diff --git a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/ChatArea.spec.tsx b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/ChatArea.spec.tsx
index a57ab328..bf4de7fd 100644
--- a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/ChatArea.spec.tsx
+++ b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/ChatArea.spec.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,14 @@ import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event'
 import { vi, describe, test, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest'
 import { ChatArea } from './ChatArea'
 
+vi.mock('../store', () => ({
+  useLayoutStore: vi.fn((selector: (s: { newUiEnabled: boolean }) => unknown) =>
+    selector({ newUiEnabled: false })
+  ),
+}))
+
+import { useLayoutStore } from '../store'
+
 // Mock the chat store
 const mockRespondToPrompt = vi.fn()
 const mockDismissErrorCard = vi.fn()
@@ -41,6 +49,9 @@ import { useChatStore } from '@/features/chat'
 describe('ChatArea', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     vi.clearAllMocks()
+    vi.mocked(useLayoutStore).mockImplementation((selector) =>
+      selector({ newUiEnabled: false } as never)
+    )
   })
 
   test('renders welcome state when not authenticated', () => {
@@ -58,6 +69,18 @@ describe('ChatArea', () => {
     expect(screen.getByText(/AI-powered research companion/i)).toBeInTheDocument()
   })
 
+  test('renders new UI welcome copy when newUiEnabled is true', () => {
+    vi.mocked(useLayoutStore).mockImplementation((selector) =>
+      selector({ newUiEnabled: true } as never)
+    )
+
+    render(<ChatArea isAuthenticated={true} />)
+
+    expect(screen.getByText('Welcome to AI-Q')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.getByText('Deep Research')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.getByText(/on-premise data/i)).toBeInTheDocument()
+  })
+
   test('calls onSignIn when sign in button clicked', async () => {
     const user = userEvent.setup()
     const onSignIn = vi.fn()
diff --git a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/ChatArea.tsx b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/ChatArea.tsx
index 0f05a605..b7815a10 100644
--- a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/ChatArea.tsx
+++ b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/ChatArea.tsx
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import { Document, Lock } from '@/adapters/ui/icons'
 import { useChatStore, AgentPrompt, AgentResponse, ErrorBanner, FileUploadBanner, DeepResearchBanner, UserMessage, ChatThinking } from '@/features/chat'
 import type { ChatMessage } from '@/features/chat'
 import { StarfieldAnimation } from '@/shared/components/StarfieldAnimation'
+import { useLayoutStore } from '../store'
 
 interface ChatAreaProps {
   /** Whether the user is authenticated */
@@ -339,6 +340,8 @@ interface WelcomeStateProps {
 }
 
 const WelcomeState: FC<WelcomeStateProps> = ({ isAuthenticated = false, onSignIn }) => {
+  const newUiEnabled = useLayoutStore((s) => s.newUiEnabled)
+
   if (!isAuthenticated) {
     // Logged out state - prompt to sign in
     return (
@@ -393,10 +396,17 @@ const WelcomeState: FC<WelcomeStateProps> = ({ isAuthenticated = false, onSignIn
         <Text kind="title/lg" className="text-primary">
           Welcome to AI-Q
         </Text>
-        <Text kind="body/regular/md" className="text-subtle">
-          Your AI-powered research companion for exploring technical documentation, market analysis,
-          and more.
-        </Text>
+        {newUiEnabled ? (
+          <Text kind="body/regular/md" className="text-primary">
+            Your AI-powered <span className="font-semibold">Deep Research</span> companion for exploring technical
+            documentation, market analysis, and insights from your on-premise data, web sources, and local files.
+          </Text>
+        ) : (
+          <Text kind="body/regular/md" className="text-subtle">
+            Your AI-powered research companion for exploring technical documentation, market analysis,
+            and more.
+          </Text>
+        )}
       </Flex>
 
     </Flex>
diff --git a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/SettingsPanel.spec.tsx b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/SettingsPanel.spec.tsx
index 714770a5..651e0177 100644
--- a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/SettingsPanel.spec.tsx
+++ b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/SettingsPanel.spec.tsx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { SettingsPanel } from './SettingsPanel'
 const mockCloseRightPanel = vi.fn()
 const mockOpenRightPanel = vi.fn()
 const mockSetTheme = vi.fn()
+const mockSetNewUiEnabled = vi.fn()
 
 vi.mock('../store', () => ({
   useLayoutStore: vi.fn(() => ({
@@ -18,6 +19,8 @@ vi.mock('../store', () => ({
     openRightPanel: mockOpenRightPanel,
     theme: 'system',
     setTheme: mockSetTheme,
+    newUiEnabled: false,
+    setNewUiEnabled: mockSetNewUiEnabled,
   })),
 }))
 
@@ -33,6 +36,8 @@ describe('SettingsPanel', () => {
       openRightPanel: mockOpenRightPanel,
       theme: 'system',
       setTheme: mockSetTheme,
+      newUiEnabled: false,
+      setNewUiEnabled: mockSetNewUiEnabled,
     })
   })
 
@@ -56,6 +61,8 @@ describe('SettingsPanel', () => {
       openRightPanel: mockOpenRightPanel,
       theme: 'dark',
       setTheme: mockSetTheme,
+      newUiEnabled: false,
+      setNewUiEnabled: mockSetNewUiEnabled,
     })
 
     render(<SettingsPanel />)
@@ -75,6 +82,16 @@ describe('SettingsPanel', () => {
     expect(mockSetTheme).toHaveBeenCalledWith('dark')
   })
 
+  test('calls setNewUiEnabled when New UI switch is toggled', async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup()
+
+    render(<SettingsPanel />)
+
+    await user.click(screen.getByTestId('nv-switch-track'))
+
+    expect(mockSetNewUiEnabled).toHaveBeenCalledWith(true)
+  })
+
   test('does not render when panel is closed', () => {
     vi.mocked(useLayoutStore).mockReturnValue({
       rightPanel: null,
@@ -82,6 +99,8 @@ describe('SettingsPanel', () => {
       openRightPanel: mockOpenRightPanel,
       theme: 'system',
       setTheme: mockSetTheme,
+      newUiEnabled: false,
+      setNewUiEnabled: mockSetNewUiEnabled,
     })
 
     render(<SettingsPanel />)
diff --git a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/SettingsPanel.tsx b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/SettingsPanel.tsx
index 0acca238..dd495e8b 100644
--- a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/SettingsPanel.tsx
+++ b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/components/SettingsPanel.tsx
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 'use client'
 
 import { type FC, useCallback } from 'react'
-import { Flex, Text, SidePanel, Select } from '@/adapters/ui'
+import { Flex, Text, SidePanel, Select, Switch } from '@/adapters/ui'
 import { Settings } from '@/adapters/ui/icons'
 import { useLayoutStore } from '../store'
 import type { ThemeMode } from '../types'
@@ -21,7 +21,15 @@ import type { ThemeMode } from '../types'
  * Opens from the right side of the screen.
  */
 export const SettingsPanel: FC = () => {
-  const { rightPanel, closeRightPanel, openRightPanel, theme, setTheme } = useLayoutStore()
+  const {
+    rightPanel,
+    closeRightPanel,
+    openRightPanel,
+    theme,
+    setTheme,
+    newUiEnabled,
+    setNewUiEnabled,
+  } = useLayoutStore()
 
   const isOpen = rightPanel === 'settings'
 
@@ -79,6 +87,17 @@ export const SettingsPanel: FC = () => {
             { children: 'Dark', value: 'dark' },
           ]}
         />
+          <Text kind="label/semibold/xs" className="text-subtle uppercase">
+            New UI
+          </Text>
+          <Switch
+            size="small"
+            checked={newUiEnabled}
+            onCheckedChange={setNewUiEnabled}
+            attributes={{
+              SwitchTrack: { 'aria-label': 'Enable new UI' },
+            }}
+          />
       </Flex>
     </SidePanel>
   )
diff --git a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/store.spec.ts b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/store.spec.ts
index d2c68edc..b4d8ce37 100644
--- a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/store.spec.ts
+++ b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/store.spec.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ describe('useLayoutStore', () => {
       researchPanelTab: 'plan',
       dataSourcesPanelTab: 'connections',
       theme: 'system',
+      newUiEnabled: false,
     })
   })
 
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ describe('useLayoutStore', () => {
       expect(state.rightPanel).toBeNull()
       expect(state.researchPanelTab).toBe('plan')
       expect(state.dataSourcesPanelTab).toBe('connections')
+      expect(state.newUiEnabled).toBe(false)
     })
   })
 
@@ -175,4 +177,20 @@ describe('useLayoutStore', () => {
       expect(useLayoutStore.getState().theme).toBe('system')
     })
   })
+
+  describe('setNewUiEnabled', () => {
+    test('enables new UI', () => {
+      useLayoutStore.getState().setNewUiEnabled(true)
+
+      expect(useLayoutStore.getState().newUiEnabled).toBe(true)
+    })
+
+    test('disables new UI', () => {
+      useLayoutStore.setState({ newUiEnabled: true })
+
+      useLayoutStore.getState().setNewUiEnabled(false)
+
+      expect(useLayoutStore.getState().newUiEnabled).toBe(false)
+    })
+  })
 })
diff --git a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/store.ts b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/store.ts
index 7cbc9778..f0ef48ed 100644
--- a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/store.ts
+++ b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/store.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ const initialState: LayoutState = {
   dataSourcesPanelTab: 'connections',
   enabledDataSourceIds: [], // Start empty, populated when data sources are fetched
   theme: 'system',
+  newUiEnabled: false,
   availableDataSources: null,
   knowledgeLayerAvailable: false, // Default to false until API confirms availability
   dataSourcesLoading: false,
@@ -82,6 +83,9 @@ export const useLayoutStore = create<LayoutStore>()(
 
       setTheme: (theme: ThemeMode) => set({ theme }, false, 'setTheme'),
 
+      setNewUiEnabled: (enabled: boolean) =>
+        set({ newUiEnabled: enabled }, false, 'setNewUiEnabled'),
+
       fetchDataSources: async (authToken?: string) => {
         set({ dataSourcesLoading: true, dataSourcesError: null }, false, 'fetchDataSources/start')
 
diff --git a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/types.ts b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/types.ts
index a2ee55b4..1291039c 100644
--- a/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/types.ts
+++ b/frontends/ui/src/features/layout/types.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ export interface LayoutState {
   enabledDataSourceIds: string[]
   /** Current theme mode */
   theme: ThemeMode
+  /** Whether the new UI experience is enabled */
+  newUiEnabled: boolean
   /** Dynamic data sources from API (null = not loaded yet) */
   availableDataSources: DataSourceFromAPI[] | null
   /** Whether the knowledge layer (file upload) is available */
@@ -73,6 +75,8 @@ export interface LayoutActions {
   setEnabledDataSources: (ids: string[]) => void
   /** Set the theme mode */
   setTheme: (theme: ThemeMode) => void
+  /** Enable or disable the new UI experience */
+  setNewUiEnabled: (enabled: boolean) => void
   /** Fetch data sources from API. Only web_search is enabled by default */
   fetchDataSources: (authToken?: string) => Promise<void>
   /** Disable all non-web sources (keep only web_search enabled) */