Strategic Job Application Report for Maria Lu

AI Creative Technologist roles in Europe are exploding with 100-200%+ growth in job postings, and your unique interior design background combined with proven AI prototyping skills positions you perfectly for this emerging field—with remote opportunities from Lisbon paying €55,000-€85,000.

Maria, here’s what matters most: The European market for AI creative technologists is experiencing explosive growth, with Germany seeing 109% increases in AI job postings, the UK 120%, and Ireland 204%. Your Artifactum Mystery Crimes project—demonstrating orchestration of multiple AI platforms (Claude, Sora, Gemini) with Python automation in just two weeks—directly addresses what companies are desperately seeking: professionals who can bridge creativity and technology while integrating AI into production workflows. Your interior design background isn’t a liability; it’s a differentiator that provides spatial thinking, aesthetic sensibility, and human-centered design expertise that pure engineers lack.

The best news: 89% of European AI creative tech roles offer remote or hybrid options, meaning you can access higher-paying UK, German, and Dutch markets while remaining in Lisbon. The market has matured beyond experimental “Prompt Engineering” roles (which have declined 80-90% from their 2023 peak as AI capabilities improved) into substantive positions requiring your exact skill set: AI Creative Technologist, AI Product Designer, and AI Experience Designer roles that integrate AI thoughtfully into creative production rather than treating it as standalone magic.

Why this opportunity exists now: Companies across Europe are moving from AI experimentation to production implementation. They need people who can train teams, prototype AI-enhanced tools, and bridge the gap between creative vision and technical execution. Your murder mystery game proves rapid prototyping ability, technical adaptability across multiple platforms, and narrative design skills—a rare combination that 83% of creative professionals are still learning to master.

The five roles that match your profile perfectly

AI Creative Technologist emerges as your strongest match, with roles focused on identifying AI adoption opportunities within creative pipelines, prototyping AI-enhanced tools, training creative teams, and building practical automations. Day-to-day responsibilities include testing tools like Midjourney and RunwayML, debugging Python scripts for stability, and translating complex AI capabilities into actionable improvements for non-technical creatives. This role values your exact trajectory: cross-disciplinary thinking, rapid prototyping, and empowering others to use AI effectively.

European salaries range from €50,000-€75,000 for mid-level positions, with UK roles reaching £55,000-£65,000 (€64,000-€76,000), Germany €50,000-€90,000 depending on seniority, Netherlands €55,000-€85,000, and Portugal €35,000-€55,000 for local companies. Remote positions for international companies from Lisbon typically command €55,000-€85,000, offering significant purchasing power given Portugal’s lower cost of living. Career trajectory moves from Junior AI Creative Tech (0-2 years) to Mid-level (2-5 years) to Senior (5-8 years) and eventually Lead or Head of Creative Technology roles. Companies actively hiring include Skin + Me (UK), Intuity Media Lab (Germany), Adobe, Google Creative Lab, and creative production studios across London, Berlin, and Amsterdam.

AI Product Designer roles focus on shaping digital product experiences using AI, owning the end-to-end design process from research to high-fidelity UI while designing AI-enhanced features and intelligent interfaces. These positions require creating scalable design systems, conducting user research, and prototyping AI interactions for chat-based, generative, or predictive features. Your interior design background translates directly: both fields require balancing aesthetics with functionality, understanding human behavior in designed environments, and managing complex constraints. Salaries average €73,397 remotely across Europe, with UK roles at €70,000-€100,000, Germany €65,000-€90,000, Netherlands €70,000-€95,000, and Portugal €40,000-€60,000. Companies hiring include EverAI, OLX, Smartcat, Deel, and various B2B SaaS companies, with strong remote availability (80%+).

AI Experience Designer positions emphasize creating intuitive, immersive AI-powered interfaces and experiences through conversational flows, interaction patterns, and end-to-end prototypes. This role particularly values your spatial thinking from interior design—understanding how people move through and interact with designed environments, now applied to digital experiences. Responsibilities include conducting user research, simplifying complex AI workflows, maintaining design systems, and collaborating with product managers and engineers. UK salaries reach €70,000-€90,000, Germany €51,900-€76,800 (average €59,000), Netherlands €60,000-€85,000, and Portugal €35,000-€50,000. Companies like Revolut, N26, Spotify, Booking.com, and Zalando actively hire, with 80%+ offering remote options.

Conversation Designer roles concentrate on designing conversational flows for chatbots and voice assistants, creating dialogue scripts, personality for AI systems, and prompts that generate appropriate responses. This creative-technical hybrid values your narrative development skills demonstrated in Artifactum, requiring linguistics abilities, user psychology understanding, and creative writing combined with UX fundamentals and conversational AI platform knowledge. Salaries in the UK reach £55,000-£65,000 (€64,000-€76,000), Germany €50,000-€75,000, Netherlands €55,000-€80,000, with 75%+ remote availability. Financial services, healthcare tech, and customer service platforms like Aviva are actively hiring.

Interactive Developer positions offer a more technically-focused path, building interactive web applications, developing front-end interfaces with creative emphasis, and implementing AI-enhanced interactive features. This role requires deeper JavaScript, React, Node.js, TypeScript, and WebGL/Three.js knowledge, though your Python and Git skills provide a foundation. UK salaries range €65,000-€95,000, Germany €60,000-€85,000, Netherlands €55,000-€80,000, with 90%+ remote availability. Digital agencies, museums, gaming studios, and tech companies with creative teams hire for these positions.

Why prompt engineering died and what replaced it

Prompt Engineering as a standalone role collapsed in 2024-2025 because AI models became sophisticated enough to handle imperfect prompts and even generate better prompts for themselves than humans could craft. The role ranked second-to-last in Microsoft’s survey of 31,000 workers across 31 countries for positions companies plan to add. Indeed searches peaked at 144 per million in April 2023 but plateaued at 20-30 per million by 2025, with job postings dropping 80-90% from the 2022 peak. The “$375K salary” headlines from Anthropic in 2023 created unrealistic expectations for what became a commodity skill.

The fundamental problem: model maturity eliminated the need for specialists. GPT-4, Gemini 2.5, and Claude can now ask clarifying questions, self-correct, and optimize their own prompts faster than human “prompt engineers” can iterate. Microsoft’s CMO of AI explained: “Two years ago, everybody said, ‘Oh, I think Prompt Engineer is going to be the hot job… [but] you don’t have to have the perfect prompt anymore.” Free training resources like OpenAI Academy democratized the knowledge, and 70% of professionals now use AI daily without specialist help. Companies discovered it was more effective to upskill existing teams than hire dedicated prompt engineers.

What emerged instead are broader roles that absorb prompting as a baseline expectation rather than a specialty: AI Trainers who train models on company-specific terminology and processes (now the top priority for companies), AI Data Specialists focusing on data quality and model feeding, AI Security Specialists protecting against prompt injection, AI Creative Technologists (your target role) integrating AI into creative workflows, and Conversation Designers designing holistic conversational experiences. The shift mirrors how “typing” evolved from a specialized secretarial skill to a universal baseline competency—prompting is now just something everyone touching AI is expected to know.

Tools like DSPy and AutoGPT now automatically optimize prompts, and research consistently shows AI-generated prompts outperform human-crafted ones for most tasks. This automation removed the specialist need. For you, this is excellent news: companies want people who can do what you’ve demonstrated with Artifactum—orchestrate multiple AI tools to solve creative problems and build complete experiences, not just write better prompts.

Top 15 target companies prioritized by remote friendliness and cultural fit

Tier 1: Remote-first companies actively hiring in Europe

ElevenLabs stands as your highest-priority target with headquarters in New York, London, and Warsaw but operating fully distributed across 30+ countries with 40+ team members. The voice AI and text-to-speech company raised $180M Series C in January 2025, reaching $200M ARR and a $6.6B valuation, demonstrating explosive growth momentum. Their remote-first culture emphasizes high autonomy, lean teams, “best idea wins” mentality, and asynchronous work with global off-sites. They’re actively hiring Business Development for Western Europe, and their product focus on conversational AI and audio generation complements your video/narrative skills from Artifactum. The company values excellence, ownership, and first-principles thinking—your demonstrated rapid prototyping and self-directed learning align perfectly. Fit score: 95/100. Apply immediately at elevenlabs.io/careers highlighting your AI orchestration skills and creative+technical hybrid background.

Stability AI offers strong opportunities from their London headquarters with 100% remote options anywhere in Europe. The creators of Stable Diffusion and Stable Audio went through leadership changes in 2024 but remain well-funded and influential, with Sean Parker as Executive Chairman and James Cameron on the board. Recognition from Fortune’s 50 AI Innovators and Time’s Most Influential Companies validates their continued relevance. Tech stack includes Python, PyTorch, generative AI, and AWS—matching your technical skills. Current openings for ML Engineers, Research Engineers, and Solutions Engineers could expand to product and creative roles. The company’s focus on creative AI applications directly aligns with your portfolio. Fit score: 85/100. Their European headquarters location and full remote policy make this ideal for working from Lisbon while accessing UK-level salaries.

Media.Monks (formerly MediaMonks) provides massive scale and diverse project exposure with 8,600+ digital professionals globally and European offices in Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Milan, and Paris. The digital production and creative agency works with major clients including Adidas, Booking.com, Heineken, Netflix, and Google, offering AI integration projects, content creation, VFX, animation, and game development. Their hybrid/flexible working policy allows some fully remote roles in Europe, and they’re actively hiring across 146 NAMER positions with European offices also recruiting. Culture emphasizes a “winning the decade” mentality focused on digital transformation. Warning: Glassdoor shows mixed reviews (3.5/5) with great work-life balance and passionate teams but recent layoffs creating some uncertainty. Fit score: 90/100 for project diversity and European presence, though monitor company stability. Your game development and AI integration skills match their service offerings perfectly.

HuggingFace operates as a remote-first company with New York headquarters and strong Paris presence, fully distributed across France, UK, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, and more EU countries. The AI model hub and Transformers library platform serves 5M+ users with 1M+ models, embodying an open-source, community-driven approach to democratizing AI. Recent roles include Cloud ML Engineer (EMEA) and various engineering positions. Tech stack centers on Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, and ML infrastructure. While less creative-focused than other options, their community-driven culture and open-source values might appeal, and they accept European remote workers readily. Fit score: 78/100—better for technical depth but consider if community engagement and developer relations roles emerge.

Mistral AI represents France’s strategic AI champion based in Paris, founded May 2023 with €6.2B total funding at a $6.6B valuation. The company rapidly scaled from 22 to 100+ employees, developing open-weight LLMs and “Le Chat” chatbot as a European alternative to OpenAI. Strong government backing from Bpifrance and investments from Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and NVIDIA provide stability and resources. The fast-moving startup culture promises “help build the future of AI” opportunities, with multilingual AI and European focus aligning with your location. Consideration: Paris-based with likely some European remote opportunities but may require relocation or heavy travel. Fit score: 85/100 if willing to relocate to Paris; 70/100 for remote-only consideration. Check jobs.lever.co/mistral for current openings.

Tier 2: Hybrid/flexible companies with strong European presence

AKQA maintains major European offices in London, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm with 2,200+ professionals across 29 studios globally. The experience design and innovation agency works with Nike, Audi, Coca-Cola, Xbox, and HP on advanced interactive development, AR/VR, and AI integration. Hybrid policies vary by location: minimum 5 days/month in office for Italy, 2 days/week remote for Paris. Awards include two Cannes Lion Grand Prix, with Gartner and Forrester recognition validating their innovation approach. Culture emphasizes “imaginative application of art and science” and innovation focus. Fit score: 82/100—strong match for interactive/experience design with AI components, though office presence requirements reduce flexibility. Target Amsterdam or London offices for best work-life balance.

Resn operates from Amsterdam and Wellington, New Zealand as an award-winning boutique studio specializing in interactive experiences, games, installations, web development, and animation. They recently launched “Holiday Romance by Resn,” an AI-powered interactive experience, demonstrating active AI integration. Notable projects include J. Paul Getty Trust’s “Sculpting Harmony” (Awwwards Site of Month), showcasing craft excellence. Advanced creative web development with 3D experiences and custom interactive tools matches your technical interests. Consideration: Amsterdam office likely offers some remote flexibility, but boutique size means very selective hiring. Culture values “digital obsession” and craft-focused approaches. Fit score: 80/100—excellent for combining creativity with cutting-edge interactive tech and AI, worth pursuing despite selective hiring.

Runway could accept EU remote workers though primarily US-based, as their Gen-3 Alpha video generation, Act-One character animation, and recent Game Worlds platform (no-code game creation) directly align with your video generation experience from Artifactum. Well-funded at Series C+, the company focuses on text-to-video, video editing, and AI film production—your exact skill domain. Fit score: 75/100—inspirational and directly relevant to your portfolio, but location may challenge European remote work preferences. Worth applying to product/creative roles emphasizing your video generation expertise.

Tier 3: Companies worth researching further

Aleph Alpha based in Heidelberg, Germany raised €500M+ in November 2023, developing Luminous LLM and Pharia AI OS with tokenizer-free architecture for European enterprises and government clients. The 60-employee company achieved 70% cost reduction versus token-based models with partnerships including AMD, serving clients like German military (BWI) and City of Heidelberg. Fit score: 70/100—interesting but more enterprise/B2B focused than creative, likely hybrid Germany-focused rather than fully remote.

Additional promising European companies include Dataiku (Berlin office, 1,100 employees with Universal AI Platform), Work & Co (European offices for digital transformation), SingleStore (Lisbon presence for database+AI work), Replicate (US-based but remote-friendly for ML infrastructure), and Portuguese AI startups like mantis·ai (audio-visual entertainment AI in Lisbon) and ML Analytics (AI consulting in Loures). These range from 55-70/100 fit scores—worth exploring as backup options or for building local Lisbon network.

Critical hiring insights across these companies

What they universally value: Portfolio demonstrating shipped products matters more than credentials; hands-on AI fluency with tools like Midjourney, Runway, Claude, and Stable Diffusion; technical+creative hybrid ability bridging design and development; Python proficiency for automation and API integration; storytelling ability (your narrative development skills differentiate you); remote work skills including clear communication and documentation; and European timezone collaboration advantage.

Typical hiring process spans 2-6 weeks: Initial portfolio submission (most critical step), screening call discussing background and interest (30-45 minutes), portfolio deep-dive walking through projects in detail (60-90 minutes), technical assessment via take-home or live exercise, culture fit interview with team, and final interview with leadership covering compensation. Most companies conduct 4-6 interview rounds total, with portfolio quality determining whether you advance past initial review.

Company culture patterns: Remote-first companies (ElevenLabs, Stability AI, HuggingFace) emphasize asynchronous communication, autonomous work, and results over hours. Hybrid agencies (AKQA, Media.Monks) balance creative collaboration with flexibility, typically requiring 2-3 days in office. Boutique studios (Resn) demand craft excellence and tight-knit team dynamics, while fast-growing startups (Mistral AI, ElevenLabs) offer equity, rapid advancement, and high ambiguity tolerance requirements.

Portfolio optimization: showing AI as collaborator without undermining your agency

The central challenge every AI creative faces in 2025: demonstrating technical capability and creative vision while using AI tools transparently without appearing as if the AI did all the work. Hiring managers have developed sophisticated radar for portfolios that merely assemble AI outputs versus those showing directorial judgment, iteration, and human creativity amplified by AI. Your Artifactum project needs reframing to showcase you as the orchestrator and creative director, with AI as your production assistant.

The case study framework that companies want to see

Structure Artifactum documentation with this proven narrative: Project title with role clarification (“Artifactum Mystery Crimes - Narrative Design & AI Orchestration”), hook defining the creative challenge upfront, one-sentence brief summarizing the project, context section explaining your role (solo developer), constraints (2-week timeline), and why you chose this approach. The process section becomes your opportunity to demonstrate thinking—show your research into murder mystery mechanics, concept development for the narrative arc, technical implementation decisions about which AI tools to use when and why, and iterations where you refined AI outputs.

The AI collaboration details section is mandatory in 2025 portfolios. Explicitly state: “I used Claude for narrative development, prompting it to generate dialogue variations which I then curated based on character consistency and story arc progression. Sora and lm-arena generated video sequences from my detailed scene descriptions, with 3-4 iterations per scene to achieve the atmospheric tone I wanted. Gemini handled image generation and voice synthesis following my character profiles. Python automation via Cline handled workflow orchestration and Typst managed typesetting for professional presentation.” This transparency demonstrates: you made all strategic creative decisions, you understand each tool’s capabilities and limitations, you iterated and refined outputs rather than accepting first results, and AI amplified your productivity but didn’t replace your creative judgment.

Include these portfolio elements to prove your agency: Early concept sketches or notebooks showing ideation before AI involvement, side-by-side comparisons of initial AI outputs versus your final refined versions, screenshots of prompts you wrote with annotations explaining your reasoning, documentation of decisions where you rejected AI suggestions and why, process videos showing your workflow and iteration cycles, and user testing feedback demonstrating the experience quality. The formula: Show your brain at work, with AI as one of several tools in your creative toolkit.

Positioning for different role types

For Creative Technologist applications, frame Artifactum as: “Orchestrated multiple AI platforms (Claude, Sora, Gemini) as creative collaborators to build complex narrative experience in 2-week sprint, demonstrating rapid prototyping, technical adaptability, and storytelling through technology.” Emphasize hybrid innovation connecting disciplines, Python automation skills, Git version control practices, and documentation capabilities with Typst.

For AI Product Designer roles, reframe as: “Designed coherent mystery game experience by orchestrating multiple AI models, focusing on narrative flow, player engagement, and end-to-end user journey.” Emphasize user experience of the AI-powered product, product thinking around game mechanics, AI UX patterns you implemented, cross-platform integration, and rapid iteration cycles based on testing.

For AI Experience Designer applications, highlight: “Crafted atmospheric murder mystery that blends AI-generated visuals, narrative, and interaction design into immersive player experience.” Emphasize narrative and emotional journey design, spatial/environmental thinking from your interior design background, mood and atmosphere creation, multimodal experience design, and user emotional journey mapping.

For Interactive Developer positions, lead with: “Engineered game system integrating Claude for narrative generation, Sora for cinematics, with Python backend orchestration and Git workflow for version control.” Emphasize technical implementation and architecture, multi-API orchestration patterns, code quality and documentation standards, version control practices, and technical problem-solving approaches.

The three additional portfolio projects you should build

Priority 1: AI-powered interior visualization tool (build in 1-2 weeks) uniquely leverages your background by creating a simple interface where users input room dimensions, style preferences, and functional needs, then Stable Diffusion generates visualization options. This demonstrates: domain expertise that differentiates you from generic AI developers, product thinking about user needs and workflows, technical implementation of AI APIs, and the bridge between your past career and current direction. Target this at Product Designer roles specifically. The “from physical spaces to digital experiences” narrative becomes tangible and memorable.

Priority 2: Detailed “making of” documentation for Artifactum (1 week) transforms your existing work into portfolio gold. Create a 3-5 minute narrated video walking through your process, showing early concept sketches, explaining key decisions, demonstrating prompt refinement, and discussing what you learned. Publish as a blog post with embedded videos, screenshots, and GIFs. This serves multiple purposes: proves your communication skills (critical for remote work), demonstrates transparency about AI collaboration (builds trust), creates shareable content for social media and applications, and shows continuous learning mindset. Companies value candidates who can document and teach others.

Priority 3: Interactive web experience with spatial design influence (2-4 weeks) using WebGL/Three.js to create an immersive browser-based environment that applies your interior design principles to digital space. Consider an “AI-generated virtual gallery” where users navigate through spaces with dynamically generated art, or an “architectural explorer” showing how different design principles affect emotional response. This demonstrates: advanced technical skills with creative coding, spatial design thinking applied digitally, creative vision beyond AI tool usage, and interactive development capabilities. Target this at Interactive Developer and Experience Designer roles.

GitHub profile transformation checklist

Your profile README should tell your story at a glance. Header: “Creative Technologist bridging physical and digital spaces through AI-powered experiences.” Include a “Currently Working On” section featuring Artifactum and new projects. List your tech stack organized by category: Languages (Python, JavaScript), AI/ML tools (Claude, Sora, Gemini, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, Runway), Creative Coding (p5.js, Processing, Three.js), Design tools (Figma, Adobe Suite), and Other (Git, Typst, Cline). Feature 3-4 projects with visual cards showing GIFs or screenshots—recruiters scan quickly and visuals catch attention.

Every repository needs comprehensive documentation. Clear titles like “ai-mystery-game” rather than generic “project-final-v3” signal professionalism. Each README must include: project description with hero image or demo GIF, technologies used with brief explanation, installation/setup instructions (even for demos), live demo link or video walkthrough, challenges you encountered and how you solved them, and future improvements you’d make. Comments throughout code should explain creative decisions, not just technical implementation. “// Using Claude here for dialogue variation because it maintains character voice better than GPT-4” tells a story; “// API call” doesn’t.

What recruiters specifically look for when evaluating GitHub profiles: Consistent activity showing regular commits (green contribution squares signal active development), clean and readable code with modular organization, professional documentation across all projects, evidence of collaboration through issues, pull requests, and code reviews, variety in languages and frameworks demonstrating adaptability, and completed projects rather than abandoned experiments. For creative technologists specifically: visual documentation with screenshots/GIFs/videos, process notes explaining design decisions, experimental work proving curiosity, and personal voice in READMEs establishing your perspective.

Study these exemplary profiles: j0hnm4r5 (John Mars) for creative technology resources curation and clear project presentation, vettorazi for React Three Fiber + AR projects with excellent visual documentation, and Sebastian-Schuchmann for AI/ML creative applications integrated with Unity. Common success patterns: pinned repositories showcase best work, mix of complete projects and contributions to others’ work, visual-heavy documentation that tells stories, consistent personal branding across all repos, and active participation in creative coding communities through stars, forks, and discussions.

Application strategies: how to position your interior design background as competitive advantage

Your career transition from interior design to AI creative technology is a feature, not a bug—but only if you frame it strategically. The hiring manager’s fear: you’re dabbling, not committed. The opportunity: you bring perspectives that pure engineers or designers lack. Your opening cover letter paragraph should immediately address the transition with confidence and specificity, establishing intentionality rather than desperation.

The universal career transition narrative framework

Opening hook (2-3 sentences) establishes your transformation: “After five years designing physical spaces that shape how people live and work, I discovered my passion for designing digital experiences that shape how people think and play. My recent project—Artifactum Mystery Crimes—demonstrates this synthesis: I orchestrated Claude, Sora, and Gemini to create an immersive narrative experience in just two weeks, applying the same human-centered design principles I used in interior design but with code as my new material.” This accomplishes three goals simultaneously: acknowledges the change directly, shows continuity of principles, and proves capability with concrete evidence.

The bridge paragraph (3-4 sentences) connects past to future through transferable skills: “Interior design taught me to balance aesthetics with functionality, understand human behavior in designed environments, and manage complex constraints—budget, space, materials—just as I now manage time, technology, and scope. My ADHD-driven hyperfocus enabled me to master Canva Pro and client presentations in my design career; that same intensity now powers my rapid adoption of AI tools, Python automation, and Git workflows. This isn’t a random pivot—it’s a strategic evolution applying spatial thinking and user-centered design to digital products.” The key: specific parallels between old and new skills, emphasis on strategic choice, and evidence of preparation.

The power statement about interior design as unique advantage: “My interior design background gives me capabilities that differentiate me from pure engineers or designers: I understand how environments affect human emotion and behavior, I’m fluent in visual communication and aesthetic judgment, I’m experienced collaborating with clients to translate abstract needs into concrete solutions, and I’ve developed the discipline to ship real projects with real constraints. These skills translate directly to designing AI-powered experiences that are both technically sophisticated and emotionally resonant.”

Role-specific positioning strategies

For Creative Technologist roles, emphasize your hybrid innovation and cross-disciplinary approach. In your cover letter and portfolio, lead with: “Creative Technologists bridge art and technology—exactly what I’ve done throughout my career. In interior design, I bridged client vision and physical reality; now I bridge creative teams and AI capabilities. My Artifactum project demonstrates this: I identified which AI tools solve which creative problems, prototyped the integration, and documented the process so others could learn. This is Creative Technology’s core mission—making advanced tools accessible and useful for creative teams.”

For AI Product Designer roles, emphasize product thinking and user-centered design continuity. Frame it as: “Interior designers are product designers for physical spaces—understanding user needs, creating solutions that balance form and function, iterating based on feedback. I’ve simply changed the medium from rooms to digital products. My process remains: research user needs, prototype solutions, test with users, refine based on feedback. The Artifactum game followed this cycle: concept, rapid prototype with AI tools, user testing, iteration. Product design principles transcend medium.”

For AI Experience Designer roles, emphasize spatial thinking and emotional journey design. Your positioning: “Creating experiences that guide users through emotional journeys—from entrance to exit in physical spaces, from onboarding to mastery in digital products—requires the same core skill: understanding how environment shapes feeling and behavior. Interior designers manipulate light, texture, space, and flow to create atmosphere. I now manipulate interface, narrative, interaction, and AI responses to create digital atmosphere. My murder mystery game demonstrates this: crafting tension, revelation, and satisfaction through designed experience beats.”

For Interactive Developer roles (if pursuing technical depth), emphasize learning velocity and technical problem-solving. Frame as: “I approach development with a designer’s user empathy and an engineer’s systems thinking. My interior design background taught me to visualize systems holistically before building details—the same approach I now apply to code architecture. The Artifactum project required learning Python automation, Git workflows, AI API integration, and Typst typesetting in parallel while maintaining narrative quality. This demonstrates my capacity to rapidly acquire technical skills while maintaining creative standards.”

The backdoor application strategy that actually works

Before applying through job portals, connect with 2-3 current employees at target companies via LinkedIn. Research the company thoroughly, identify people in similar roles, and send personalized connection requests: “Hi [Name], I’m Maria, an interior designer transitioning into AI creative technology. I built a murder mystery game in 2 weeks using Claude/Sora/Gemini, and I’m specifically interested in [Company]’s approach to [specific project or value]. Would you be open to a brief conversation about your experience there? I’m researching where my skills might contribute most effectively.” Keep it short, specific, and respectful of their time.

When they accept (60-70% will), schedule a 15-20 minute informational interview. Ask: What does a typical day look like in your role? What skills matter most for success? How does the team evaluate portfolios? What do you wish you’d known before joining? Listen far more than you talk. At the end: “This has been incredibly helpful. I’m planning to apply for [specific role]. Would it be appropriate to mention our conversation in my cover letter, or would you be comfortable referring me internally?” Many will offer unsolicited referrals if you’ve been respectful and genuinely curious.

This backdoor approach achieves multiple advantages: Your application arrives with context rather than cold, hiring managers see employee endorsement before reviewing your portfolio, you gain insider intelligence about evaluation criteria and team culture, you demonstrate proactive research and genuine interest (not spray-and-pray applications), and you start building professional network before employment. Success rate jumps from 2-3% (cold applications) to 15-20% (warm referrals).

Content strategy for building visibility while applying

The “build in public” approach accelerates your job search by making recruiters discover you rather than only you discovering them. Create a weekly content calendar: Monday posts inspiration (share creative tech work you admire with commentary), Wednesday shares work-in-progress (current project updates, challenges you’re solving), Friday curates finds (AI tools, articles, resources), and ongoing behind-the-scenes content (process videos, experiments, learnings).

Your content themes should include: Before/after transformations showing AI collaboration results, “How I built X” threads documenting your process step-by-step, tool comparisons helping others choose between Midjourney/Stable Diffusion/etc., prompt engineering tips from your experience, and career transition insights about moving from design to tech. Post 3-5 times weekly on Twitter/X (highest priority for creative tech community), 2-3 times weekly on LinkedIn (professional networking), and write 2 detailed blog posts monthly. Optional but powerful: 1 YouTube video per month showing process.

Follow and engage with creative technologists at target companies on Twitter: Don Allen Stevenson III (@donalleniii), Jon Finger (@mrjonfinger), and creative technology leaders at Media.Monks, AKQA, Resn, and ElevenLabs. Reply thoughtfully to their posts, share your learnings, and participate in conversations using hashtags #CreativeTech #AIArt #GenerativeAI #CreativeCoding. The goal isn’t viral posts; it’s consistent presence demonstrating expertise and genuine community engagement. Recruiters search these hashtags when hiring.

Your immediate 90-day action plan

Weeks 1-2: Foundation (portfolio enhancement + social setup)

Week 1 critical tasks: Transform Artifactum documentation into comprehensive case study following the framework above—write detailed narrative covering problem, process, AI collaboration specifics, iterations, and outcomes. Create a 2-3 minute narrated video showing your workflow, early concepts, and refinement process. Calculate quantifiable outcomes: How many players completed the game? What was average completion time? What feedback did testers provide? Deploy this enhanced case study to your portfolio site with prominent positioning.

Simultaneously, optimize your GitHub profile: Create compelling README with visual elements showing your projects, clean up the Artifactum repository with professional documentation, add demo GIFs or video embeds to repository READMEs, and pin your 3 best repositories (Artifactum first, then any other projects demonstrating range). Professional profile picture and bio: “Creative Technologist | Interior Design → AI Experiences | Building with Claude, Sora, Python.”

Week 2 focuses on social presence: Create or optimize Twitter/X account focused on creative technology. Write and post your Artifactum launch thread: 8-10 tweets covering what you built, why, how you used AI tools, key learnings, and link to portfolio. Join Discord communities: Learn AI Together (beginner-friendly, 50k+ members), Anthropic Discord (Claude users), and OpenAI Discord (ChatGPT discussions). Set up LinkedIn with optimized headline: “Creative Technologist | AI-Powered Experiences | Interior Design → Tech | Lisbon.” Follow 20 creative technologists at target companies and connect with 10 people at dream companies with personalized notes. Post your first “career transition story” on LinkedIn sharing your journey and Artifactum project.

Weeks 3-6: Portfolio expansion (unique project + content creation)

Weeks 3-4 build your differentiator: Create the AI interior visualization tool leveraging your unique background. Use Stable Diffusion API with a simple web interface where users input room specifications and receive design visualizations. Document your entire process daily on Twitter as “building in public”—share challenges, solutions, progress screenshots. This accomplishes multiple goals: demonstrates product thinking, proves technical implementation skills, creates ongoing content for visibility, and establishes your unique niche bridging physical and digital design. Push completed project to GitHub with excellent documentation.

Weeks 5-6 focus on content creation establishing thought leadership: Write three substantial blog posts: “From Interior Design to AI Creative Technologist: Why My Journey Makes Sense” (post on Medium and personal blog), “Building Artifactum: Orchestrating 3 AI Platforms in 2 Weeks” (technical case study), and “The Designer’s Advantage in AI Development: Why Non-Engineers Bring Unique Value” (perspective piece). Each post should be 1,200-1,800 words with visuals, code snippets, and personal insights. Share across Twitter, LinkedIn, and relevant subreddits (r/creativecoding, r/MachineLearning, r/artificial).

Simultaneously, maintain weekly content: Monday inspiration posts, Wednesday progress updates on your interior viz tool, Friday tool/resource curation. Engage authentically with 5-10 posts daily from creative technologists and companies you’re targeting—thoughtful comments, not just likes. This visibility compounds: recruiters search hashtags and discover active, knowledgeable practitioners.

Weeks 7-10: Application sprint (targeted outreach + customization)

Week 7 is strategic research: Identify your 20 dream companies from the prioritized list above (ElevenLabs, Media.Monks, Stability AI, AKQA, Resn, HuggingFace, Mistral AI, Runway, and others). For your top 5 companies, conduct deep research: recent projects they’ve shipped, team members in similar roles (LinkedIn), company culture indicators (Glassdoor reviews), recent news or funding (TechCrunch), and specific role requirements from current job postings. Customize your portfolio for three role types: Create “Creative Technologist” version emphasizing orchestration and team enablement, “AI Product Designer” version emphasizing user needs and product thinking, and “Experience Designer” version emphasizing narrative and emotional journey.

Week 8-9 execute the backdoor strategy: For each of your top 10 companies, identify 2-3 current employees in similar roles via LinkedIn. Send personalized connection requests highlighting specific interest in their work or the company. When accepted (expect 60-70% acceptance), request brief 15-20 minute informational interviews. Conduct these conversations focused on learning: What does success look like? How does the team evaluate portfolios? What do they wish they’d known? After 3-5 informational interviews, you’ll have invaluable insider intelligence about what each company truly values.

Then begin formal applications: Write three cover letter templates (one per role type) using the frameworks above. Apply to 5 “stretch” roles at top-tier companies (ElevenLabs, Media.Monks, Runway) and 10 realistic matches at mid-tier companies (HuggingFace, AKQA regional offices, European startups). Track all applications in a spreadsheet: Company, role, date applied, referral contact if any, follow-up dates, and status.

Week 10 maintains momentum: Follow up on applications submitted 2 weeks prior with brief, polite emails. Continue content creation: post weekly updates on Twitter and LinkedIn. Engage actively with content from target companies—comment on their blog posts, share their work, participate in discussions. Begin preparing for interviews by practicing portfolio walkthrough (can you explain each project compellingly in 5 minutes?), reviewing common questions (Why this career change? Where do you see yourself in 3 years?), and preparing questions for them (What does success look like in first 6 months? How does the team collaborate on projects?).

Months 3-6: Scaling and persistence

Month 3 focuses on open source contribution and community leadership: Contribute to a creative coding library (p5.js, Processing, Three.js) or improve AI tools documentation. Open source contributions signal: collaborative mindset, ability to work with others’ code, community engagement, and technical competence. Speak at a local Lisbon tech/design meetup or organize one—even 20-person events establish credibility. Help others in Discord communities—answering questions builds reputation and often leads to unexpected opportunities.

Month 4 includes conference attendance for networking: Attend TechEx Europe (April 24-25, Amsterdam) or AI Rush 2025 (May 16, London). Conferences accelerate networking exponentially: 10 quality connections, 3 in-depth conversations with potential employers or collaborators, and general industry visibility. Prepare portfolio QR code business cards, laptop with portfolio demo ready, and 30-second introduction pitch. Follow up with every connection within 48 hours via LinkedIn with personalized notes referencing your conversation.

Month 5-6 creates your third portfolio piece based on interview feedback and target role gaps identified. Options: physical computing project with Arduino/sensors if targeting Creative Technologist roles, interactive web experience with WebGL/Three.js for Experience Designer positions, or educational AI tool demonstrating product thinking. By month 6, you should be in active interview processes with multiple companies. If not, reassess: Is portfolio positioning clear? Are cover letters compelling? Is the backdoor strategy being executed consistently?

Success metrics to track weekly and monthly

Weekly tracking indicators: Applications sent (target 3-5 quality applications per week), portfolio site views (should increase as content generates traffic), social media engagement (likes, comments, shares on your posts), new connections made (target 5-10 quality connections weekly), informational interviews conducted (target 2-3 per week during application sprint), and GitHub activity (consistent green contribution squares).

Monthly milestone tracking: Interview requests received (realistic target: 15-25% of applications should yield first-round interviews), LinkedIn profile views (should grow as visibility increases), GitHub stars/followers (organic growth from quality work), blog post views and social shares (indicates content resonance), conference or event tickets secured (planning ahead), and specific portfolio pieces completed (one major project every 4-6 weeks).

The realistic timeline to first role: Weeks 1-6 focus on portfolio enhancement and content creation (foundation building), weeks 7-12 involve active applications and networking (outreach phase), months 4-6 cover interview processes and continued building (closing phase). Target first offers around month 5-6. This timeline can accelerate through: conference connections shortening by 2+ months, viral content piece creating unexpected opportunities (unpredictable but possible), strong referral through backdoor approach fast-tracking interviews, or portfolio piece perfectly matching an urgent company need.

European market advantages specific to your Lisbon location

Lisbon positions you strategically for remote European opportunities while maintaining quality of life and purchasing power. The city hosts 61+ AI companies according to F6S, including ML Analytics (AI consulting in Loures), mantis·ai (audio-visual entertainment AI), EMRSVE (interaction design studio using immersive tech and AI), plus international companies with Lisbon offices like Dashlane, Riskified, and SingleStore. The growing tech ecosystem means local networking opportunities, English-speaking international community, and potential for in-person collaborations without relocation.

The cost-of-living arbitrage creates financial advantage: UK remote positions paying £55,000-£65,000 (€64,000-€76,000), German roles at €60,000-€75,000, or Dutch positions at €65,000-€85,000 provide significantly higher purchasing power in Lisbon than London, Berlin, or Amsterdam. Portuguese local positions pay €35,000-€55,000, but targeting international remote roles from Lisbon enables you to earn European salary levels while maintaining Mediterranean lifestyle and affordable housing. Many companies now pay global rates regardless of location, especially startups offering equity compensation.

Timezone placement is optimal: Lisbon operates on WET/WEST (UTC+0/+1), aligning perfectly with UK (same timezone), overlapping well with Central European offices in Germany, Netherlands, France (1 hour ahead), and maintaining reasonable overlap with US East Coast for companies with transatlantic teams (5 hours behind). This makes you more attractive than candidates in Eastern Europe or Asia for roles requiring EU/US collaboration.

Web Summit returns to Lisbon November 2025, offering networking opportunities without travel costs. This major tech conference brings 70,000+ attendees, hundreds of startups, and extensive AI/creative tech content. Plan to attend with prepared portfolio materials, connections targeted in advance, and speaking slot if possible (community stages accept proposals). Local presence at Portugal’s flagship tech event demonstrates commitment to the ecosystem and provides exceptional networking density.

What makes you different from other candidates

Your unique positioning statement: “I’m a Creative Technologist who bridges physical and digital design. With five years in interior design, I understand how spaces shape human behavior and emotion. Now I apply that thinking to AI-powered experiences—designing digital environments that are both functionally brilliant and emotionally resonant. My recent work, Artifactum Mystery Crimes, demonstrates this: I orchestrated three AI platforms (Claude, Sora, Gemini) to create an immersive narrative experience in two weeks, bringing the same attention to atmosphere, pacing, and user journey that I once brought to physical spaces. I don’t just use AI tools—I direct them to create experiences that connect with humans.”

This positioning differentiates you through: Cross-disciplinary thinking that pure engineers or designers lack (you speak both languages), spatial and environmental design expertise applied to digital experiences (rare perspective), proven rapid prototyping ability with modern AI tools (practical not theoretical knowledge), narrative development and storytelling skills (technical people often lack this), ADHD-driven hyperfocus as competitive advantage (reframe neurodiversity positively), and career changer energy bringing fresh perspective and hunger to learn (new practitioners often outperform complacent veterans).

Your interior design background specifically provides: Understanding how environments affect human emotion and behavior (applied to interface and experience design), visual communication and aesthetic judgment fluency (design literacy many engineers lack), experience collaborating with clients to translate abstract needs into concrete solutions (product management-adjacent skills), discipline to ship real projects with real constraints rather than endless prototypes (production mentality), and spatial thinking about flow, hierarchy, and user navigation through designed experiences (UX foundation).

The ADHD hyperfocus capability should be framed as asset: “My ADHD gives me the ability to enter deep hyperfocus states where I can master new tools and solve complex problems with exceptional intensity. This enabled me to build a complete murder mystery game in two weeks—learning multiple AI platforms, Python automation, typesetting systems, and version control simultaneously while maintaining creative quality. In previous roles, this same capability allowed me to master advanced design software and client presentation skills rapidly. I thrive in creative problem-solving environments where I can channel this focused energy into building innovative solutions.”

Final strategic recommendations

Start with these three highest-leverage actions immediately: Apply to ElevenLabs emphasizing your AI orchestration and creative+technical hybrid skills (they’re actively hiring remotely in Europe with Business Development for Western Europe currently open), enhance Artifactum case study with detailed AI collaboration documentation and 2-3 minute process video (this becomes your calling card), and begin building the AI interior visualization tool to demonstrate your unique background bridge (completes your portfolio trinity).

Your competitive advantages require strategic amplification: The interior design background differentiates you but only if explicitly connected to digital design principles—spatial thinking, human behavior understanding, aesthetic judgment, constraint management. The Artifactum project proves capability but needs documentation showing your creative direction, not just AI outputs. The Lisbon location provides timezone and cost-of-living advantages but requires targeting remote-first companies explicitly. The ADHD hyperfocus enables rapid learning but should be framed as productive intensity rather than disability.

The European market is exploding—timing favors you: 100-200%+ increases in AI creative tech job postings across major markets, 89% of roles offering remote or hybrid options, companies desperately seeking people who can integrate AI into production workflows (not just use tools), and the death of standalone Prompt Engineering creating demand for broader Creative Technologist roles that match your profile exactly. The market has matured beyond experimentation to implementation, requiring practical builders who can train teams and ship products—precisely what you’ve demonstrated.

Success probability increases dramatically with consistent execution: Portfolio quality matters more than credentials (your Artifactum project opens doors), backdoor applications via current employee connections yield 5-7x higher success rates than cold applications, content creation compounds visibility over 3-6 months (recruiters discover you through hashtags and shares), and the first role is hardest—once inside the creative tech ecosystem, subsequent opportunities multiply through network effects. Your realistic timeline: 5-6 months to first offer with diligent execution of this plan.

The market needs exactly what you offer: someone who understands humans, speaks AI, and ships experiences that connect. Your interior design background isn’t a liability to overcome—it’s your competitive advantage. Now execute this plan systematically, starting today.