Principal Forward Deployed AI Designer
Strategy and Systems Design — Microsoft Frontier Company — Since May 2022
- Lead end-to-end research, product design, and delivery of AI-powered solutions across different industries, guiding teams from early ambiguity to MVP and user adoption.
- Define AI product strategy by translating research, telemetry, and workflows into roadmaps, evaluation metrics, and investment decisions, enabling safe and effective deployment in regulated environments.
- Lead multidisciplinary teams across design, product, engineering, data science, and clinical domains, aligning priorities and orchestrating execution to deliver cohesive, high-quality AI solutions across concurrent engagements.
- Scaled design capability in an engineering-heavy organization by hiring/mentoring designers and pioneering design thinking initiatives to introduce user-centric project validation.
- Deliver Responsible AI and governance-ready design artifacts that clarified AI behavior, limitations, and user responsibility, enabling secure deployment, auditability, and compliance.
- Design for appropriate reliance in clinical AI systems by embedding transparency, confidence signals, human-in-the-loop workflows, and safeguards, improving decision quality and reducing risk in high-stakes environments.
- Influence executive and clinical stakeholders through insight-driven narratives, prototypes, and strategic frameworks that clarified tradeoffs, accelerated alignment, and enabled confident decision-making.
- Scaled impact across engagements by developing reusable frameworks, methods, and Responsible AI practices that improved team alignment, reduced delivery friction, and increased consistency.
Senior Design Lead
Research and Systems Design — IDEO, August 2021 – May 2022
- Led interdisciplinary teams across concurrent engagements, owning delivery, design quality, and team coordination while accelerating alignment and driving high-quality outcomes from research through implementation.
- Defined product and service strategy by synthesizing user needs and system-level insights into roadmaps and opportunity areas that guided prioritization and execution.
- Built and strengthened team capability by mentoring designers, contributing to hiring, and shaping high-performing, human-centered and inclusive design practices.
- Owned design leadership across engagements, aligning priorities, resolving ambiguity, and ensuring cohesive outputs.
- Advised executive stakeholders, translating user insights, organizational priorities, and market signals into strategic recommendations and investment decisions that shaped product direction.
- Developed and scaled frameworks and processes that improved design consistency, collaboration, and effectiveness across teams and projects.
Design Lead
Research and Systems Design — IDEO, August 2018 – August 2021
- Led cross-functional teams through end-to-end design delivery, owning scope, execution, and stakeholder alignment.
- Hired, onboarded, and guided early-career designers through design processes, improving consistency and contribution to project delivery.
- Managed client relationships, aligning expectations and connecting insights to strategic business decisions.
- Facilitated strategic workshops that aligned diverse stakeholders around user needs, system dynamics, and opportunity areas.
- Synthesized complex insights into clear narratives, frameworks, and experience visions that informed product and service direction.
- Developed scalable research methods, tools, and best practices that strengthened cross-disciplinary collaboration and design quality.
Senior Design Researcher and Service Designer
Essential Inc., Boston — June 2017 – August 2018
- Led end-to-end user research programs across discovery, human-factors evaluation, and UX studies to inform product, service, and system-level strategy.
- Planned and executed research roadmaps, selecting appropriate methods and designing studies that uncovered behavioral patterns, usability issues, and unmet needs.
- Facilitated co-creation and participatory workshops to align cross-functional teams, identify opportunity areas, and generate early solution concepts grounded in user evidence.
- Applied analytical, visual, and research skills to translate complex behaviors into clear frameworks, mental models, and problem definitions that supported strategic decision-making.
Design Researcher and Service Designer
Essential Inc. (Part of PA Consulting), Boston — November 2013 – June 2017
- Conducted interviews, participatory workshops, and concept evaluations to shape product and service direction with clear, actionable insights. Created user journeys, service blueprints, and system maps that clarified complex workflows and identified opportunities for product and experience improvement.
- Translated research findings into personas, scenarios, design principles, and strategic recommendations that guided multi-disciplinary teams toward user-centered solutions.
- Collaborated with designers, engineers, and product teams to integrate insights into decision-making and ensure solutions reflected real user needs.