Design executive · Experience strategy, design studios and AI-native enterprise platforms
I'm a problem finder and a systems thinker. I make complicated things simple, and I build teams that keep them that way.
For 19 years at Microsoft, I've turned big ideas that cut across many products into products people use. I came up with the idea that became Power BI Desktop. I founded Studio X, a strategy and innovation design studio. And I built the team of about 120 people behind the design of Microsoft Fabric, then led its shift to working with AI.
Impact
- Power BI Desktop, 2014–2015~10 mofrom pitch to general availability
- Power BI, 2019–2021+40%higher Net Promoter Score in two years (how likely people are to recommend Power BI)
- Microsoft Fabric, 2021–202650 → 120people in the design org; fewer than 10 left in five years
- Data Cloud Studio, 202680%+of designers use GitHub Copilot 3+ days a week, the most of Microsoft's ten largest design teams
A card for grandma's remote
My grandma never learned a computer, and she hated asking for help. When the satellite box arrived, she started missing Wheel of Fortune, her one reward at the end of the day. So I made her a card that fit over the remote and walked her from any state to her show. She never had to ask again.
That card wasn't my career. It was my muse. The same few ideas have run through every job since.
The threads that run through the work
- 01
People who didn't choose the technology
She didn't pick the satellite box. Most people at work don't pick their software either. I design for them.
- 02
Notice what's missing
She didn't ask for help. She just missed her show. The biggest problems are often the quiet ones.
- 03
Rules, not buttons
The card worked from any state because it was a few simple rules. Good systems work the same way.
- 04
Simple enough to keep
Five steps on one card. Simple things last when someone keeps them that way.
Work, in five chapters
How I lead
Curiosity
Before I change anything, I learn what the business needs, what customers need, and where the team's energy is.
Care
Know the people: their skills, their lived experience, their morale. Fewer than 10 of about 120 people left my org in five years.
Coaching
Lead with questions until people ask for advice, so they own the answer. Every leader under me can run without me.