Seasoned Design Leader with 20+ years of experience in design leadership and user research across companies like Freshworks, Cisco Webex, and Honeywell. Focused on creating intuitive, impactful user experiences and committed to building high-performing, engaged teams through servant leadership.Leadership & Team DevelopmentExperienced in managing cross-functional design teams across India and South Korea, including design managers, product designers, visual/motion designers, user researchers, UX writers, and front-end developers. Consistently achieved high team engagement, ranking in the top 5% on Voice of the Employee surveys.Design & Product InnovationExpertise in AI-driven SaaS, cloud, hybrid, and on-premise applications, with key projects such as Freddy AI-powered insights, Webex Holographic Meetings, Webex Cloud Calling Analytics and ML-based software recommendations in Cisco CX Cloud. Led a UX redesign for the Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise, resulting in a 26% increase in bookings.User ResearchBuilt a research practice from the ground up, executing cross-functional studies worldwide and utilizing methods like "Follow-Me-Home" to actively shape product direction. Led in-depth onsite user research across the US, Australia, Switzerland, Thailand, and India.Mentorship & Giving BackMentored over 355 startups through Google for Startups, promoting user-centred design in new ventures across LATAM, APAC, and EMEA. Certified Scrum Product Owner and SAFe practitioner with a passion for organizing industry events, conferences, and UX workshops.Additional SkillsExperienced in coaching teams to conduct Design Sprints, facilitate Design Thinking workshops, and integrate UX into Agile processes.