DESIGN LEADERSHIP WEEK 2026 · TRACK 01
Leadership
Summit 2026
For senior design professionals, heads of design, CXOs, CDOs, and strategic decision-makers shaping design inside their organisations.
WHEN
23–25 September
2026
WHO
CXO, CDO, CTO, CPO, Heads of Design, Senior Designers etc.
Overview
The Leadership Summit 2026 brings together the most influential design voices to shape the future of design leadership.
23 September
Full-day, hands-on workshops across parallel rooms — dive deep into design methods, tools, and craft with expert facilitators in small, focused groups.
24 September
Grand keynotes, Plenary Keynotes & Panel Discussions on design leadership, AI, and business impact, paired with curated roundtables, spark sessions and networking dinner.
25 September
Deep Dive talks, panel discussions, and spark sessions, closing with leadership networking and conversations that carry beyond the stage.
Why Attend
Built for leaders who decide.
This is where strategy meets craft. Step away from the day to day to think bigger exchange hard won lessons with peers who face the same decisions, pressure test your ideas in intimate roundtables, and leave with sharper conviction, a stronger network, and a clearer view of where design is headed next.
Meet the people shaping the conversation
Speakers
Workshops
DougPowell
Executive Design Leader | VP of Design | Former IBM & Expedia | Lead Lecturer, iF Design Academy
Doug Powell
Executive Design Leader | VP of Design | Former IBM & Expedia | Lead Lecturer, iF Design Academy
Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. A recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Sam Fox School of Design at Washington University in St. Louis, and the 2014 Fellow Award from AIGA Minnesota, Doug is a lecturer, commentator and thought leader on design issues. He has presented at a variety of global conferences, forums, and universities including Beirut Design Week in Lebanon, Fortune's Brainstorm Design in Singapore, and Yale School of Management. He was on the jury of the 2018 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. Between 2011-2013 Doug served as the national president of AIGA, the professional association for design, the largest and most established design organization in the world. In the past decade Doug has served as Vice President of Design at IBM and Expedia Group, where he oversaw design practices, design systems, designer career and leadership programs, as well as the scaling of cross-functional design thinking practices across the companies. He is the producer and host of This Is A Prototype: The Design Leadership Podcast. Alongside his leadership training and coaching practice, Doug serves on the faculty of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Art at Washington University in St. Louis.
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JoseCoronado
Advisor, Interim Head, Product & Design, Digital Impulsum
Jose Coronado
Advisor, Interim Head, Product & Design, Digital Impulsum
Jose Coronado is a recognized Design & Operations executive. His experience spans financial services, management consulting, and enterprise technology, with a focus on leading global teams. As a Strategic Advisor, Jose partners with Chief Design Officers and Global Heads of Design to help them solve critical problems within their organizations. Jose brings his experience scaling design organizations, directing large-scale transformation programs, and building world-class teams at Fortune 50 companies. Most recently, at Target, he built the Strategic Planning & Operations practice from the ground up, establishing business processes to support its growth. Jose has held leadership roles at JPMorgan, McKinsey, Accenture, ADP, and Oracle, where he amplified the impact and maximized the business value of design investment.
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MarioVan der Meulen
CXO, Aleph Labs
Mario Van der Meulen
CXO, Aleph Labs
Mario Van der Meulen has spent nearly thirty years in design, the last twenty of them leading it. A CXO and experience design leader, he has built and run design functions across physical products, digital platforms, AI, and service ecosystems, agency-side and client-side, at organisations including frog, Foolproof, Deloitte, and Standard Chartered. Along the way he earned a reputation as a C-suite whisperer and a design politician, the person brought in when the work, the room, and the egos in it all need holding at once. He is the author of Counterintuitivity: Making Meaningful Innovation, and his second book, DesignMinded: Leading Design Without Losing Your Soul, publishes in 2026. A regular keynote speaker on creativity, change, and the design mindset, he is based in Singapore, where he cheerfully calls himself a graphicdesignosaurus: a designer who graduated BC - before computers, and, rather than going extinct, evolved.
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LydiaPung
Senior UX Designer, Aleph Labs
Lydia Pung
Senior UX Designer, Aleph Labs
Lydia Pung is a Senior UX Designer who, over the past five years, has helped governments, healthcare and financial organisations, and large enterprises make sense of complex problems through human-centred design. She is at her best turning what people actually do into product strategy, working across disciplines to shape digital experiences that hold up for users and for the business alike. Her work spans Singapore and the wider APAC region, where she has led research and design on national-scale platforms across healthcare and public services.
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MohanKrishnaraj
Global Head | Design, Studios and Growth, Cognizant
Mohan Krishnaraj
Global Head | Design, Studios and Growth, Cognizant
Mohan Krishnaraj is a global business and experience leader known for turning unconventional thinking into competitive advantage. As Global Head – Design & Growth at Cognizant Moment, he leads Design, Strategic Growth and Enterprise Pursuits. With more than 20 years of experience spanning design, technology and business, Mohan has held leadership and CXO roles at some of the industry's leading organizations. Prior to Cognizant, he served as the CXO and CDO at Infosys WongDoody, and previously as Global Head of Digital Design at HARMAN (a Samsung company) and Global Head of User Experience at Wipro. Known for challenging conventional approaches, Mohan brings a distinctive perspective to transformation and growth: emotion as a business denominator. He has developed frameworks that translate human insight into measurable value, using experience, narrative and design to create differentiation and competitive advantage. An author of award-winning books on design and innovation, Mohan has been recognized among India's Most Influential Business Leaders. His work has earned global recognition through honours including the iF Design Award, Red Dot Award, Webby Awards and CODiE Awards.
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SamirDash
UX Arch Senior Manager, Accenture
Samir Dash
UX Arch Senior Manager, Accenture
Samir Dash is a UX Architect and AI Design Strategist with 21+ years of experience across global tech firms like Cisco, IBM, Redhat, Samsung, Dell and Accenture. Currently a UX Arch Senior Manager at Accenture, he leads AI-driven enterprise design related re-invention initiatives as part of OpsInteractive, TFO. An award-winning innovator and mentor, he bridges design, technology, and AI-driven product experiences and specializes in human-AI interaction, ethical design, and scalable intelligent experiences. Have authored several books and academic papers on design-led automation, UX, AI-facilitated Design Thinking across industry and academia. He also has been continued to advocate for AI-powered web and application accessibility.
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ShrutiMuktha
UX Arch Associate, Accenture
Shruti Muktha
UX Arch Associate, Accenture
Shruti Muktha is an UX Architect focused on designing user-centric, research-driven solutions that create meaningful impact. With a background in Architecture, she brings a systems-thinking approach to design, enabling her to navigate complex challenges and uncover opportunities for innovation. A published researcher, Shruti has presented and published academic papers at conferences like ICoRD, with her work featured in Springer proceedings. Some of her notable research includes applying design thinking and augmented reality (AR) to lifesaving education, as well as exploring women’s safety through design methodologies and emerging technologies to address real-world challenges. At Accenture, she has been actively involved in research around AI-assisted design lifecycle, exploring how context is created, preserved, and lost across design processes, and contributing to the development and validation of frameworks that bridge the gap between research, design, and implementation, and heavily contributing to the development of AgenticAI driven business-roadmap solutions. Driven by curiosity and continuous learning, she enjoys exploring the evolving intersection of design, technology, and AI to create impactful experiences that are both innovative and human-centered.
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ManishVashist
Executive Design Leader, Innovation and Customer Experience, EY Studio+
Manish Vashist
Executive Design Leader, Innovation and Customer Experience, EY Studio+
Manish Vashist is an Executive Director and design leader at EY Studio+, with over 25+ years of experience across consulting, customer experience, digital transformation, enterprise UX, service design and innovation. He has led multidisciplinary teams across design, research, technology and business transformation, helping organisations simplify complexity, improve customer journeys and build more intelligent digital experiences. His work spans large-scale transformation contexts across telecommunications, enterprise platforms, customer service, digital channels, self-service, assisted service, onboarding, loyalty and B2B experience design. At EY Studio+, Manish focuses on AI-led customer experience transformation, Agentic AI and the future of human plus AI collaboration. His work explores how AI can help organisations scale creativity, improve efficiency, reduce manual effort and move from fragmented workflows to more intelligent, outcome-driven operating models. He previously spoke at UX India on the rise of agentic UX designers, where he explored how human designers and specialised AI agents can work together to accelerate delivery, improve decision-making and create new models of value. His current work builds on that idea by asking a larger leadership question: how should design leaders build the future operating model for human creativity and AI capability?
Know MoreKeynotes
JesvinYeo Puay Hwa
Associate Vice Provost (Strategy), Undergraduate Education, NTU
Jesvin Yeo Puay Hwa
Associate Vice Provost (Strategy), Undergraduate Education, NTU
Professor Jesvin Yeo is currently a Professor of Visual Communication Design at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and serves as the university’s Associate Vice Provost (Strategy) for undergraduate education. She leads strategic initiatives that advance institutional transformation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and global engagement. With extensive experience in design education, research, and academic leadership, she has been instrumental in shaping the strategic growth of design and creative disciplines within higher education. Her scholarship explores the intersections of design, culture, heritage, innovation, and emerging technologies, with a particular interest in how design can address complex societal challenges. As an educator and strategist, Professor Yeo promotes design as a catalyst for driving human-centric innovation, sustainable development, and responsible technological advancement.
Know MoreDougPowell
Executive Design Leader | VP of Design | Former IBM & Expedia | Lead Lecturer, iF Design Academy
Doug Powell
Executive Design Leader | VP of Design | Former IBM & Expedia | Lead Lecturer, iF Design Academy
Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. A recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Sam Fox School of Design at Washington University in St. Louis, and the 2014 Fellow Award from AIGA Minnesota, Doug is a lecturer, commentator and thought leader on design issues. He has presented at a variety of global conferences, forums, and universities including Beirut Design Week in Lebanon, Fortune's Brainstorm Design in Singapore, and Yale School of Management. He was on the jury of the 2018 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. Between 2011-2013 Doug served as the national president of AIGA, the professional association for design, the largest and most established design organization in the world. In the past decade Doug has served as Vice President of Design at IBM and Expedia Group, where he oversaw design practices, design systems, designer career and leadership programs, as well as the scaling of cross-functional design thinking practices across the companies. He is the producer and host of This Is A Prototype: The Design Leadership Podcast. Alongside his leadership training and coaching practice, Doug serves on the faculty of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Art at Washington University in St. Louis.
Know MoreJoseCoronado
Advisor, Interim Head, Product & Design, Digital Impulsum
Jose Coronado
Advisor, Interim Head, Product & Design, Digital Impulsum
Jose Coronado is a recognized Design & Operations executive. His experience spans financial services, management consulting, and enterprise technology, with a focus on leading global teams. As a Strategic Advisor, Jose partners with Chief Design Officers and Global Heads of Design to help them solve critical problems within their organizations. Jose brings his experience scaling design organizations, directing large-scale transformation programs, and building world-class teams at Fortune 50 companies. Most recently, at Target, he built the Strategic Planning & Operations practice from the ground up, establishing business processes to support its growth. Jose has held leadership roles at JPMorgan, McKinsey, Accenture, ADP, and Oracle, where he amplified the impact and maximized the business value of design investment.
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ProfIna Conradi
Associate Professor, NTU & Co-Founder, Media Art Nexus
Prof Ina Conradi
Associate Professor, NTU & Co-Founder, Media Art Nexus
Ina Conradi (USA/SG) is a transdisciplinary media artist and Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University Singapore since 2007. Her digital artworks, animated and adaptable to variable media spaces, creatively employ digital painting and 3D animation. Based in Singapore and Los Angeles, her work harnesses emerging technologies to bridge the gap between art and science, making complex concepts more accessible through artistic expression. Her experimental animation 'Moirai: Thread of Life,' developed in collaboration with quantum physicists, won Best in Show at SIGGRAPH Asia Computer Animation Festival (CAF) 2023, marking a first for Singapore. Chrysalis earned her the 2018 Lumiere Awards from the Advanced Imaging Society (AIS) and VR Society’s Hollywood and 2017 Europe chapters. She also received the 2019 Raw Science Film Festival Award for a collaborative project with Fraunhofer MEVIS, combining digital medicine, arts, and STEAM. In 2019, her co-produced art-sci project Quantum Logos (Vision Serpent) premiered at Ars Electronica Deep Space 8K for the festival's 40th anniversary. Ina has presented her works at major events like SIGGRAPH, UCLA Art|Sci Center, Beijing Film Academy, Ars Electronica (2010-2024), where she was a jury member in 2019, Beyond Festival ZKM Karlsruhe, Media Architecture Biennial, SGIO Tokyo, FMX Stuttgart, ISEA, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, among others. In addition to her artistic practice, Ina curates Media Art Nexus (MAN), a platform for urban digital placemaking, and initiated NTU's inaugural Campus Exhibition at Ars Electronica 2023. MAN is a highlight of NTU Museum’s Campus Art Trail and connects artists globally with institutions like UCLA Art | Sci Center + Lab, Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall in Hamburg, and others across Europe and the UK. Media Art Nexus has been part of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) since 2020. She has served as a jury member for the 2019 Ars Electronica Animation Festival, NTU Singapore's Global Digital Art Prize, and as a mentor for the Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize. Her contributions to education have earned her the Koh Boon Hwee Scholars Award and the Nanyang Education Award.
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PontusWarnestal
Head of Design, Ambition Group, Deputy Professor, Halmstad University
Pontus Warnestal
Head of Design, Ambition Group, Deputy Professor, Halmstad University
An award-winning designer, researcher (PhD), author, and educator with over two decades of experience, he brings together human-centered design, emerging technologies, and AI across academia, industry, and startup environments. With 40+ peer-reviewed publications and books, including *Designing AI-Powered Services*, he is an internationally recognized voice in AI and design and has delivered more than 150 keynotes and invited talks since 2020. His 25 years in education span program leadership, innovative studio pedagogy, and AI and design learning, earning him two Best Paper Awards and the Excellent Teacher Award twice. As Deputy Vice Chancellor and Program Director at Halmstad University, he launched and led the Digital Design and Innovation program in collaboration with over 90 companies, alongside leadership roles at Crispin Porter + Bogusky Europe, inUse, and AI agency eghed. His award-winning research and design work ranges from participatory design in sensitive contexts to AI-powered services, adaptive dialogue systems, and real-world UX solutions, earning recognition including the Livestrong Innovation Prize, a Swedish Design Award nomination, a Best of CHI Honorable Mention, and a patent stemming from his PhD research.
Know MoreMarioVan der Meulen
CXO, Aleph Labs
Mario Van der Meulen
CXO, Aleph Labs
Mario Van der Meulen has spent nearly thirty years in design, the last twenty of them leading it. A CXO and experience design leader, he has built and run design functions across physical products, digital platforms, AI, and service ecosystems, agency-side and client-side, at organisations including frog, Foolproof, Deloitte, and Standard Chartered. Along the way he earned a reputation as a C-suite whisperer and a design politician, the person brought in when the work, the room, and the egos in it all need holding at once. He is the author of Counterintuitivity: Making Meaningful Innovation, and his second book, DesignMinded: Leading Design Without Losing Your Soul, publishes in 2026. A regular keynote speaker on creativity, change, and the design mindset, he is based in Singapore, where he cheerfully calls himself a graphicdesignosaurus: a designer who graduated BC - before computers, and, rather than going extinct, evolved.
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KaladharBapu
Design Executive, Founder, UMO Design Foundation & Curator, UXINDIA
Kaladhar Bapu
Design Executive, Founder, UMO Design Foundation & Curator, UXINDIA
Kaladhar Bapu is an award-winning design leader, entrepreneur, and strategist with over 25 years of experience helping organizations harness design as a driver of innovation, business growth, and organizational transformation. He is the recipient of the Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award 2026 for 1 Million Women in Design and AI, an initiative that aims to equip one million women with design and AI literacy by 2030.Throughout his career, Kaladhar has led product design and digital transformation initiatives for global organizations including BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Microsoft, working at the intersection of design, technology, and business strategy.He is the Founder of the UMO Design Foundation and Curator of UXINDIA, one of Asia's longest-running and most influential design leadership platforms. Over the past 25 years, UXINDIA has connected and inspired more than 90,000 designers, researchers, product leaders, educators, and innovators, helping shape the evolution of the design profession across India and beyond.An alumnus of IIT Bombay, Pratt Institute, New York, and The Wharton School, Kaladhar advises organizations on building design-led cultures and preparing teams for the opportunities and challenges created by AI. His work focuses on helping designers evolve from execution to leadership, creating professionals who influence strategy, drive business outcomes, and lead meaningful change.Kaladhar believes the future belongs to Designpreneurs, leaders who take ownership of outcomes, not just outputs.
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KichaRamamurthy
Reinvention Partner Lead, Global Advanced Technology Centers, Accenture Song
Kicha Ramamurthy
Reinvention Partner Lead, Global Advanced Technology Centers, Accenture Song
Kicha Ramamurthy is a Senior Managing Director at Accenture, focused on how AI reshapes the design and delivery of services at scale. He works with organisations on large-scale transformation at the intersection of business, customer experience and emerging technology. His career spans successive shifts in the technology services industry - from the rise of global delivery, through digital transformation, to today’s AI-driven reinvention of enterprises and services. He currently leads the growth and transformation agenda for Accenture Song across Accenture’s Advanced Technology Centers globally, focused on client outcomes and the capabilities required to design and deliver services in an AI-enabled world. His current focus is a fundamental question: what changes when AI becomes part of how work itself is designed and delivered? His view is that the real opportunity is not simply to automate existing work, but to redesign services, roles and operating models around what humans and AI can do together.
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RohanSridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar is Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Happening Design, an AI-first product transformation company with teams across the New York and Hyderabad. He helps enterprises bridge the gap between AI ambition and real-world adoption by identifying high-impact AI opportunities, designing trusted agentic and copilot experiences, modernizing complex enterprise platforms, building scalable design systems, and accelerating research-to-prototype cycles. Over the past two decades, Rohan has led transformation initiatives across telecom, banking, insurance, government, and enterprise SaaS. Beyond Happening Design, Rohan co-chairs UXINDIA, India's largest design conference, and the UMO Design Foundation, an initiative dedicated to democratizing design education and nurturing the next generation of design leaders. His work continues to focus on helping organizations turn AI roadmaps into products that people trust, adopt, and use at scale.
Know MoreDeep Dive & Spark Sessions
BillGrady
Director, Design & UX Research, Customer Service, Amazon
Bill Grady
Director, Design & UX Research, Customer Service, Amazon
Bill is a creative leader and brand builder known for working collaboratively to produce and deliver the highest quality experiences, and an award-winning designer and inventor with eight US patents. He recently joined Amazon as Director of Design and UX Research, helping create the global customer service experience for shopping, Prime Video and Alexa. Previously, he was responsible for the product design of IBM Cloud, leading a team of designers and user researchers building more than 200 products and the underlying platform. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team for the multi-billion dollar division, he drove a transformation program to help 6,500 people become user-obsessed. While in this role, his team won 22 international design awards, increased their Net Promoter Score by 46 points and achieved annual revenue growth. Other roles at IBM included brand manager of Watson, IBM’s AI brand, with responsibility for global familiarity and favorability of the brand. He led programs including naming, merchandise and event design and helped lead a brand refresh that included the design of the current logo. He managed the creative development of exhibitions and digital experiences that are enjoyed by millions of visitors, including creation of the 6,600 square-foot IBM exhibit at Disney World, and led industrial design of several products. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design at Georgia Tech and an MBA from NYU and now lives in Austin, Texas.
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SunilGanesh
Head of Experience-led Transformation, BayOne
Sunil Ganesh
Head of Experience-led Transformation, BayOne
Sunil Ganesh is Head of Experience-led Transformation at BayOne Solutions, an AI-first technology advisory and consulting firm. In this role, he has been instrumental in shaping BayOne's evolution into an AI-first organization — defining not just what it builds, but how it thinks. Sunil believes that in the age of AI, experience is the differentiator — and that great design is a strategic capability, not a finishing touch. At BayOne, he has built and led teams that bring this philosophy to life for global enterprises, guiding leaders through the shift from traditional digital products to intelligent, adaptive experiences. A builder at heart, Sunil is known for his bias toward action — moving quickly from vision to working reality, and inspiring teams to do the same. His leadership style blends creative conviction with commercial clarity, making design a language the boardroom understands. Based in Chennai, India, Sunil champions BayOne's vision of intelligence made human, and is a vocal advocate for the region's growing role in the global AI and design landscape.
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SiddarthKengadaran
Experience Strategist, BayOne
Siddarth Kengadaran
Experience Strategist, BayOne
Siddarth Kengadaran is an Experience Strategist at BayOne, part of the company's Experience Transformation practice. His role sits at the front of the design process — problem-framing, research strategy, and building the bridge from executive vision to buildable work — helping enterprise teams decide what's worth building before they build it. Siddarth's core thesis is that AI has made production cheap, shifting the defensible value of design upstream to context and judgment. His work focuses on a lean, strategy-led model that scales through AI-augmented accelerators rather than headcount, pairing synthetic research with human validation and holding every recommendation to a simple bar: could a board defend a decision based on this? Across his career in product strategy and design, he has worked at the intersection of experience, AI, and emerging interfaces, including spatial computing. He is an active contributor to the developer and startup community through GDG Coimbatore and FoF Coimbatore, including convening the product space.
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RahulMullick
UX Researcher, Google Ads
Rahul Mullick
UX Researcher, Google Ads
Rahul Mullick is a User Experience Researcher at Google working on customer experience systems and AI integration. Drawing on a background in psychology, he focuses on the strategic intersection of human insight, machine intelligence, and behavioral product systems.
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IshAwasthi
VP, UX Research, JPMC
Ish Awasthi
VP, UX Research, JPMC
With over 13 years of experience spanning UX research, product design, entrepreneurship, and cross-functional leadership, he has built products and teams across diverse contexts—from enterprise tools for asset managers and bankers in the U.S. to mobile experiences for drivers in India. He has built design functions from the ground up, mentored teams, and established processes that strengthen both user experience and product outcomes. His expertise spans UX research, product design, and design systems, complemented by hands-on experience in product management, business development, and project management. This multidisciplinary perspective allows him to approach product building beyond the lens of design, considering the broader realities of business, execution, and growth. His journey reflects a continuous drive to explore new challenges, navigate unfamiliar domains, and keep learning and evolving.
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VyomaPathak
Sr. Design Practice Lead, Mouri Tech
Vyoma Pathak
Sr. Design Practice Lead, Mouri Tech
Vyoma Pathak is the Head of User Experience (UX) Design at MOURI Tech, where she leads multidisciplinary teams across UX strategy, research, visual design, and digital transformation initiatives. Her experience spans healthcare, HR tech, AI-powered solutions, lifestyle products, and enterprise platforms, with a strong focus on creating human-centered experiences that align user needs with business and technology goals. Over the years, she has worked with both startups and global enterprises, leading projects from concept through execution while mentoring and growing high-performing design teams. She has previously spoken at UXINDIA Conference on UX Writing and participated in mentor panel discussions supporting aspiring designers in their professional journeys. Beyond enterprise UX, Vyoma is also currently co-building HUDAK, a community-led initiative exploring culture, heritage, and local storytelling in collaboration with members associated with INTACH. Her recent interests explore the evolving relationship between UX, AI, culture, and responsible design innovation.
Know MoreRohanSridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar is Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Happening Design, an AI-first product transformation company with teams across the New York and Hyderabad. He helps enterprises bridge the gap between AI ambition and real-world adoption by identifying high-impact AI opportunities, designing trusted agentic and copilot experiences, modernizing complex enterprise platforms, building scalable design systems, and accelerating research-to-prototype cycles. Over the past two decades, Rohan has led transformation initiatives across telecom, banking, insurance, government, and enterprise SaaS. Beyond Happening Design, Rohan co-chairs UXINDIA, India's largest design conference, and the UMO Design Foundation, an initiative dedicated to democratizing design education and nurturing the next generation of design leaders. His work continues to focus on helping organizations turn AI roadmaps into products that people trust, adopt, and use at scale.
Know MoreMore speakers
announced soon.
Panels
JesvinYeo Puay Hwa
Associate Vice Provost (Strategy), Undergraduate Education, NTU
Jesvin Yeo Puay Hwa
Associate Vice Provost (Strategy), Undergraduate Education, NTU
Professor Jesvin Yeo is currently a Professor of Visual Communication Design at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and serves as the university’s Associate Vice Provost (Strategy) for undergraduate education. She leads strategic initiatives that advance institutional transformation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and global engagement. With extensive experience in design education, research, and academic leadership, she has been instrumental in shaping the strategic growth of design and creative disciplines within higher education. Her scholarship explores the intersections of design, culture, heritage, innovation, and emerging technologies, with a particular interest in how design can address complex societal challenges. As an educator and strategist, Professor Yeo promotes design as a catalyst for driving human-centric innovation, sustainable development, and responsible technological advancement.
Know MoreDougPowell
Executive Design Leader | VP of Design | Former IBM & Expedia | Lead Lecturer, iF Design Academy
Doug Powell
Executive Design Leader | VP of Design | Former IBM & Expedia | Lead Lecturer, iF Design Academy
Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. A recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Sam Fox School of Design at Washington University in St. Louis, and the 2014 Fellow Award from AIGA Minnesota, Doug is a lecturer, commentator and thought leader on design issues. He has presented at a variety of global conferences, forums, and universities including Beirut Design Week in Lebanon, Fortune's Brainstorm Design in Singapore, and Yale School of Management. He was on the jury of the 2018 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. Between 2011-2013 Doug served as the national president of AIGA, the professional association for design, the largest and most established design organization in the world. In the past decade Doug has served as Vice President of Design at IBM and Expedia Group, where he oversaw design practices, design systems, designer career and leadership programs, as well as the scaling of cross-functional design thinking practices across the companies. He is the producer and host of This Is A Prototype: The Design Leadership Podcast. Alongside his leadership training and coaching practice, Doug serves on the faculty of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Art at Washington University in St. Louis.
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Prof.Kirti Trivedi
Project Head & Visiting Distinguished Professor, School of Innovation, IIT Indore
Prof. Kirti Trivedi
Project Head & Visiting Distinguished Professor, School of Innovation, IIT Indore
The initiator and the founder of India’s first Master of Design Programme in Visual Communication in 1981; Kirti Trivedi (born 1948, Gwalior, India) is a former Professor from the Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Bombay. After a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he did postgraduate studies in Industrial Design from IIT, Bombay, and the Royal College of Art, London. In 1981, he worked as a UNESCO Fellow in Japan, under the guidance of Prof. Kohei Sugiura, and was introduced by him to the intellectual depth and the richness of Asian Design. Besides teaching and design research, he is active as a design consultant in the areas of Graphic Design, Book Design, Exhibition and Museum design, Environmental Graphics, Signage, and Product Design: with numerous publications and awards both nationally and internationally. In 2011, he was invited by the School of Art, Design and Media at NTU, Singapore to help set up a Centre for Asian Design, and introduce new programmes in Asian Design, Projection Arts and Islamic Design. He is frequently invited to speak at International conferences and seminars on design; and presentations have included those at ICOGRADA, Nice; Design for Development, Nairobi; Oullim Millennium Congress, Seoul; ISIS-Symmetry Congresses at Budapest, Hiroshima and Sydney; Vision Plus 8, Vienna; Asian Design Round Table, Japan. He was one of the six international educationists invited to help draft the Manifesto for the Future of Design Education, presented at Oullim 2000, in Seoul, South Korea. Among his recent major projects are the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial at Dandi, Gujarat; and Mahapratapi Bhoj Museum at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. His current research is in developing appropriate interaction design solutions for Indian needs based on emerging technology possibilities. He is also engaged in developing a new model for design education, appropriate for the digital age, with the changed context of AI tools and a new student profile. Besides mentoring the B. Des. program at Centre for Design Studies, Indore; he is working with IIT Indore as a Visiting Distinguished Professor; and is the Project Head for India’s first School of Innovation, which has admitted the first batch of students to its B.Des. program from August 2025.
Know MoreProfIna Conradi
Associate Professor, NTU & Co-Founder, Media Art Nexus
Prof Ina Conradi
Associate Professor, NTU & Co-Founder, Media Art Nexus
Ina Conradi (USA/SG) is a transdisciplinary media artist and Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University Singapore since 2007. Her digital artworks, animated and adaptable to variable media spaces, creatively employ digital painting and 3D animation. Based in Singapore and Los Angeles, her work harnesses emerging technologies to bridge the gap between art and science, making complex concepts more accessible through artistic expression. Her experimental animation 'Moirai: Thread of Life,' developed in collaboration with quantum physicists, won Best in Show at SIGGRAPH Asia Computer Animation Festival (CAF) 2023, marking a first for Singapore. Chrysalis earned her the 2018 Lumiere Awards from the Advanced Imaging Society (AIS) and VR Society’s Hollywood and 2017 Europe chapters. She also received the 2019 Raw Science Film Festival Award for a collaborative project with Fraunhofer MEVIS, combining digital medicine, arts, and STEAM. In 2019, her co-produced art-sci project Quantum Logos (Vision Serpent) premiered at Ars Electronica Deep Space 8K for the festival's 40th anniversary. Ina has presented her works at major events like SIGGRAPH, UCLA Art|Sci Center, Beijing Film Academy, Ars Electronica (2010-2024), where she was a jury member in 2019, Beyond Festival ZKM Karlsruhe, Media Architecture Biennial, SGIO Tokyo, FMX Stuttgart, ISEA, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, among others. In addition to her artistic practice, Ina curates Media Art Nexus (MAN), a platform for urban digital placemaking, and initiated NTU's inaugural Campus Exhibition at Ars Electronica 2023. MAN is a highlight of NTU Museum’s Campus Art Trail and connects artists globally with institutions like UCLA Art | Sci Center + Lab, Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall in Hamburg, and others across Europe and the UK. Media Art Nexus has been part of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) since 2020. She has served as a jury member for the 2019 Ars Electronica Animation Festival, NTU Singapore's Global Digital Art Prize, and as a mentor for the Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize. Her contributions to education have earned her the Koh Boon Hwee Scholars Award and the Nanyang Education Award.
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VibhaPanth
Sr Manager, UX Design & Research, Amazon
Vibha Panth
Sr Manager, UX Design & Research, Amazon
UX Design and Research leader passionate about driving innovation by elevating the voice of customers to guide UX and product strategy. Over a decade of experience in impacting the UX of products across a variety of domains such as cloud computing platforms, complex CRM systems, devices, e-commerce websites, mobile applications, games, NUI and gesture based systems. Empathetic leader who cares deeply about people and strongly believes in helping them grow. I am most excited about mentoring people and helping them develop their skills. Engaged in several company-wide activities contributing to hiring and developing people as well as the development of the UX discipline. Experience in leading UX across products and teams, developing bold visions, customer archetypes, experience/journey maps, bringing the human element to business metrics (connecting the what to the why) and storytelling.
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AlishaRaghavan
UXD Manager, Google
Alisha Raghavan
UXD Manager, Google
Alisha Raghavan is a UX leader at Google with experience building and leading multidisciplinary teams across complex product spaces. Based in Bengaluru, she is passionate about shaping thoughtful, human-centered experiences while navigating the rapidly evolving role of AI in how products are imagined and built. Her leadership focuses on creating clarity in ambiguity, growing strong design practices and talent, and fostering cultures of experimentation and collaboration. She is particularly interested in how UX practitioners can evolve their craft and influence as technology changes, and in the growing opportunity for India-based teams to shape products and experiences for global audiences.
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AnsuAbraham
Senior Director, Strategy and Operations, Cognizant Foundation
Ansu Abraham
Senior Director, Strategy and Operations, Cognizant Foundation
Ansu Abraham is Senior Director, Strategy, Operations & Communications at Cognizant Foundation. With more than two decades of experience in social impact, she has led initiatives in inclusive livelihoods, healthcare, and education. Her work focuses on building partnerships, scaling sustainable solutions, and applying human-centered approaches to create equitable outcomes for underserved communities.
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AsthaKapoor
Co-Founder, Aapti Institute
Astha Kapoor
Co-Founder, Aapti Institute
Astha Kapoor is the Co-founder of Aapti Institute, a Bangalore based research firm that works on the intersection of technology and society. She has 15 years of public policy and strategy consulting experience, with a focus on use of technology for welfare. Astha works on participative governance of data, and digital public infrastructure. Astha was a member of World Economic Forum Global Future Council on data equity (2023-24), visiting fellow at the Ostrom Workshop (Indiana University). She was also a member of the Think20 task force on digital public infrastructure during India's and Brazil's G20 presidency and currently serves on the board of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Data.
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AnupamaRawat
Chief Marketing Officer, Wadhwani Foundation
Anupama Rawat
Chief Marketing Officer, Wadhwani Foundation
Global marketing leader with 25+ years of experience spanning brand and marketing strategy, corporate communications, digital marketing, PR and marketing transformation. As Chief Marketing Officer at Wadhwani Foundation, leads global marketing and brand strategy across the Foundation’s initiatives, with a focus on building brand equity, driving engagement and leveraging technology and AI to create impact at scale. Brings extensive experience in building brands, leading large and diverse marketing teams, and using marketing as a strategic lever for growth and transformation. Prior to Wadhwani Foundation, held key marketing roles at Accenture, Genpact, vCustomer, Hughes Software Systems and Indiatimes.com. At Accenture, led the India-based Marketing Shared Services team of 100+ marketing, content, design and digital specialists, delivering more than 1,000 marketing programs globally. Named among the Top 100 Influential Game Changers in Public Relations & Corporate Communications by e4m (2025). Holds degrees in History and Law from the University of Delhi, a Diploma in Mass Communication from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, New Delhi, and Executive Education in Strategic Marketing for Driving Growth from Harvard Business School.
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Dr.Tejaswini Ananth Kumar
Social Innovator, Educationist, Institution Builder
Dr. Tejaswini Ananth Kumar
Social Innovator, Educationist, Institution Builder
Dr. Tejaswini Ananth Kumar is a distinguished social innovator, educationist, and institution builder whose work spans technology, education, sustainability, and societal impact. A former aerospace scientist with the Aeronautical Development Agency, she contributed to India’s LCA–Tejas programme, bringing the rigour of engineering and systems thinking to her wider work. She has held leadership roles across premier institutions, including Chairperson of the Board of Governors of IIEST Shibpur and Board Member of IIT Roorkee, and has also served in leadership at NIT Kurukshetra. Through initiatives such as Green Sunday and 40 Plate Banks, she has championed sustainable, community-led models that place people, purpose, and collective action at the centre. Her work brings together leadership, technology, design, and social responsibility, with a deep belief in creating human-centred solutions that deliver meaningful impact at scale.
Know MoreRohanSridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar is Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Happening Design, an AI-first product transformation company with teams across the New York and Hyderabad. He helps enterprises bridge the gap between AI ambition and real-world adoption by identifying high-impact AI opportunities, designing trusted agentic and copilot experiences, modernizing complex enterprise platforms, building scalable design systems, and accelerating research-to-prototype cycles. Over the past two decades, Rohan has led transformation initiatives across telecom, banking, insurance, government, and enterprise SaaS. Beyond Happening Design, Rohan co-chairs UXINDIA, India's largest design conference, and the UMO Design Foundation, an initiative dedicated to democratizing design education and nurturing the next generation of design leaders. His work continues to focus on helping organizations turn AI roadmaps into products that people trust, adopt, and use at scale.
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RanjeetTayi
Senior Director, AI Experience Design, Salesforce
Ranjeet Tayi
Senior Director, AI Experience Design, Salesforce
Ranjeet Tayi is an award-winning AI design leader and innovator with over 20 years of experience shaping AI, UX, and enterprise software. Based in Silicon Valley, he is Senior Director of AI Experience at Salesforce, where he leads Agentic AI and data management experiences, helping shape the future of Human + AI collaboration. Previously, he held design leadership roles at Informatica, SumTotal, and PureIT Usability Research, and co-founded Mind Visions, a VFX company with a successful exit. He is also a Venture Partner, investor, and mentor to AI-first startups. Honored with the Indian Tech Icon Award 2025, Ranjeet is an Extraordinary Ability recipient and an inventor holding eight patents in AI and data. He serves as Co-Chair of UX India and UMO.design, where he has helped co-launch initiatives that advance the design community. A frequent international keynote speaker, author, and juror for leading design awards, Ranjeet holds two master's degrees in Philosophy (Mass Communication and Advertising) and trained in Design Management from PARK.
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MadhukarJoshi
Director - Design Strategy and Ops @ Kyndryl
Madhukar Joshi
Director - Design Strategy and Ops @ Kyndryl
A seasoned design strategist and leader with over two decades of experience, currently serving as Director of Design Strategy and Ops at Kyndryl. Skilled in leading cross-functional teams to elevate user experiences, they focus on mentoring and fostering growth within their team while driving solutions through Design Thinking and automation. Their expertise includes user experience design, accessibility, and professional services, with a strong emphasis on aligning design strategy with business objectives. Previously at EY, Madhukar spearheaded a global digital content production and UX team, enhancing digital user experiences and optimizing business operations. Known for his ability to integrate design with innovation, he has successfully facilitated structured thinking sessions and built scalable processes. Committed to delivering impactful design solutions, empowering organizations to achieve their strategic goals through innovation and thoughtful design execution.
Know MoreKaladharBapu
Design Executive, Founder, UMO Design Foundation & Curator, UXINDIA
Kaladhar Bapu
Design Executive, Founder, UMO Design Foundation & Curator, UXINDIA
Kaladhar Bapu is an award-winning design leader, entrepreneur, and strategist with over 25 years of experience helping organizations harness design as a driver of innovation, business growth, and organizational transformation. He is the recipient of the Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award 2026 for 1 Million Women in Design and AI, an initiative that aims to equip one million women with design and AI literacy by 2030.Throughout his career, Kaladhar has led product design and digital transformation initiatives for global organizations including BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Microsoft, working at the intersection of design, technology, and business strategy.He is the Founder of the UMO Design Foundation and Curator of UXINDIA, one of Asia's longest-running and most influential design leadership platforms. Over the past 25 years, UXINDIA has connected and inspired more than 90,000 designers, researchers, product leaders, educators, and innovators, helping shape the evolution of the design profession across India and beyond.An alumnus of IIT Bombay, Pratt Institute, New York, and The Wharton School, Kaladhar advises organizations on building design-led cultures and preparing teams for the opportunities and challenges created by AI. His work focuses on helping designers evolve from execution to leadership, creating professionals who influence strategy, drive business outcomes, and lead meaningful change.Kaladhar believes the future belongs to Designpreneurs, leaders who take ownership of outcomes, not just outputs.
Know MoreMohanKrishnaraj
Global Head | Design, Studios and Growth, Cognizant
Mohan Krishnaraj
Global Head | Design, Studios and Growth, Cognizant
Mohan Krishnaraj is a global business and experience leader known for turning unconventional thinking into competitive advantage. As Global Head – Design & Growth at Cognizant Moment, he leads Design, Strategic Growth and Enterprise Pursuits. With more than 20 years of experience spanning design, technology and business, Mohan has held leadership and CXO roles at some of the industry's leading organizations. Prior to Cognizant, he served as the CXO and CDO at Infosys WongDoody, and previously as Global Head of Digital Design at HARMAN (a Samsung company) and Global Head of User Experience at Wipro. Known for challenging conventional approaches, Mohan brings a distinctive perspective to transformation and growth: emotion as a business denominator. He has developed frameworks that translate human insight into measurable value, using experience, narrative and design to create differentiation and competitive advantage. An author of award-winning books on design and innovation, Mohan has been recognized among India's Most Influential Business Leaders. His work has earned global recognition through honours including the iF Design Award, Red Dot Award, Webby Awards and CODiE Awards.
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HimankAmar
Investor, Antler
Himank Amar
Investor, Antler
Investment professional at Antler, working closely with ambitious founders building the next generation of technology companies.
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KavithaAppaya
UX Research Manager, Google
Kavitha Appaya
UX Research Manager, Google
Kavitha Appaya is a UX Research Leader based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, with extensive experience in leading user-centered insights for design consulting and global tech products. She currently manages a team of quantitative and qualitative researchers at Google within the Customer Engagement team in Google Ads, where she drives research strategies to optimize Ads customer experiences and inform product decisions. Her expertise spans foundational and evaluative research and systems thinking Passionate about empowering teams and fostering inclusive leadership, she focuses on transforming complex user data into actionable insights that shape intuitive, impactful digital products.
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PraveenDorna
Founder, Founders First Network
Praveen Dorna
Founder, Founders First Network
Praveen Dorna is the Founder of Founders First Network and a startup practitioner with 18+ years of experience across startups, product growth, academia, and founder ecosystems across India and the US. Previously, he served as Director, Product & Growth at PublicVibe under VerSe Innovation, the parent company of Dailyhunt, Josh, and PublicVibe, where he worked on products serving millions of users across India. A Visiting Professor and entrepreneurship educator, he teaches Lean Startup methodologies and mentors founders and students across leading institutions. He holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College.
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AnitaSakuru
Additional Director, Sai Silks Kalamandir ltd
Anita Sakuru
Additional Director, Sai Silks Kalamandir ltd
Anita am a Certified Independent Director, board member, entrepreneur and former Executive Vice President at Kenexa, with over two decades of experience across technology, business growth, global operations, entrepreneurship and institutional leadership. Her career includes 18 years with Kenexa, a global Human Capital Management technology company, where I was part of the company's growth, fundraising and expansion into India. Kenexa was subsequently acquired by IBM in a $1.2 billion transaction in 2012. As an Executive Vice President, she led one of the company's fastest-growing and most profitable business units, gaining extensive experience in business strategy, scaling operations, technology-led transformation and leadership in a global environment. She currently serves in board and governance roles and have experience working with entrepreneurial and technology-driven organizations. She is particularly interested in Independent Director and Advisory Board opportunities with companies navigating growth, digital transformation, technology disruption, AI adoption, organizational transformation and expansion into new markets. In addition to her corporate career, She is actively involved in entrepreneurship, mentoring and institution-building. She currently serves on the Board of BITSAA International and as a Board Member of PLATiFi, while also mentoring businesses and entrepreneurs.
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RaviDevulapally
Head - Business Process & Technology, Bhartiya Urban
Ravi Devulapally
Head - Business Process & Technology, Bhartiya Urban
A techno-business leader, corporate strategist, operations and systems expert, growth advisor, coach, and futurist, with extensive experience at the intersection of technology, business, innovation, and entrepreneurship. With a career spanning enterprise technology, digital transformation, product development, operations, and growth strategy, he has led organization-wide initiatives, built high-performance teams, established technology platforms and operating systems, and delivered large-scale technology programs across Web, Mobile, IoT, IIoT, AI, VR/AR, and SaaS. He is passionate about building innovation cultures, developing customer-centric strategies, shaping go-to-market approaches, and creating sustainable growth through partnerships and ecosystems. As an advisor and mentor, he works with startups and young entrepreneurs across areas including education, big data, agribusiness, technology, and social impact. A frequent speaker and contributor at industry and technology platforms, he enjoys conversations around digital transformation, emerging technology, entrepreneurship, and the future we want to build.
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ShyamaSundar Duriseti
Design & People Leadership, Nutanix
Shyama Sundar Duriseti
Design & People Leadership, Nutanix
I am a software product designer and manager with extensive experience in designing product experiences and shaping the careers of designers for the enterprise and consumer domains. A calm, focused, and fun-to-work-with designer and leader adept at leading and navigating teams through challenging requirements and stakeholders. I'm passionate about bringing innovative solutions to the user and customer problems while meeting business objectives through simple, elegant, and effective design solutions. I am equally passionate about helping fellow designers grow and leading the design function to success. Over the years, I have built, mentored, and managed design teams and matured the design function through process and cultural interventions. On the personal front, I am an activist with a deep interest in spreading design education, awareness, and social impact led to my co-founding of UMO Design Foundation, and UX India to drive design deliberations and design-led innovation globally, over the last 15 years. Specialties: Design leadership, product design vision/delivery, managing/growing design teams, design for utilization/user adoption/business growth, UX design, Customer Experience design, design partnerships with customers/stakeholders, design quality, and design maturity.
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NithyaKappini
Senior Director, Cognizant
Nithya Kappini
Senior Director, Cognizant
Senior Director and Head of Design Strategy & Growth, shaping experiences and strategies where design, business, and technology converge to drive innovation and meaningful impact. With a foundation in both agency and consulting environments, I bring a dual lens: creative leadership to craft meaningful customer experiences, and strategic acumen to align those experiences with business growth. Across roles at Cognizant (Cognizant Moment), Infosys (WongDoody), and HARMAN (a Samsung company), I’ve worked with Fortune 100 clients on initiatives spanning design strategy, brand evolution, digital marketing, and experience innovation. I’ve also led go-to-market initiatives with strategic partners including Microsoft and Adobe, co-creating offerings, shaping joint value propositions, and accelerating market traction. I’ve played a key role in three consecutive mergers & acquisitions, positioning design as a core differentiator within broader M&A and growth strategies. I’ve helped shape offerings that speak to evolving buying centers, CMOs, CDOs, and business transformation leaders, while building teams that blend design excellence with commercial impact. Recognitions include the Red Dot Award, iF Award, LinkedIn Innovative Campaign Award, multiple Deal Catalyst honors, and being the youngest recipient of the CEO’s Excellence Award
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SanjayEnishetty
Founder, ScaleMe Network
Sanjay Enishetty
Founder, ScaleMe Network
Sanjay spent a two decade in the trenches of Indian business, most recently as CEO of Naturals Salon, India's largest salon chain: 900 outlets, 20 states, 10 million customers. She knows what it takes to scale an SME from the inside. That experience is what drove him to build ScaleMe Network. ScaleMe is India's curated growth platform for SME operators in the ₹25–100 Cr range. They bring together strategy leaders, scaled founders, capital partners, and ecosystem experts so entrepreneurs can scale with clarity, discipline, and the right access.
Know MoreRohanSridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar is Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Happening Design, an AI-first product transformation company with teams across the New York and Hyderabad. He helps enterprises bridge the gap between AI ambition and real-world adoption by identifying high-impact AI opportunities, designing trusted agentic and copilot experiences, modernizing complex enterprise platforms, building scalable design systems, and accelerating research-to-prototype cycles. Over the past two decades, Rohan has led transformation initiatives across telecom, banking, insurance, government, and enterprise SaaS. Beyond Happening Design, Rohan co-chairs UXINDIA, India's largest design conference, and the UMO Design Foundation, an initiative dedicated to democratizing design education and nurturing the next generation of design leaders. His work continues to focus on helping organizations turn AI roadmaps into products that people trust, adopt, and use at scale.
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RanjeetTayi
Senior Director, AI Experience Design, Salesforce
Ranjeet Tayi
Senior Director, AI Experience Design, Salesforce
Ranjeet Tayi is an award-winning AI design leader and innovator with over 20 years of experience shaping AI, UX, and enterprise software. Based in Silicon Valley, he is Senior Director of AI Experience at Salesforce, where he leads Agentic AI and data management experiences, helping shape the future of Human + AI collaboration. Previously, he held design leadership roles at Informatica, SumTotal, and PureIT Usability Research, and co-founded Mind Visions, a VFX company with a successful exit. He is also a Venture Partner, investor, and mentor to AI-first startups. Honored with the Indian Tech Icon Award 2025, Ranjeet is an Extraordinary Ability recipient and an inventor holding eight patents in AI and data. He serves as Co-Chair of UX India and UMO.design, where he has helped co-launch initiatives that advance the design community. A frequent international keynote speaker, author, and juror for leading design awards, Ranjeet holds two master's degrees in Philosophy (Mass Communication and Advertising) and trained in Design Management from PARK.
Know MoreMadhukarJoshi
Director - Design Strategy and Ops @ Kyndryl
Madhukar Joshi
Director - Design Strategy and Ops @ Kyndryl
A seasoned design strategist and leader with over two decades of experience, currently serving as Director of Design Strategy and Ops at Kyndryl. Skilled in leading cross-functional teams to elevate user experiences, they focus on mentoring and fostering growth within their team while driving solutions through Design Thinking and automation. Their expertise includes user experience design, accessibility, and professional services, with a strong emphasis on aligning design strategy with business objectives. Previously at EY, Madhukar spearheaded a global digital content production and UX team, enhancing digital user experiences and optimizing business operations. Known for his ability to integrate design with innovation, he has successfully facilitated structured thinking sessions and built scalable processes. Committed to delivering impactful design solutions, empowering organizations to achieve their strategic goals through innovation and thoughtful design execution.
Know MoreKaladharBapu
Design Executive, Founder, UMO Design Foundation & Curator, UXINDIA
Kaladhar Bapu
Design Executive, Founder, UMO Design Foundation & Curator, UXINDIA
Kaladhar Bapu is an award-winning design leader, entrepreneur, and strategist with over 25 years of experience helping organizations harness design as a driver of innovation, business growth, and organizational transformation. He is the recipient of the Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award 2026 for 1 Million Women in Design and AI, an initiative that aims to equip one million women with design and AI literacy by 2030.Throughout his career, Kaladhar has led product design and digital transformation initiatives for global organizations including BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Microsoft, working at the intersection of design, technology, and business strategy.He is the Founder of the UMO Design Foundation and Curator of UXINDIA, one of Asia's longest-running and most influential design leadership platforms. Over the past 25 years, UXINDIA has connected and inspired more than 90,000 designers, researchers, product leaders, educators, and innovators, helping shape the evolution of the design profession across India and beyond.An alumnus of IIT Bombay, Pratt Institute, New York, and The Wharton School, Kaladhar advises organizations on building design-led cultures and preparing teams for the opportunities and challenges created by AI. His work focuses on helping designers evolve from execution to leadership, creating professionals who influence strategy, drive business outcomes, and lead meaningful change.Kaladhar believes the future belongs to Designpreneurs, leaders who take ownership of outcomes, not just outputs.
Know MoreMohanKrishnaraj
Global Head | Design, Studios and Growth, Cognizant
Mohan Krishnaraj
Global Head | Design, Studios and Growth, Cognizant
Mohan Krishnaraj is a global business and experience leader known for turning unconventional thinking into competitive advantage. As Global Head – Design & Growth at Cognizant Moment, he leads Design, Strategic Growth and Enterprise Pursuits. With more than 20 years of experience spanning design, technology and business, Mohan has held leadership and CXO roles at some of the industry's leading organizations. Prior to Cognizant, he served as the CXO and CDO at Infosys WongDoody, and previously as Global Head of Digital Design at HARMAN (a Samsung company) and Global Head of User Experience at Wipro. Known for challenging conventional approaches, Mohan brings a distinctive perspective to transformation and growth: emotion as a business denominator. He has developed frameworks that translate human insight into measurable value, using experience, narrative and design to create differentiation and competitive advantage. An author of award-winning books on design and innovation, Mohan has been recognized among India's Most Influential Business Leaders. His work has earned global recognition through honours including the iF Design Award, Red Dot Award, Webby Awards and CODiE Awards.
Know MoreManishVashist
Executive Design Leader, Innovation and Customer Experience, EY Studio+
Manish Vashist
Executive Design Leader, Innovation and Customer Experience, EY Studio+
Manish Vashist is an Executive Director and design leader at EY Studio+, with over 25+ years of experience across consulting, customer experience, digital transformation, enterprise UX, service design and innovation. He has led multidisciplinary teams across design, research, technology and business transformation, helping organisations simplify complexity, improve customer journeys and build more intelligent digital experiences. His work spans large-scale transformation contexts across telecommunications, enterprise platforms, customer service, digital channels, self-service, assisted service, onboarding, loyalty and B2B experience design. At EY Studio+, Manish focuses on AI-led customer experience transformation, Agentic AI and the future of human plus AI collaboration. His work explores how AI can help organisations scale creativity, improve efficiency, reduce manual effort and move from fragmented workflows to more intelligent, outcome-driven operating models. He previously spoke at UX India on the rise of agentic UX designers, where he explored how human designers and specialised AI agents can work together to accelerate delivery, improve decision-making and create new models of value. His current work builds on that idea by asking a larger leadership question: how should design leaders build the future operating model for human creativity and AI capability?
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PoornimaVaidyanathan
Chief Design Officer, IBM India
Poornima Vaidyanathan
Chief Design Officer, IBM India
Poornima Vaidyanathan is an artist at heart and a designer by action—a design leader and educator from India, creating and shaping brands for a global clientele. With experience spanning advertising, education, retail, corporate branding, and global brand management, she brings a holistic perspective to building brands across both physical and digital touchpoints. Her expertise spans visual design, design research, creative and design direction, brand management, packaging, branded environments, illustration, and creative advisory. She combines a systematic design-thinking approach with strong local insights to develop bold creative solutions that help brands and businesses grow. Known for her organised approach, keen eye for detail, and passion for the arts, Poornima believes that great work emerges from teams where complementary talents come together. Her career across diverse creative disciplines has shaped a broad, deeply integrated perspective on the role of design in business and culture. An avid stippler, Poornima’s illustrations are also part of a permanent exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York City.
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RakeshN Subramanian
Sr. Director - AI Digital Experience & Service Design, NTT Data
Rakesh N Subramanian
Sr. Director - AI Digital Experience & Service Design, NTT Data
Rakesh Subramanian is a design and digital experience leader with 19+ years of experience shaping product innovation across B2B, B2C, MarTech, advertising, SaaS, CX, and CCaaS. Passionate about typography, colour, and systems thinking, he brings a human-centred approach to creating intuitive experiences that connect creativity, technology, and business impact. Rakesh has led cross-cultural and multi-geography design teams across India, the US, Europe, and APAC, with experience spanning enterprise platforms, web and mobile products, and global brands. He has also served as Creative Head for the Chennai Open ATP World Tour with IMG and Head of Design for the Davis Cup Playoffs. His work sits at the intersection of experience design, business strategy, and emerging technology. He has led the design of AI-enabled enterprise and consumer experiences, including agentic AI workflows, human–AI interaction models, AI-assisted decision-making, automation, and personalised journeys. He has also driven the adoption of generative AI across research, synthesis, ideation, prototyping, and delivery. Beyond design, Rakesh brings extensive experience in client partnerships, business development, P&L leadership, and organisational growth. He has led and mentored distributed teams of 250+ designers, building cultures centred on craft excellence, collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning. Through design thinking and strategic leadership, Rakesh works to turn complex business, technology, and human needs into meaningful experiences—and believes in using creativity, education, and human-centred design to build a better world.
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TanvirAlam
Senior Director, Angel One
Tanvir Alam
Senior Director, Angel One
Tanvir Alam is a design and UX/UI professional focused on creating digital experiences that deliver measurable business and customer impact. His work sits at the intersection of user needs, business goals, and design, with a strong emphasis on turning better experiences into better outcomes. Through his design practice, Tanvir helps organisations increase sales, conversions, market share, and customer retention while reducing bounce rates, acquisition costs, and customer service overheads. His approach also helps businesses avoid costly redesigns and project failures by bringing clarity and user-centred thinking into the product development process. Tanvir’s work is driven by a simple principle: great design should make it easier for people to understand, decide, and act. By transforming users from exploration and learning modes into confident task execution, he creates experiences that improve customer satisfaction, increase basket size, strengthen NPS, and ultimately drive long-term business value.
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AkankshaSingh
Director XD, Expedia India
Akanksha Singh
Director XD, Expedia India
Akanksha Singh is a seasoned user experience leader with over 17 years of experience creating impactful and engaging digital experiences. As Director of User Experience at Expedia Group, she leads a diverse team of UX designers, managers, content strategists, and researchers focused on solving complex problems for travellers. Her work centres on creating end-to-end travel insurance experiences that give travellers greater confidence and peace of mind during and after their journeys. She brings together design, research, content, and product strategy to address complex user needs while creating experiences that are intuitive, meaningful, and valuable. Akanksha works closely with cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders to shape the vision, strategy, and execution of insurance products across Expedia Group. Her leadership focuses on connecting user needs with business goals to create differentiated experiences that strengthen customer value and drive innovation across the travel ecosystem.
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SaurabhSoni
VP & Head of Design, Razorpay
Saurabh Soni
VP & Head of Design, Razorpay
Saurabh Soni is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
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HarshKumar
Director of Product Design, Veryon
Harsh Kumar
Director of Product Design, Veryon
Harsh Kumar is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
Know MoreRohanSridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Rohan Sridhar is Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Happening Design, an AI-first product transformation company with teams across the New York and Hyderabad. He helps enterprises bridge the gap between AI ambition and real-world adoption by identifying high-impact AI opportunities, designing trusted agentic and copilot experiences, modernizing complex enterprise platforms, building scalable design systems, and accelerating research-to-prototype cycles. Over the past two decades, Rohan has led transformation initiatives across telecom, banking, insurance, government, and enterprise SaaS. Beyond Happening Design, Rohan co-chairs UXINDIA, India's largest design conference, and the UMO Design Foundation, an initiative dedicated to democratizing design education and nurturing the next generation of design leaders. His work continues to focus on helping organizations turn AI roadmaps into products that people trust, adopt, and use at scale.
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ArunGupta
Woxsen University, School of Arts & Design
Arun Gupta
Woxsen University, School of Arts & Design
Arun Gupta is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
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BKChakravarthy
School of Design Innovation, Mahindra University
BK Chakravarthy
School of Design Innovation, Mahindra University
BK Chakravarthy is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
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NachiketThakur
MIT Institute of Design, MIT ADT University
Nachiket Thakur
MIT Institute of Design, MIT ADT University
Nachiket Thakur is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
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RajdeepanSwaminathan
Sasi Creative Colleges
Rajdeepan Swaminathan
Sasi Creative Colleges
Rajdeepan Swaminathan is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
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ShilpaV
School of Design & Innovation, RV University
Shilpa V
School of Design & Innovation, RV University
Shilpa V is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
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ThomasDal
Strate School Of Design
Thomas Dal
Strate School Of Design
Thomas Dal is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
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AparnaMhetras
School of Design Ajeenkya D Y Patil University
Aparna Mhetras
School of Design Ajeenkya D Y Patil University
Aparna Mhetras is a respected voice in the design community, bringing valuable insights and experience to UXINDIA.
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Dr.Sanyogita Chadha
Dean & Director, UID Bangalore
Dr. Sanyogita Chadha
Dean & Director, UID Bangalore
Dr. Sanyogita Chadha is a Fulbright Scholar and alumnus of M.S.U Baroda and did her PhD from Mumbai University in Anthropometric Measurements of Men and Standardisation of measurements for the apparel industry.She did Finance for Non Finance from XLRI Jamshedpur; and Pattern Making for Men from London School of Fashion. She has worked in strategic Design positions in the Apparel Industry with Brands like Indus League Clothing; Raymond Apparel; Director Design Levis Strauss and Chief of Design Future Group. She headed the Design School in Pearl Academy and UID. She set up Pearl Academy Bangalore and headed it for 6 years. Currently she is the Dean and Director at UID Bangalore.
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Dr.Arindam Das
Director, Srishti Manipal Institue of Art, Design & Technology (SMI) MAHE Bengaluru
Dr. Arindam Das
Director, Srishti Manipal Institue of Art, Design & Technology (SMI) MAHE Bengaluru
**Dr. Arindam Das** is an academic and education leader with extensive experience across design, fashion, and higher education. He currently serves as Director at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Bengaluru. Previously, Dr. Das served as Campus Director across multiple NIFT campuses, including Delhi, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, and Shillong, overseeing academics, administration, finance, personnel, and institutional development. He has also served as Director of Pearl Academy of Fashion, Jaipur, where he led academic and institutional initiatives and headed the Business & Technology department. An alumnus of NIFT’s first Apparel Merchandising & Marketing cohort, Dr. Das holds a Master’s in Fashion Management and a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education from Nottingham Trent University, UK. His expertise spans curriculum development, assessment systems, academic quality, counselling, research, marketing, and retail merchandising. Throughout his career, he has contributed to international academic collaborations, curriculum development, industry workshops, research, and conferences across India and internationally. Outside academia, he enjoys music, plays the Spanish guitar, and is an avid reader and traveller.
Know MoreVenue
The Leela Bhartiya City
6/2, Thanisandra Main Road, Thirumenahalli, Bengaluru 560064
An iconic five-star destination known for its grandeur, world-class amenities, and impeccable hospitality. The perfect setting for design leaders to connect, collaborate, and shape the future.
By Air
Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) is approximately 35 km from the venue, with convenient taxi and ride-share options available.
By Train
Bengaluru City Railway Station is well-connected to major cities. The venue is accessible via metro and local transport.
By Bus
Kempegowda Bus Station (Majestic), the city's main KSRTC and BMTC terminal, offers extensive intercity and local connectivity, with taxis and ride-shares available to the venue.
Directions
Located in the heart of Bengaluru, our venue is easily accessible by all major modes of transportation. Use the map to get directions or click the button to open full directions in Google Maps.
Schedule
Leadership Summit 2026
Please note: Speaker line-up and session timings are subject to change.
Registrations
8:00 AM
Room 1
9:00 AM
Growing and expanding design leadership
Jose Coronado
Advisor, Interim Head, Product & Design, Digital Impulsum
Participants will go through three areas of design leadership development to build a strong foundation of impact, adopt new behaviors, and evolve in their leadership journey.
Room 2
9:00 AM
Making the Case: Measuring and Articulating the Value of Design
Doug Powell
Executive Design Leader | VP of Design | Former IBM & Expedia | Lead Lecturer, iF Design Academy
iF Design Academy Lead Lecturer Doug Powell shares practical frameworks for measuring and articulating the value of design.
Room 3
9:00 AM
Lead[ing] the Room You're In
Mario Van der Meulen
CXO, Aleph Labs
In this session, the participants will see how these moments get built, and why the very instinct that made you a good designer can quietly work against you as a leader. Then you do something about it.
Coffee Break
45 min10:30 AM
Workshops continue in same rooms after coffee break
Lunch
1 hr 30 min12:15 PM
Room 1
1:45 PM
AI Design Accelerator: Fixing Context-Drift in Rapid AI-Assisted Design Lifecycle
Samir Dash
UX Arch Senior Manager, Accenture
Exploring how design teams can use AI to move from brief to prototype faster while preventing context drift through structured handoffs, scorecards, and human-led validation.
Room 2
1:45 PM
Designing for Emotional Integrity
Mohan Krishnaraj
Global Head | Design, Studios and Growth, Cognizant Moment
This workshop explores how Emotional Integrity can help organisations design products, services and AI experiences that respect human emotion, build lasting trust and create meaningful differentiation.
Room 3
1:45 PM
Designing What Could Go Right: Building the Agentic Design Studio (+)
Manish Vashist
Executive Design Leader, Innovation and Customer Experience, EY Studio+
AI is changing design, but the real question is not what AI can generate. It is what design leaders must choose, shape, govern and protect. This hands-on workshop helps participants design an Agentic Design Studio where human creativity, judgement and AI agents work together responsibly.
Coffee Break
45 min3:15 PM
Workshops continue in same rooms after coffee break
End Of Pre-Conference Workshops Day
10:30 AM
LEAD Industry
An exclusive, invite-only roundtable for design leaders to engage in candid conversations on leadership, organizational challenges, emerging trends, and the future of design.
Poornima Vaidyanathan
Chief Design Officer, IBM India
Mohan Krishnaraj
Global Head | Design, Studios and Growth, Cognizant
Rakesh N Subramanian
Sr. Director, NTT Data
Tanvir Alam
Senior Director, Angel One
Akanksha Singh
Director XD, Expedia India
Kaladhar Bapu
Design Executive, Founder, UMO Design Foundation & Curator, UXINDIA
Saurabh Soni
VP & Head of Design, Razorpay
Nithya Kappini
Senior Director, Cognizant
Harsh Kumar
Director of Product Design, Veryon
Madhukar Joshi
Director - Design Strategy and Ops, Kyndryl
Manish Vashist
Executive Design Leader, Innovation and Customer Experience, EY Studio+
Rohan Sridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Ranjeet Tayi
Senior Director, AI Experience Design, Salesforce
Private roundtable · By invitation