AI governance platform
Enterprise platform for governing AI usage across teams.
From concept to market, building an AI security platform with Tango
As AI adoption spread across teams and tools, governance systems became harder to understand, reason about, and trust—especially in regulated environments.
Our work focused on making system behavior clearer without slowing adoption. Instead of enforcing rigid controls, we designed governance that teams could reason about: how rules applied, where decisions were made, and why specific outcomes occurred.
Rather than hiding complexity, we made it legible.
Our work focused on making system behavior clearer without slowing adoption. Instead of enforcing rigid controls, we designed governance that teams could reason about: how rules applied, where decisions were made, and why specific outcomes occurred.
Rather than hiding complexity, we made it legible.
Challenge
- Defining and building a complex AI security product from scratch: Xilos approached Tango with a promising concept: an AI security layer that could monitor, edit, or block sensitive prompts before they reached large language models. However, the idea lacked technical structure, design definition, and a feasible path to implementation.
- Balancing innovation and feasibility: The product vision was ambitious. It aimed to evaluate LLM prompts in real time and enforce policy-based restrictions. This required creative architectural design and deep AI expertise to turn theoretical concepts into a tangible, functional product.
- Scaling from technical feasibility to market readiness: Once the MVP was complete, Xilos faced a second challenge: evolving from a technically impressive demo into a scalable, intuitive platform that enterprise clients could easily adopt and understand.
Solution
- Concept-to-MVP partnership: Tango collaborated closely with Xilos’ founders from the earliest ideation stage, translating their high-level vision into a detailed product roadmap and system architecture. Within just five months, Tango delivered a fully functional MVP, demonstrating technical feasibility and validating the product’s potential to enforce real-time prompt-level security rules.
- Unique technical approach: Unlike competitors that relied on fixed, BERT-based restriction models, Xilos, with Tango’s engineering leadership, implemented a custom LLM-based system capable of interpreting natural language “restriction rules.” This innovation allowed customers to define their own policies freely, expanding real-world applicability and setting Xilos apart in the AI security landscape.
- Product evolution and team empowerment: After the MVP success, Tango continued to lead development and product transformation. A dedicated product manager and UX team redefined the product strategy, shifting the culture from founder-driven to user-centered. Tango introduced biweekly sprint cadences, a structured roadmap, and clear ownership within the Xilos team, enabling faster, more strategic execution.
- User-centered UX redesign: To enhance adoption and early sales, Tango led a complete UX redesign:
- Rebuilt the onboarding flow for clarity and immediate perceived value.
- Conducted user testing and iterative prototyping to validate usability.
- Established a design system for scalability and consistent delivery.
Outcome
- Rapid MVP delivery and early validation: The MVP, developed in just five months, successfully demonstrated Xilos’ core capabilities and positioned the company to attract early interest and investment.
- Empowered product and engineering teams: Through Tango’s structured delivery model and collaborative approach, Xilos established predictable biweekly release cycles, enabling validated feature delivery and consistent momentum.
- Product-market fit and early client wins: The refined UX and clear product value led to three pilot clients within four months of the redesign phase. The new onboarding experience became central to sales demos and investor presentations.
- TechCrunch recognition and market momentum: Xilos’ transformation from concept to stand-alone AI platform culminated in its selection to present at TechCrunch, gaining industry visibility and credibility.
- Long-term strategic partnership: Tango remains Xilos’ trusted partner, continuing to support the platform’s technical growth, UX refinement, and scaling efforts as the product expands into broader enterprise markets.
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