Ray Vadnais

Work

As Lead Product & UX Strategist at UC Irvine, I design and build applications that turn complex institutional data into intuitive tools for students, instructors, and staff.

Design Lead & Frontend Developer

ZotGPT

A comprehensive suite of generative AI tools designed and built for the University of California, Irvine — delivering a secure, private AI chat interface for the entire campus community.

  • ZotGPT Chat — secure AI chat supporting multiple models (GPT-4, Claude) with file upload capabilities.
  • ZotGPT ClassChat — an instructor tool for creating course-specific AI bots from curriculum materials.
  • ZotGPT Creator — a no-code platform for building custom AI agents for administrative and research workflows.
  • ZotGPT Website — the central documentation and information hub at zotgpt.uci.edu.

Product Design / React / TypeScript / TailwindCSS

Product & UX Strategy

Spark

A student-centered, mobile-first web application combining rich student data, Canvas data, and UCI student support resources into a secure, personalized dashboard aimed squarely at helping students succeed in their desired academic pathways.

Product Strategy / UX Design / Student Success

Data Strategy & Leadership

UCI Compass

The Compass initiative at UC Irvine combines the hundreds of data points collected in various streams across campus and leverages that data to chart the way toward both equity and excellence in every student journey.

Data Strategy / Leadership / Higher Ed

Product Management

Student Success Tools

Various applications and tools supporting student retention, academic planning, and resource accessibility across the university campus.

EdTech / Product Management

Speaking

I regularly share what we're learning with the broader higher-ed technology community.