20+ yrs design leadership Aviation · Defense · Telecom · Consulting Based in Dubai, UAE

Building design organizations and leading experience strategy across aviation, defense, telecommunications and global consumer brands, for two decades and counting.

Scroll
Executive profile

The case for design
as strategy.

Design executive with 20+ years of experience building design organizations, leading multidisciplinary teams, and driving digital transformation across aviation, defense, telecommunications, consulting, and global consumer brands.

Specialized in design strategy, experience design, innovation leadership, and organizational transformation. Expert at diagnosing complex business challenges and applying human-centered design principles to create solutions that scale. Pioneered design capability building in multiple global organizations, established scalable design operations and governance frameworks, and delivered experiences for millions of users.

Core belief Design should influence business decisions, not simply execute them. Success is measured not only by the quality of experiences created, but by the organizational capability left behind.
20+
Years leading design & digital transformation across global enterprises
25+
Practitioners scaled across multiple UX & product design teams
150+
Stakeholders governed under design operations frameworks built from scratch
2M+
Annual users reached across aviation, telecom, defense & digital services
Flight record

Twenty years,
seven legs.

Thales GroupJUN 2021 – PRESENT

Design & Innovation Strategy Head, Middle East

Dubai, UAE

Leads strategic design initiatives across the Middle East for government and enterprise customers, driving design-led innovation and digital transformation programs.

  • Established regional design strategy framework serving 40+ digital initiatives and 2M+ annual users
  • Built cross-functional design governance framework adopted by 150+ stakeholders across engineering, product and business
  • Reduced design-to-launch cycle by 40% through agile design thinking methodologies and rapid prototyping
  • Mentored 25+ design practitioners; strengthened organizational design maturity through coaching
  • Led 30+ co-creation workshops with customers, business leaders and technical teams
DZNQuotientOCT 2020 – JUN 2021

Design Strategy Consultant

Advised global organizations on product strategy, service innovation and customer experience transformation, spanning experience strategy, service design and design leadership.

  • Developed experience strategies for 5 Fortune 500 / Global 500 organizations
  • Led 15+ strategic workshops across product innovation, service design and digital transformation
  • Delivered roadmaps resulting in 4 clients extending engagement into full implementation
Clients: Emirates · Thales · FOX · Jumeirah · HGS
Emirates GroupJUL 2015 – OCT 2020

UX Manager, Customer Experience

Built and led Emirates' UX capability during a period of rapid digital growth, introducing scalable design processes, research methodologies and collaborative product development.

  • Built UX practice serving 10M+ annual digital transactions across multiple channels
  • Scaled UX team from zero to 12 practitioners; established design operations and governance
  • Introduced design systems adopted by 40+ product teams; cut design-to-development cycle by 35%
  • Ran 100+ user research sessions annually; improved cross-functional NPS by 45%
Hinduja Global SolutionsMAR 2012 – APR 2015

Creative Head, UI/UX

Led enterprise UX, digital experience and creative strategy across multiple business units during a period of significant organizational growth.

  • Established the organization's first UX Lab; championed Human-Centered Design as core capability
  • Built UX team from zero to 8 practitioners across multiple business units
  • Led digital transformation for 6 enterprise clients, improving NPS by +30
  • Trained 50+ cross-functional stakeholders in Design Thinking methodology
DigitasMAR 2011 – FEB 2012

Creative Director

Directed UX and digital experience design for major enterprise clients including Airtel and Samsung, managing multidisciplinary creative teams across web and mobile.

  • Led multidisciplinary teams delivering experiences for 5M+ users
  • Defined UX strategy for large-scale digital initiatives and established design standards
Ogilvy & MatherOCT 2010 – MAR 2011

Associate Creative Director

Led integrated digital campaigns and interactive experiences for global brands including Vodafone, Cadbury, Absolut and others, across web, mobile and emerging platforms.

  • Directed campaigns reaching 20M+ users across digital, mobile and emerging platforms
McCannMAR 2009 – JUN 2010

Senior Art Director

Led digital concept development, UX strategy and creative execution, combining storytelling with customer-centered design for regional and global clients.

Quasar Media (WPP) · The Upper Storey · IWS · NSS2003 – 2008

Earlier experience

Senior design and creative leadership roles establishing deep expertise in digital communication, interaction design, branding and multidisciplinary creative leadership.

Selected work

Latest projects.

Instrument panel

Core leadership
capabilities.

Strategy & transformation

Design strategyExperience strategyDigital transformationInnovationProduct visionBusiness designService designCustomer experience

Executive leadership

Creative leadershipOrganizational designDesign operationsStakeholder managementExecutive facilitationCross-functional leadershipCoaching & mentoring

Product & experience

Product designUX strategyHuman-centered designDesign systemsResearchJourney mappingRapid prototypingService innovation
Beyond the day job

Design initiatives
I've built.

Selected clients & brands
ThalesEmiratesJumeirahSamsungAirtelVodafoneCadburyAbsolutFOXHindujaHGS
Design leadership philosophy
Design is no longer a downstream function. It is a strategic capability.
Pankaj Sharma
Ground school

Education & tools.

University of DelhiFoundation
Human Factors International (HFI)Advanced UX & Design Leadership
IDEODesign Thinking Certification
Arena MultimediaDigital Design & Creative Direction

Tools & practices

FigmaAdobe Creative SuiteMiroAI-assisted workflowsDesign thinkingService designJourney mappingUser research & testingWorkshop facilitationDesign systemsDesign operationsAgile product development
Download Resume