Shruthi Venkat is a
designer ~ researcher ~ facilitator
who works with
//emerging
technology // society //environment //intelligence //learning //public spaces //experiences
💧 Thirsty Machines
🖲️ Future of Quantum Tech and VR
🖥️ Adoption of AI and VR in higher-ed
🛵 Re-thinking Explainable AI
📱 Exploring Tech-Inequality
🔮 More-than-human Conversation Starters
🪢 Data Manifestation
I’m Shruthi, a designer, researcher, and facilitator working across technology, futures, and everyday life. I’m interested in who has access, who makes decisions, and how data and algorithms shape the world around us.
I work with organisations and communities to understand emerging questions, explore possible futures, and make ideas tangible. My practice connects research and strategy with participatory workshops, experiences, and installations.
My work has been presented at events such as the Dutch Design Week (NL), ARS Electronica (AT).
Currently
- Building AI stuff at Trendwatching
-
Artist in Residence (2026) - SUSAI Futures- Sustainable AI Futures is an AHRC Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID), United Kingdom
- Exhibition on Women’s Safety at the Province of South Holland (2026-2027)
Ways we can work together
Research
Critical and participatory research into people’s experiences and the contexts around a project. I bring different perspectives into focus, question assumptions, and draw out insights that can inform design.
Futures and strategy
Trends, scenarios, and speculative design to explore what could change and why it matters. I help teams consider different directions and decide what to explore next.
Workshops and participation
Designing and facilitating sessions where people can think and make together. I create space for different perspectives, shared questions, and ideas that take shape through participation.
Experiences and installations
Interactive experiences, speculative objects, and installations that make complex ideas tangible. These invite people to encounter research, start conversations, and imagine other ways of living with technology.
Clients // Collaborators
Exhibitions & public presentations
2026–27
Woven Streets, Achter het Masker, Provinciehuis Zuid-Holland, The Hague.
2025
Woven Streets, project video, Designing Society / Coalition for Safety, Dutch Design Week.
2025
Thirsty Machines, Test_Lab: Summer Sessions, V2_, Rotterdam.
2025
Woven Streets, Engage Rotterdam.
2022
Conversation Starters, Transitions, Dutch Design Week, with TU Delft / 4TU.Design United.
2022
Check Your Technoprivilege, with Next Nature Network, Dutch Design Week.
2022
HeLi-AI, CODE, Dutch Design Week, with A. Belousova and P. Vantilt.
2022
HeLi-AI, CODE, Ars Electronica, Linz, with A. Belousova and P. Vantilt.
2021–22
Data Manifestation, Expo 2020 Dubai, with Slow Studio.
Talks & workshops
2026
Love Letter to Safety, The Seven Year Itch, Coalition for Safety, Dutch Design Week.
2025
Woven Streets, presentation and workshop, Coalition for Safety Conference, Dutch Design Week.
2024
Immersive archives, workshop, Immersive Tech Week, with SURF, CWI and KB.
2024
Generative AI ethics, workshop and focus group, Explore, Erasmus University Rotterdam.
2024
Generative AI in education, panel, Explore, Erasmus University Rotterdam.
2024
Effectiveness of Virtual Reality in Soft Skill Development, presentation, National XR Day.
Publications
2025
Introducing the concept of Quantum Communication, G. Akcaova, W. Kozlowski and S. Venkat, SURF white paper.
2024
Teachers Views on Generative Artificial Intelligence Use in Higher Education, S. Venkat, M. Nikolova and M. Lara, ICERI Proceedings.
2024
Effectiveness of Virtual Reality in Soft Skill Development, S. Venkat and K. Varadharajulu, ICERI Proceedings.
2024
Ethics of Generative AI Use in Higher Education: A Focus Group Study, S. Venkat, Education and New Developments, Vol. II.
2023
Conversation Starters: How Can We Misunderstand AI Better?, I. Nicenboim, S. Venkat, N. L. Rustad, D. Vardanyan, E. Giaccardi and J. Redström, CHI Extended Abstracts (interactive demo).
Contact
For collaborations, research, workshops, or installations, get in touch.