Yildirim Yazganarikan (Leo)

Design Technologist / AI Engineer

yy@filemap.info · +90 546 532 14 41 · San Francisco & Ankara · US O-1 petition in progress
yy-designstudio.com (work and projects) · linkedin.com/in/yyazgan

I like to design systems, across AI, software, hardware, architecture and industrial design. I started in architecture and industrial design in Washington DC, then moved to San Francisco to build startups: FileMap, an infinite canvas for design teams and a resident of the Autodesk Technology Center, and BioBulb, a modular smart plant system I co-founded. I have lectured at Stanford, METU, and Bilkent on AI, tools, and design. What excites me most is joining rich visual interfaces with conversational AI and agents, for how teams collaborate and how people learn. I am drawn as much to psychology, neuroscience, and memory as to computer graphics and the craft of design and innovation.

Experience

FileMap · Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer2016 - present

San Francisco / Ankara

Invented and patented a visual, spatial file manager (US 11,074,219 B2): an infinite zoomable canvas that replaces nested folder hierarchies, with real-time collaboration and sync with Google Drive and local storage.
Led an eight-person engineering team through product, fundraising, grants (TUBITAK 1512 and 1507, EU Horizon 2020), and legal.
Adopted in design studios at METU, Bilkent, and the University of Maryland; partnership work with Gracious Adegbite (Tesla Optimus).

MONK · Co-Founder2024 - present

San Francisco / Ankara

Conversational AI with a good memory: a personal companion, a channel to your team, and an interface to your apps. Three things it does:
Run your daily life.
Interface with your team and other people.
Log in to apps with your personal AI agent and let it mediate the interaction.

AI Consulting for Companies2023 - present

Remote

Consulting and implementing productivity tools for companies: Basic Tools, Asvalin, FileMap, MONK, and custom AI tools.
Designed, built, and shipped a portfolio of AI-powered products solo (see Selected Products).
Runs long-format AI and Claude Code system-building workshops for designers, where teams build working systems during the sessions.

BioBulb / CREO Design · Co-Founder and CTO2016 - 2020

San Francisco / Turkey

Ag-tech hardware startup designing living plant systems as building infrastructure; prototyped as an Innovation Resident at the Autodesk Technology Center, San Francisco (from 2019).
Exhibited at Autodesk Gallery SF and Autodesk University; TedX Marin talk; press in VentureBeat, Engineering.com, and Viva Technology.

Teaching and Lectures

Stanford University, invited lecture (2024): "Designing Systems for Imagination and Creative Process," invited by Jonathan Antonio Edelman.
AI lecture at the University of Maryland (with Hooman Koliji); invited talks at METU, TOBB, and Baskent University; speaker at the RHEA International Architecture Workshop on design process and AI (2024).
Conference talk on AI, consciousness, and psychology, built around MONK, the AI voice companion.

Education

M.Arch, University of Maryland

School of Architecture · 2014 - 2016

M.Arch, TOBB University

Ankara · 2016 - 2018

B.Arch, Yeditepe University

Istanbul · 2009 - 2013

Autodesk Technology Center, SF

Innovation Residency (x2) · 2019+

1776 Global Incubator, Washington DC

Startups · 2017 - 2018

Skills