DESIGN LEADERSHIP WEEK 2026 · TRACK 02
Rising Leaders
Forum 2026
For emerging design leaders, mid-career designers, design students, and professionals transitioning into leadership roles who are ready to grow their influence, sharpen their strategic thinking, and scale their impact across teams, products, and organisations.
WHEN
26–27 September
2026
WHO
Design Engineers, UX Designers, Product Designers, Students etc.
Overview
The Rising Leaders Forum is designed for emerging design leaders and mid-career professionals ready to step into leadership roles.
26 September
Deep Dive Talks, Panel Discussions with seasoned design leaders, foundational talks on transitioning into leadership, and hands-on workshops on team building and strategy.
27 September
Deep Dive Talks, Spark Sessions, Panel Discussions and an evening of structured networking with fellow emerging leaders and industry experts.
Why Attend
Built for leaders at the threshold.
This is where your next chapter begins. Step into rooms with peers navigating the same leap learn directly from seasoned design leaders in intimate mentor sessions, pressure-test your thinking in hands on workshops, and build the network and confidence to grow into the leader you're becoming.
Speakers
DeepashreeKale
Head of Design, Apptware
Deepashree Kale
Head of Design, Apptware
Deepashree has a straightforward belief: the future of design won't be shaped by people waiting for a seat at Google. It'll be shaped by people bold enough to build that culture wherever they already are.She works at the crossroads of AI, product strategy, and innovation and has done so across some very different environments. From global organizations like Cisco and Globant to building a design team from scratch, she's seen what it takes to make design matter at scale and from the ground up. At Apptware Design Studio, she grew the team from 1 to 12 and helped define what AI-first product thinking actually looks like in practice, not just in theory.Outside of industry work, she runs DesignHive a community asking harder questions about AI after the hype dies down: what collaboration really looks like now, and what designers are actually supposed to do in a world moving this fast. She also guest lectures and sits on juries at MIT World Peace University, staying close to the next generation of designers, technologists, and builders.She's not just thinking about where design is going. She's been helping push it there.
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VineetGupta
Assistant Vice President, Design & Branding, Gemini Solutions Pvt Ltd
Vineet Gupta
Assistant Vice President, Design & Branding, Gemini Solutions Pvt Ltd
Vineet Gupta is a Product Designer and Head of Design & Branding at Gemini Solutions, where he built design teams and products from the ground up. He has led AI-driven projects across fintech, insurance, sports, and healthcare for clients in the US, India, and UAE. A TEDx speaker, marathon runner, and YouTuber, Vineet is passionate about human-centered design and loves sharing knowledge to empower the next generation through technology and storytelling.
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SujitKumar Pradhan
UX Designer, Google
Sujit Kumar Pradhan
UX Designer, Google
Sujit is a UX Designer at Google with over nine years of experience architecting complex digital ecosystems and agentic AI experiences. Before Google, he led key design initiatives at Microsoft, where he shaped the extensions ecosystem for the Edge browser and contributed to the vision for Copilot Vision as Lumi Camera project. His career also includes a significant tenure at Amazon, where he drove the UX strategy for Advertising and Brand Stores, deepening his expertise in large scale e-commerce experiences. His professional journey began as a full stack developer, a technical foundation that now fuels his expertise in designing living systems that move beyond static interfaces.A prominent voice in the design community, Sujit is a Design Mentor on ADPList and an active content creator on Instagram, where he shares insights on product design and the future of human AI collaboration. He has been a featured speaker at events like GDG Noida DevFest and dFrost at NID Bangalore, focusing on the era of AI co-creation. Driven by a philosophy of clean, logic driven aesthetics, Sujit focuses on intentionality over visual fluff, helping early career designers and tech leaders navigate the shift from being users of automation to architects of intelligent, human centered systems.
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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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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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VaredhNigam
Associate Director, Nagarro Software Pvt. Ltd.
Varedh Nigam
Associate Director, Nagarro Software Pvt. Ltd.
Varedh Nigam is a design and CX leader with 15+ years of experience helping organizations navigate digital transformation at the intersection of customer experience, business strategy, and emerging technologies. As Associate Director, Product Experience & Design at Nagarro, she has led global initiatives across banking, aviation, telecommunications, and enterprise ecosystems, partnering with executives, product teams, and technology leaders to turn complex challenges into measurable outcomes.Her work spans CX consulting, service design, innovation programs, large-scale design thinking workshops, and Human-Centered AI initiatives. Known for connecting systems thinking with practical execution, she focuses on designing trust, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring that AI-enabled experiences create value for both people and businesses. Varedh is passionate about advancing the role of design from a delivery function to a strategic driver of transformation, helping organizations shape what could possibly go right when design leads.
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AnilReddy
Founder & Designer, Happy Pet
Anil Reddy
Founder & Designer, Happy Pet
Artist by heart. Designer by soul. Entrepreneur by choice. I'm the Founder and Design Director of Lollypop.Design, a research-driven studio that reimagined digital experiences. What began in a garage with two people grew into a 240-member global team, creating work that impacted millions and earned international recognition. After my exit, my love for pets led me back to entrepreneurship. I founded Happy Pet, India's first pet-tech company, bringing technology, data, empathy, and AI together to build better pet care in India and beyond.
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AmberKrishan
Founder & CEO, Futurris
Amber Krishan
Founder & CEO, Futurris
Amber Krishan is the Founder & CEO of Futurris, a company built for the future-edge of digital transformation where product, experience, AI, and customer value converge. Over the last two decades, he has built award-winning creative and delivery organizations focused on product transformation, intelligent CX, omni-channel ecosystems, and metrics-led execution across fintech, SaaS, and enterprise ecosystems. Previously, Amber co-founded and led THEM Consulting, a BFSI-focused design firm with offices in Gurgaon and Mumbai. At PayU, he set up and scaled a global digital product experience center, establishing methods, metrics, and infrastructure to support agile delivery across teams. Earlier, he led technical and training teams at Human Factors International (HFI). Amber has delivered 250+ programs on innovation, product strategy, and digital transformation across America, South Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He continues to teach at Parsons School of Design, CEPT, Chitkara University, Avantika University, Masters Union, and AND Academy, and has spoken at forums including NASSCOM, IAMAI, UXINDIA, and IIM Ahmedabad.
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MonaliSamarth
Product Design Engineer, RIB Software
Monali Samarth
Product Design Engineer, RIB Software
Monali Samarth is a UX Lead and Design Systems Architect with 22+ years bridging product strategy, design, and front-end engineering across enterprise SaaS, edtech, fintech, and healthcare. At RIB Software, she architected a tokenized component library that reduced UI inconsistencies by 80% and directly enabled AI-assisted design-to-code pipelines across five products. She has personally shipped the systems this talk is about and lived through the failures that inspired it. Monali mentors designers and developers on design systems, accessibility, and scalable UX ops, and brings rare dual fluency in Figma and Angular to every handoff conversation.
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Thejashwini
Ex - Experience Design Strategist
Thejashwini
Ex - Experience Design Strategist
Tej is a systems thinker, UX strategist, and design researcher exploring the intersection of AI, strategy orchestration, and enterprise transformation. With a background spanning UX research, strategy visualization, and collaborative problem framing, Tej works on translating complexity into human-centered systems and experiences. Their work focuses on how organizations can move from static decision-making structures toward adaptive, intelligence-driven ecosystems where strategy, execution, and human collaboration continuously evolve together. Deeply interested in conversational intelligence, organizational memory, and AI-augmented decision systems, Tej brings a multidisciplinary perspective that bridges design, systems thinking, and emerging technology. Known for facilitating nuanced conversations around ambiguity, transformation, and human behavior, Tej is passionate about building futures where technology enhances clarity, alignment, and collective intelligence rather than replacing human judgment.
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RoopeshRamesh Donde
Sr Staff Product Designer, ServiceNow
Roopesh Ramesh Donde
Sr Staff Product Designer, ServiceNow
12 years designing for humans. 2 years teaching AI to stay in its lane. Sr. Staff Product Designer at ServiceNow with experience across Adobe, QuillBot, and now designing AI agents. At QuillBot I designed for 50 million monthly users - which teaches you fast that good design has one job: dissapear. The best work I've ever shipped landed so naturally users didn't notice it arrived.. That's the goal. FEEL started as a personal approach a way to make design instinct discussable in rooms that run on data. Flow, Emotion, Expression, Logic. I built it over two years of design reviews, hiring decisions, and mentoring sessions across QuillBot and ServiceNow. It works because it doesn't require anyone to know what kerning is. A PM can use it. A self-taught designer can use it. It just needs someone in the room who trusts what they see. I hold an MBA from IIT Bombay and an NN/g UX Leadership Certificate, mentor designers through ADP, and have spoken at UX India 2023. I've been gaming since 1996 NES to PS5 and that's honestly where I first understood what invisible design feels like, long before I had a name for it.
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DushyantKanungo
Director, User Experience, Galaxy Weblinks Inc.
Dushyant Kanungo
Director, User Experience, Galaxy Weblinks Inc.
Dushyant Kanungo is a UX leader, author, and public speaker based in Indore, India, with over 20 years of experience in digital product design, UX strategy, and user-centered innovation across web and enterprise platforms. As Director of UX at Galaxy UX Studio / Galaxy Weblinks, he leads UX strategy, research, and design delivery for global, cross-domain products and services. He is the author of 'UX Decoded' and host of the UX Banter podcast. Dushyant is an active mentor on ADPList, recognized as a Top 1% Mentor in Design (February 2025), and has delivered 100+ mentorship sessions to designers worldwide. His speaking engagements span UX India, AI for Developing Nations Forum, IIM Indore, and international conferences, focusing on topics including high-stakes UX, AI ethics, inclusive design, and enterprise UX strategy.
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PratikJoglekar
Senior Product Designer, Coursera
Pratik Joglekar
Senior Product Designer, Coursera
Pratik is a senior product designer with over 8 years of experience across enterprise SaaS, financial services, and consumer products. He has shaped design at Coursera, HubSpot, and MassMutual, working at the intersection of growth, activation, and platform thinking. His work tends to live in the messy, consequential parts of a product: the flows that determine whether a user activates or churns, the systems that make complex products feel coherent, the decisions that sit somewhere between design and product strategy. Inclusion is central to how he designs, with a particular focus on building experiences that work for neurodiverse users from the start, not as an afterthought. Beyond his day job, Pratik mentors designers through various platforms and is active in the broader design community as a writer, speaker, and design judge. He believes the most important design decisions happen before any pixels are placed, which is the thinking he brings to his work, his mentoring, and his public writing.
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SushrutJangid
Product Designer, ServiceNow
Sushrut Jangid
Product Designer, ServiceNow
Sushrut is a Product Designer at ServiceNow in Hyderabad, working on Legal and Contract Operations and Core Business Suite, enterprise products used by over 240 customers globally. He has around four and a half years of experience across enterprise SaaS and agency work at Wongdoody (Infosys), where he worked with clients including United Airlines and John Deere. He is a recent visiting faculty at VIT Vellore teaching Visual Hierarchy and Semantics and has run design workshops at Kaarwaan. He holds an MDes degree and has a publication, Synesthetes Type, from IDC Typoday 2021. He designs, vibe-codes, and illustrates, and has spent the last year thinking seriously about what AI makes possible for designers who are willing to turn their own process on themselves.
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AnikaShrivastava
Senior UX Designer, LTIMindtree
Anika Shrivastava
Senior UX Designer, LTIMindtree
A Senior UX Designer with 9+ years of experience designing complex digital products across enterprise, fintech, and data-driven platforms. I specialise in systems thinking, decision-centric UX, and scaling design practices that align user needs with business strategy. My work focuses on simplifying complexity, improving product adoption, and enabling cross-functional collaboration through research-backed design approaches. Alongside product design, I actively explore organisational change, AI-enabled workflows, and the evolving role of design leadership in modern teams. I am passionate about creating thoughtful, human centered experiences and contribute to conversations that push UX beyond interfaces into strategy, culture, and meaningful impact.
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AsthaKhurana
Head of Design, Adalat AI
Astha Khurana
Head of Design, Adalat AI
Astha Khurana is the Head of Design at Adalat AI, a nonprofit building AI tools for India's judiciary. She joined as the fifth employee and first designer, built the design function from scratch, and now leads a team of four. Her work spans tools used across 10 states and 5,000+ courtrooms (20% of Indian Courts), designing for high-stakes, low-tech environments where standard design playbooks don't apply. Under her leadership, Adalat has made unusual organizational bets: design leading product, no product managers, domain experts as decision-makers. It turned design into the function the organization scales on. Part of that scale has come from deliberately integrating AI into the design workflow, using it to move faster without losing the intention and user empathy that high-stakes design demands. With a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Roorkee and an MS in HCI from the University of Maryland, she approaches design from first principles, not templates.
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PoorvaSoman-Lavate
Lead Experience Design, ThoughtWorks
Poorva Soman-Lavate
Lead Experience Design, ThoughtWorks
Poorva is a Lead Experience/Service Designer at ThoughtWorks currently working on a complex multi-vendor, multi team transformational project. Trained as an architect with an Industrial Design master's from IDC (IIT Bombay). With over 15 years of experience, she has worked on various facets of Design including architecture, physical & digital products, research, strategy, and services across multiple industry domains (wealth management, manufacturing, e-commerce, consumer goods etc) & geographies. She brings a wealth of professional experience from working with Godrej, Accenture, Pepperfry, JP Morgan & Chase, and others.
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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.
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RanjeetTayi
Senior Director, AI Experience Design - Salesforce
Ranjeet Tayi
Senior Director, AI Experience Design - Salesforce
Ranjeet Tayi is a Senior Director, AI Experience Design at Salesforce, where he leads a team of designers and engineers to create the next generation of AI-powered experiences. He has over 20 years of experience in the design industry, with a focus on user experience, design systems, and artificial intelligence. He has worked with some of the world's largest companies, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. He is a frequent speaker at design conferences and has authored several articles on design and AI.
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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.
Know MoreMore speakers
announced soon.
Venue
Rising Leaders Forum
MAHE Bengaluru Campus, Govindapura, BSF Campus, Yelahanka, Bengaluru 560064
A world-class venue designed to inspire and nurture the next generation of design leaders. With state-of-the-art facilities, collaborative spaces, and modern amenities, it provides the perfect environment for learning, networking, and innovation.
By Air
Kempegowda International Airport is the nearest major airport with convenient taxi and ride-share options available to reach the venue.
By Train
Bengaluru City Railway Station is well-connected to major cities. The venue is easily accessible via metro and local transportation.
By Bus
Kempegowda Bus Station and other major bus terminals provide extensive intercity and local connectivity, with taxis and ride-shares available to the venue.
Directions
Located in 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
Rising Leaders Forum 2026
Please note: Speaker line-up and session timings are subject to change.
8:00 AM
Registrations
Student attendees must show valid student ID
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
9:00 AM
Opening Keynote
Opening remarks and keynote address to set the tone for the conference.
Kaladhar Bapu
Founder, UXINDIA
9:40 AM
9:40 AM
Shipped & Imperfect
Exploring how AI can help design teams move from endless polishing to imperfect action, faster shipping, and stronger leadership.
Deepashree Kale
Head of Design, Apptware
10:20 AM
Coffee Break
1 hr 25 min10:20 AM
11:45 AM
11:45 AM
Design & AI
Explore how AI is reshaping design workflows, creativity, and the future of human-centered innovation.
Ranjeet Tayi
Senior Director, AI Experience Design - Salesforce
TBA
TBA
TBA
11:05 AM
11:05 AM
Meet & Greet
Connect with speakers, industry leaders, and fellow attendees in an informal networking session.
Doug Powell
Executive Design Leader | VP of Design | Former IBM & Expedia | Lead Lecturer, iF Design Academy
Jose Coronado
Advisor, Interim Head, Product & Design, Digital Impulsum
Jesvin Yeo Puay Hwa
Associate Vice Provost (Strategy), Undergraduate Education, NTU
Kaladhar Bapu
Design Executive, Founder, UMO Design Foundation & Curator, UXINDIA
12:45 PM
Lunch
1 hr12:45 PM
1:45 PM
LEAD Commons' Roundtable
An exclusive, invite-only roundtable for design leaders to engage in candid conversations on leadership, organizational challenges, emerging trends, and the future of design.
1:45 PM
1:45 PM – 5:00 PM
1:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Designing AI That Cares: A Hands-On Workshop on the HCAI Framework
Varedh Nigam
Associate Director, Nagarro Software Pvt. Ltd.
Exploring how the HCAI framework helps teams decide what AI should own, where humans must lead, and where care matters most.
Workshop 02
Rohan Sridhar
CXO & Co-founder, Happening Design
Announcing Soon.
The Science of Moat Engineering
Amber Krishan
Founder & CEO, Futurris
Exploring how product teams can move beyond features and journeys to build defensible moats through lifecycle depth, engagement systems, and KPI-driven behavior.
The last mile of UX - protecting design intent in production
Monali Samarth
Product Design Engineer, RIB Software
Exploring how designers can protect design intent from Figma to production through AI-assisted prompting, red-teaming, and practical workflow guardrails.
Conflict as a Coherence Engine: Building AI Products for Human Coordination
Thejashwini
Ex - Experience Design Strategist
Exploring how conflict can become a signal for better coordination, helping teams build AI products that turn disagreement into clearer decisions and stronger coherence
Workshop: TBA
Jose Coronado
Advisor, Interim Head, Product & Design, Digital Impulsum
Pitch Imperfect
Roopesh Ramesh Donde
Sr Staff Product Designer, ServiceNow
Pitch Imperfect is a hands-on workshop built around PITCH: a five-step method for going from real felt friction to working prototype in one sitting. Problem, Inform, Trace, Capture, Hatch.
Design-ops for AI-Ready UX Teams: From Chaos to Operating System
Dushyant Kanungo
Director, User Experience, Galaxy Weblinks Inc.
Exploring how UX teams can turn scattered AI experiments into a sustainable operating system of workflows, roles, rituals, templates, and guardrails.
Workshop 09
Astha Khurana
Head of Design, Adalat AI
Designers in tech today aren't handed briefs to make pretty. They're asked to decide what to build, scope it with engineers, and ship it.
Workshop 10
TBA
Swipe to see all workshops →
3:15 PM
Coffee Break
45 min3:15 PM
4:00 PM
Workshops continue in same rooms after coffee break
End of Conference and Workshops Day 1