commercial reality. Building companies taught me how to make all of it move. Today, I bring those lenses together across the full path from human problem to product opportunity, technical reality, market, commercial value, and execution. That range is intentional. I wanted to understand the whole system behind why some technologies become meaningful products and scalable businesses, while others remain interesting ideas.

$55M+

client fundraising supported

$564M+

combined company valuations

AI, Web3, and B2B startups supported

500+

private venture network

(03) WORK EXPERIENCE

I bring the lens the product needs most, when it needs it.

I've built technology products from four sides of the table: as a product operator, designer, founder, and former venture investor. That gives me a broader lens on product decisions: what users need, what teams can build, and what creates enough value to drive adoption, differentiation, and a scalable business.

Product operator

Turning ambiguity into products teams can ship.

Nansen AI: shipped 4 DeFi intelligence products in 2 months.
Traceable AI: worked across 4 enterprise API-security modules in a 78-person engineering organization.
Quantum Temple: led the 0→1 build of an agentic AI concierge.
Dorje.ai: took a fintech SaaS product from blueprint to MVP and market launch in 2 months.

Product design

Finding the human problem beneath the technology.

Nansen AI: turned wallet, CEX, ledger, and on-chain data into usable intelligence experiences.
Traceable AI: simplified complex API-security workflows across enterprise modules.
Retrocausal: redesigned an industrial AI product experience and demo.
Human-Centered AI: developed methodology around trust, transparency, user control, and adoption.

Founder + commercial operator

Connecting product decisions to adoption and growth.

Quantum Temple: helped build the product and commercial system behind a $5.59M B2B pipeline and 406% YoY growth.
Formatif: worked across product, positioning, and GTM for 30+ AI, Web3, and B2B technology companies.
Web3 infrastructure: helped acquire and manage 5+ institutional customers, contributing to 298% revenue growth.

Former venture investor

Knowing when an interesting technology is actually worth betting on.

Evaluated 500+ technology companies and investment opportunities within an $808M AUM venture platform.
Closed 2 venture investments, including an AI company that later raised from a16z.
Worked on product, positioning, and fundraising strategy for early-stage companies including Retrocausal and Elfa.ai.

Work Experience

Full resume ↗

2024 to present

Formatif

Founder-led strategy and venture-building studio for AI, Web3, and B2B technology startups.

Founder

2025 to 2026

Quantum Temple

Luxury, culture, AI, and Web3 infrastructure company working across enterprise and government partners.

Head of Strategy & Product

2023 to 2024

Code & State

Stablecoin venture studio supporting commercialization across a Web3 venture portfolio.

Growth Lead

2021 to 2022

Incubate Fund

US arm of an $808M AUM venture fund investing across early-stage frontier technology.

Venture Associate

2023

Nansen

On-chain analytics platform for crypto users, analysts, traders, and institutions.

Product, DeFi Analytics

2022 to 2023

Traceable AI

Enterprise API security company later acquired by Harness.

Product & Brand Strategy

2022

Philips

Global health technology company working across healthcare innovation and transformation.

Innovation Consultant

(04) HUMAN-CENTERED AI

Better AI is not just more capable. It is more useful, trusted and adoptable.

AI products are often judged by what the technology can do.

I’m equally interested in what happens next: does it solve a problem people actually care about? Do users understand what the AI is doing? Do they know when to trust it, question it or take control? And does it create enough value to change behavior?

That thinking led me to develop a Human-Centered AI Product Innovation methodology through research with AI Singapore, including 30+ stakeholder interviews on trust, transparency, user control and adoption.

I use it as a practical product lens for turning AI capability into products, workflows and experiences people can meaningfully adopt.

Human value

Start with the problem, not the model.

Understand the user, workflow and underlying friction first. Then identify where AI creates meaningful leverage instead of adding intelligence simply because the technology makes it possible.

User needs · Workflow friction · Behavior · Meaningful AI use cases

Trust + control

Design for confidence, not blind automation.

Define where the AI should act, where users should stay in control, and what needs to be transparent. The goal is the right level of autonomy for the user, context and risk.

Trust · Transparency · User agency · Human-in-the-loop · System boundaries

Adoption + business value

Make intelligence useful enough to change behavior.

Fit AI into real workflows, reduce friction and create enough value for people to change how they work. Then connect that adoption back to measurable product and business outcomes.

Adoption · Workflow integration · Retention · Customer value · Business impact

Human-Centered AI Product Loop

Human problem AI opportunity Trust + control Adoption Business value

The technology matters. But the product only works when the human and business system around it works too.

Developed through Human-Centered AI research with AI Singapore, including 30+ stakeholder interviews. Presented and taught through UX STRAT, UXLx Lisbon, NUS, SIT and SUTD.

(05) WHAT I DO

I help technical teams turn complex technology into products people adopt and businesses can scale.

Emerging technology rarely arrives with a clear product or market answer.

The technology may work. But the harder questions are usually: who is this really for? What is valuable enough to change behavior? What should we build first? And how does it become a viable business?

I work across those questions, connecting customer insight, product strategy, technical reality, and commercial thinking to turn ambiguity into a direction teams can build, test, and grow.

Product & 0→1 strategy

Find the product worth building. Clarify the customer problem, product thesis, value proposition, and first credible version, then translate that into priorities, requirements, and roadmap.

GTM & commercialization

Turn product value into adoption and growth. Shape the ICP, positioning, buyer journey, and GTM motion so technical capability becomes something customers understand, choose, and buy.

Strategy & ecosystem

Build the path from product to scale. Pressure-test the opportunity, align leadership and partners, and connect product, market, ecosystem, and commercial priorities.

(06) TESTIMONIALS

Testimonials

“Sarah has a sharp instinct for finding the real story behind a company. She challenged our thinking, brought clarity to our positioning and helped us communicate our value with much more confidence. Within a month, we closed an oversubscribed pre-seed round.”

TRISTAN TEOFounder, Elfa.ai · Ex-Spartan Labs

“Sarah was hands-on from the very beginning and made us feel consistently heard and understood. With very little initial direction, she helped guide us through strategy, product, brand and launch with a level of ownership that felt much closer to having another founder on the team.”

BERNARD LEONGFounder & CEO, Dorje.ai · Ex-AWS Head of AI, VP Airbus

“Sarah has a rare ability to understand what a founder is really trying to say, even when they struggle to articulate it themselves. She brings patience, empathy and sharp strategic thinking to the process, then turns that vision into something clear, coherent and compelling.”

ELBERT TOHAFounder, Jagad

“Sarah felt less like an external consultant and more like a fractional co-founder. She got deeply involved, understood the nuances of what we were building and challenged us in the right places. Her work fundamentally changed how we positioned the company.”

JACKY GOHCEO, RewardsBunny · Forbes Web3 · 2x Acquired Founder

“Sarah brings a sharp, unconventional perspective to positioning and fundraising. She goes beyond the pitch to challenge the underlying value proposition and narrative. The founders we referred to her consistently came back with stronger clarity, traction and confidence.”

TYRONE WILLIAMSFounder, The Collective Solution

“Sarah helped us enter the Hong Kong market in just 3.5 months. She led our go-to-market strategy, market analysis, UX refinements, and regulatory navigation. Her support helped us launch quickly and secure our first major HK order.”

LOUISCo-Founder of Goooods

(07) HOW I THINK

Three principles I come back to in 0→1 product work.

Start with the problem, not the technology.

New capability is interesting. Product value starts with a problem important enough to change behavior.

Adoption is part of the product.

A technically impressive product still fails if the value is unclear, the workflow is disruptive, or users do not trust it.

Build the smallest thing that creates real evidence.

In 0→1 work, the goal is not perfect certainty. It is learning fast enough to make the next product decision better.

(08) PERSPECTIVES / HUMAN-CENTERED AI

Thinking about what makes emerging technology actually get adopted.

I write and speak about the layer between technical capability and product reality: Human-Centered AI, trust and user control, agentic product decisions, 0→1 product strategy, and how emerging technology becomes part of a real workflow.

Human-Centered AI research with AI Singapore · 30+ stakeholder interviews · UX STRAT · UXLx Lisbon · NUS · SIT · SUTD

Published in UX Design Bootcamp · 6 min read

Redefining human-centered AI design

Why traditional design approaches fall short in the new context of AI.

Published in UX Planet · 6 min read

What they don't tell you about designing responsible AI products

Trust, usability, and product responsibility.

Published on Medium · 5 min read

Building intelligence, not features

How we applied human-centered AI to our first MVP.

Published in UX Planet · 6 min read

What's needed for human-centered AI

The design approach for human-centered AI.

SPEAKING

Thought Leadership

Research ideas, product systems, and AI adoption worked through in public.

UX STRAT APAC Bangkok

Human-Centered AI Product Sprint

Conducted workshop with design leads across Circles on how to lead product innovation for their product teams.

Singapore Design Week

Designing emerging technology for trust

Panel on technology, behavior change, and the human layer behind product adoption.

SUTD

2-day Human-Centered AI sprint

Hands-on sprint helping teams move from AI concepts to workflows, prototypes, and adoption logic.

National AI Office

AI adoption and responsible product design

Sharing on the strategy layer between technical capability, trust, and real-world use.

SUTD AI Mega Center

Building AI products people can use

Talk on human-centered AI systems, product framing, and adoption risk.

UX STRAT Amsterdam

AI systems, product strategy, and human value

Conference talk on designing AI products around autonomy, usability, and trust.

UxL Lisbon

Human-centered AI product innovation

Workshop on mapping AI opportunities into concrete product and execution systems.

National University of Singapore

Human-Centered AI Product Innovation Sprint Workshop Series (IRL & Online) for DID NUS

Workshop series for DID NUS on applying human-centered AI to product innovation.

Ethical AI Workshop Sharing for SIT students

Singapore Institute of Technology

Ethical AI Workshop Sharing for SIT Final Year Innovation Students

Sharing on ethical AI, responsible product thinking, and innovation practice for final-year students.

ACE.SG Incubator and Asia Startup Network fundraising sharing

Asia Startup Network Community

ACE.SG Incubator x Asia Startup Network Sharing: Cracking the code for fundraising conversions

Community sharing on fundraising narratives, founder positioning, and conversion strategy.

INITIATIVES

Initiatives

Asia Startup Network

Helped build one of Southeast Asia's largest startup communities, connecting 3K+ founders and VCs. Co-organized 30+ investor-founder roundtables and helped raise $125K for Fei Yue Community Services.

NUS Alumni Ventures

Co-founded an alumni-led private venture community of 1,000+ NUS founders, operators, investors, and startup ecosystem partners.

Angel investor & advisor

Invested angel checks and advisory equity into early-stage technology startups, including Elfa.ai. Advised companies including Jagad on strategy, positioning, fundraising, and GTM.

Human-Centered Product Innovation Methodology AI Research Collaboration with AI Singapore

Developed the Human-Centered AI Product Innovation methodology through 30+ interviews with product leads, AI designers and industry professionals, later presenting the framework at global conferences and universities including UX STRAT, UXLx Lisbon, NUS, SIT and SUTD.

(09) ABOUT ME

Curious about how people, products, and systems behave in the real world.

Outside work, I spend a lot of time travelling, reading about psychology and systems thinking, and exploring how context changes what people value, trust, and choose. That curiosity is probably the most consistent thread across both my work and life.

Get in touch with me.

I’m especially interested in 0→1 product problems across AI, fintech, payments, and frontier B2B technology, particularly where new technical capability is creating a new customer or product opportunity.

Sarah Tan

Hands-on 0 to 1 product strategy & operator w design-thinking problem solving

Contact me sarah@formatif.co

Get in touch ↗

CONTACT

X Instagram LinkedIn