Leadership
My approach to UX leadership focuses on building high-performance teams, fostering a culture of innovation, and driving design maturity across organizations.
Leadership Philosophy
Design leadership is about creating the right conditions for people to thrive, innovate, and make a meaningful impact.
Empowerment and Ownership
Team members are trusted with autonomy and supported with the tools, context, and space to lead confidently.
Culture of Growth
Mentorship and continuous learning drive individual development and collective excellence.
Transparent Collaboration
Open communication and cross-functional dialogue spark alignment and creative momentum.
Trust and Connection
Empathy and psychological safety encourage risk-taking, resilience, and authentic teamwork.
Shared Vision and Purpose
Clear goals and a strong sense of direction align teams toward long-term impact and mission.
Culture of Innovation
Curiosity is celebrated, experimentation is encouraged, and ideas are nurtured from every level of the team.
Team Impact Stories
Building the India UX Team
Led the establishment of a UX team in Bangalore, growing from 2 to 7 designers in 2 years while creating a strong design culture and process. Created UX and resourcing strategy for core platform as well as other offerings.
Evangelizing Design Practice
Started as a UX Architect and established a design practice within a team who had not worked with UX before, growing to 3 designers and creating a user-centered approach. Led design for analytic platform.
Design Thinking Workshops
Created and facilitated design thinking workshops for cross-functional teams, leading to improved collaboration and more user-centered product decisions. Led projects and mentored junior designers.
Collaboration in Action
Great design doesn't happen in isolation. Throughout my career, I've developed effective strategies for collaborating with cross-functional partners to deliver exceptional user experiences.
Design Advocacy in Technical Environments
Championed user experience in technically complex environments, partnering with product and development teams to elevate solutions beyond initial requirements.
"...It involved many technically challenging requirements, but what impresses me most about Ashish was he is always a champion for UX. He partnered with the PM and dev teams to lead them to create solutions which truly elevated our products. He promoted design-thinking and stretched the product team's ideas of what we could (and should) offer an infrastructure admin."
— Design Manager, Cisco
Agile UX Leadership
Led UX for platform development with organization, diligence, and creative problem-solving, consistently delivering innovative solutions that met user requirements.
"...He came into the team as the lead UX for CoPilot Skill Building Platform. He was diligent, organized, and agile. He came up with fresh ideas and was always available to find the right solutions for the user requirements"
— Development Manager, SAP Labs
Mentorship Beyond Design
Provided comprehensive mentorship that extended beyond design skills to critical thinking and creative problem-solving, helping designers grow into future design leaders.
"went above and beyond to help us improve as designers, going beyond just the design aspects. I learned a great deal from him, from critical thinking to coming up with the best solutions possible. He was a great mentor, guiding and encouraging me to think creatively and push myself to new heights."
— Senior UX Designer, Automation Anywhere
Global Collaboration Excellence
Maintained exceptional communication and transparency across global teams, ensuring design progress and product information reached all stakeholders effectively.
"He cooperated very well, and took great care that information about the dev status, deviations and achievements of the team, and his designs were available to the product owners, inclusing the head of design. He was good in communication, an excellent designer, and a great colleague. "
— VP of Tools and Technologies, SAP Labs
Design Culture Champion
Beyond leading design teams, I'm passionate about elevating design's role within organizations and building a strong design culture. I've led initiatives to:
Establish design thinking workshops for non-designers, helping product and engineering teams embrace user-centered approaches.
Create design systems and documentation that enable consistent experiences across products and teams.
Develop design maturity models and roadmaps to help organizations evolve their design capabilities over time.
Advocate for user research and testing as essential components of the product development process.