i'm a PCDE:
Passionately Curious Design Enabler
I build platforms that scale and teams that multiply their impact.
Drawing from leadership at Meta, Salesforce, Cisco, and Walmart, I architect the systems and frameworks that resolve enterprise complexity into repeatable excellence. But honestly? I'm most proud when someone I've enabled ships something brilliant.
what do I bring to the table?
Ethos I honed through "Yay!, Oops! and Ouch!" moments.
I come with a sketchbook, not a playbook
I seek to understand first and then find a solution.
I come with a sketchbook, not a playbook
I seek to understand first and then find a solution.
We work best as a single organism
Everyone brings unique strengths to one vision. I strike balance between singular vision, agency to strategize, and autonomy to act.
We work best as a single organism
Everyone brings unique strengths to one vision. I strike balance between singular vision, agency to strategize, and autonomy to act.
Design is a team sport
Craft is in my DNA, but I don't lead with design ego. I find the sweet spot where craft and collaboration lift each other up.
Design is a team sport
Craft is in my DNA, but I don't lead with design ego. I find the sweet spot where craft and collaboration lift each other up.
I do what needs doing
whether that's the strategic work, the detailed execution, or just rolling up my sleeves to move things forward.
I do what needs doing
whether that's the strategic work, the detailed execution, or just rolling up my sleeves to move things forward.
Rakesh Patwari
Rakesh Patwari
Rakesh Patwari
Rakesh Patwari
A passionately curious, hands-on design enabler with a penchant for dad-jokes
My recent work history
My recent work history
My recent work history
Sams Club
Director Experience Design
2025
Cisco
Director Experience Design
2022-2024
Meta
Product Design Manager
2021-2022
Salesforce
Director of Product Design
2018-2021
Juniper Networks
UX Lead
2016-2018
Aerohive Networks
Staff Product Designer
2014-2015
Sams Club
Director Experience Design
2025
Cisco
Director Experience Design
2022-2024
Meta
Product Design Manager
2021-2022
Salesforce
Director of Product Design
2018-2021
Juniper Networks
UX Lead
2016-2018
Aerohive Networks
Staff Product Designer
2014-2015
Sams Club
Director Experience Design
2025
Cisco
Director Experience Design
2022-2024
Meta
Product Design Manager
2021-2022
Salesforce
Director of Product Design
2018-2021
Juniper Networks
UX Lead
2016-2018
Aerohive Networks
Staff Product Designer
2014-2015
selected work
Stuff that made me grow and occasionally groan!
I've been fortunate to lead design organizations that shape product strategy, scale high-performing teams, and drive organizational transformation that deliver measurable business impact.
Agentic Design
Infrastructure mgmt
B2B SaaS
Employee experiences
AI Driven workflows
GTM & Growth
Security & Trust
Sales Enablement
Developer tools
Enterprise UX
Commerce
Snapshots
Short one-slide impact stories showing how I navigated the different leadership challenges across strategy, people, craft, and cross-functional influence.
Architecting the Nervous System
Building the future clubs by giving the ability to "See, Think, and Act"
Thinking Beyond Chatbots
From "everyone gets a chatbot" to unified AI experience vision
The Coverage Gap
Uncovering a hidden risk and influencing the privacy strategy pivot.
Rebuilding Customer Trust
From crisis response to continuous gamified security posture platform.
Fostering Leaders
Scaling teams and elevating craft across forming to high-performing
E2E sensemaking across silos
Aligning executives to shape unified partner program direction
Scaling the Wall
Reimagining firewall management as intent-based security automation
Deep-dives: Detailed case studies
Platform strategy and organizational enablement
Architecting the Nervous System for retail
Strategy Lead
8+ Squads
Pilot in progress
As we imagine the "Club of the Future"—a vision powered by emerging technologies, tools, and intelligent capabilities—we are tasked with building the infrastructure to make it possible. Rather than designing for a single solution, we are architecting the agnostic "digital nervous system" that prepares 600+ clubs to adopt whatever future innovation comes next without having to rebuild the underlying stack.
Leading strategic framing and platform design. Repositioning the initiative as a shared foundation, making the Sense/Think/Act strategy legible as reusable building blocks. Piloting safety as the first use case to validate the model and shape foundational capabilities through squad collaboration.
Architecting the Nervous System
Building the future clubs by giving the ability to "See, Think, and Act"
Thinking Beyond Chatbots
From "everyone gets a chatbot" to unified AI experience vision
The Coverage Gap
Uncovering a hidden risk and influencing the privacy strategy pivot.
Rebuilding Customer Trust
From crisis response to continuous gamified security posture platform.
Fostering Leaders
Scaling teams and elevating craft across forming to high-performing
E2E sensemaking across silos
Aligning executives to shape unified partner program direction
Scaling the Wall
Reimagining firewall management as intent-based security automation
Deep-dives: Detailed case studies
Platform strategy and organizational enablement
Architecting the Nervous System for retail
Strategy Lead
8+ Squads
Pilot in progress
As we imagine the "Club of the Future"—a vision powered by emerging technologies, tools, and intelligent capabilities—we are tasked with building the infrastructure to make it possible. Rather than designing for a single solution, we are architecting the agnostic "digital nervous system" that prepares 600+ clubs to adopt whatever future innovation comes next without having to rebuild the underlying stack.
Leading strategic framing and platform design. Repositioning the initiative as a shared foundation, making the Sense/Think/Act strategy legible as reusable building blocks. Piloting safety as the first use case to validate the model and shape foundational capabilities through squad collaboration.
Architecting the Nervous System
Building the future clubs by giving the ability to "See, Think, and Act"
Thinking Beyond Chatbots
From "everyone gets a chatbot" to unified AI experience vision
The Coverage Gap
Uncovering a hidden risk and influencing the privacy strategy pivot.
Rebuilding Customer Trust
From crisis response to continuous gamified security posture platform.
Fostering Leaders
Scaling teams and elevating craft across forming to high-performing
E2E sensemaking across silos
Aligning executives to shape unified partner program direction
Scaling the Wall
Reimagining firewall management as intent-based security automation
Deep-dives: Detailed case studies
Platform strategy and organizational enablement
Architecting the Nervous System for retail
Strategy Lead
8+ Squads
Pilot in progress
As we imagine the "Club of the Future"—a vision powered by emerging technologies, tools, and intelligent capabilities—we are tasked with building the infrastructure to make it possible. Rather than designing for a single solution, we are architecting the agnostic "digital nervous system" that prepares 600+ clubs to adopt whatever future innovation comes next without having to rebuild the underlying stack.
Leading strategic framing and platform design. Repositioning the initiative as a shared foundation, making the Sense/Think/Act strategy legible as reusable building blocks. Piloting safety as the first use case to validate the model and shape foundational capabilities through squad collaboration.
Architecting the Nervous System
Building the future clubs by giving the ability to "See, Think, and Act"
Thinking Beyond Chatbots
From "everyone gets a chatbot" to unified AI experience vision
The Coverage Gap
Uncovering a hidden risk and influencing the privacy strategy pivot.
Rebuilding Customer Trust
From crisis response to continuous gamified security posture platform.
Fostering Leaders
Scaling teams and elevating craft across forming to high-performing
E2E sensemaking across silos
Aligning executives to shape unified partner program direction
Scaling the Wall
Reimagining firewall management as intent-based security automation
Deep-dives: Detailed case studies
Platform strategy and organizational enablement
Architecting the Nervous System for retail
Strategy Lead
8+ Squads
Pilot in progress
As we imagine the "Club of the Future"—a vision powered by emerging technologies, tools, and intelligent capabilities—we are tasked with building the infrastructure to make it possible. Rather than designing for a single solution, we are architecting the agnostic "digital nervous system" that prepares 600+ clubs to adopt whatever future innovation comes next without having to rebuild the underlying stack.
Leading strategic framing and platform design. Repositioning the initiative as a shared foundation, making the Sense/Think/Act strategy legible as reusable building blocks. Piloting safety as the first use case to validate the model and shape foundational capabilities through squad collaboration.
Architecting the Nervous System
Building the future clubs by giving the ability to "See, Think, and Act"
Thinking Beyond Chatbots
From "everyone gets a chatbot" to unified AI experience vision
The Coverage Gap
Uncovering a hidden risk and influencing the privacy strategy pivot.
Rebuilding Customer Trust
From crisis response to continuous gamified security posture platform.
Fostering Leaders
Scaling teams and elevating craft across forming to high-performing
E2E sensemaking across silos
Aligning executives to shape unified partner program direction
Scaling the Wall
Reimagining firewall management as intent-based security automation
Deep-dives: Detailed case studies
Platform strategy and organizational enablement
Architecting the Nervous System for retail
Strategy Lead
8+ Squads
Pilot in progress
As we imagine the "Club of the Future"—a vision powered by emerging technologies, tools, and intelligent capabilities—we are tasked with building the infrastructure to make it possible. Rather than designing for a single solution, we are architecting the agnostic "digital nervous system" that prepares 600+ clubs to adopt whatever future innovation comes next without having to rebuild the underlying stack.
Leading strategic framing and platform design. Repositioning the initiative as a shared foundation, making the Sense/Think/Act strategy legible as reusable building blocks. Piloting safety as the first use case to validate the model and shape foundational capabilities through squad collaboration.
Deep-dives
The full story: the strategic decisions, the cross-functional challenges, the messy reality of enterprise transformation, and how we actually made it happen.
Privacy platform at Meta
Player + Coach
3 Designers
1 UXR
Shaping
Direction
Strategy-led vision, alignment, scalable tools, and team rituals.
At Meta, the privacy review process had ballooned into a 13-week bottleneck that stalled product launches, risked multi-million dollar fines, and was viewed as a frustrating "tax" by engineering teams.
We tackled this challenge by reimagining both the product experience and team structure, creating intuitive workflows and shipped a cohesive product experience for technical and non-technical users alike.
The result: we cut the 13-week bottleneck by 54%, increased coverage 100%, improved sentiment 24%.
Privacy platform at Meta
Player + Coach
3 Designers
1 UXR
Shaping
Direction
Strategy-led vision, alignment, scalable tools, and team rituals.
At Meta, the privacy review process had ballooned into a 13-week bottleneck that stalled product launches, risked multi-million dollar fines, and was viewed as a frustrating "tax" by engineering teams.
We tackled this challenge by reimagining both the product experience and team structure, creating intuitive workflows and shipped a cohesive product experience for technical and non-technical users alike.
The result: we cut the 13-week bottleneck by 54%, increased coverage 100%, improved sentiment 24%.
Privacy platform at Meta
Player + Coach
3 Designers
1 UXR
Shaping
Direction
Strategy-led vision, alignment, scalable tools, and team rituals.
At Meta, the privacy review process had ballooned into a 13-week bottleneck that stalled product launches, risked multi-million dollar fines, and was viewed as a frustrating "tax" by engineering teams.
We tackled this challenge by reimagining both the product experience and team structure, creating intuitive workflows and shipped a cohesive product experience for technical and non-technical users alike.
The result: we cut the 13-week bottleneck by 54%, increased coverage 100%, improved sentiment 24%.
Elevating design practice to influence product strategy at Cisco
Strategy + Direction
XD Leadership (4)
All Org (24)
Enabling
Success
Strengthened team systems, design quality, delivery, and cohesion.
At Cisco, the seller and partner ecosystem faced a "leaky bucket" challenge: low renewals (ARR), and design org operated in disconnected silos trapped in reactionary "whack-a-mole" mode.
Elevated the design practice through strategic, intentional, orchestrated initiatives, transforming it into a strategic force.
The result: 8% higher subscription revenue, 4% increased ARR, and UX Research adoption jumped from 15% to 80%+ and 4 design-led key initiatives.
Elevating design practice to influence product strategy at Cisco
Player + Coach
3 Designers
1 UXR
Enabling
Success
Strengthened team systems, design quality, delivery, and cohesion.
At Cisco, the seller and partner ecosystem faced a "leaky bucket" challenge: low renewals (ARR), and design org operated in disconnected silos trapped in reactionary "whack-a-mole" mode.
Elevated the design practice through strategic, intentional, orchestrated initiatives, transforming it into a strategic force.
The result: 8% higher subscription revenue, 4% increased ARR, and UX Research adoption jumped from 15% to 80%+ and 4 design-led key initiatives.
Elevating design practice to influence product strategy at Cisco
Player + Coach
3 Designers
1 UXR
Enabling
Success
Strengthened team systems, design quality, delivery, and cohesion.
At Cisco, the seller and partner ecosystem faced a "leaky bucket" challenge: low renewals (ARR), and design org operated in disconnected silos trapped in reactionary "whack-a-mole" mode.
Elevated the design practice through strategic, intentional, orchestrated initiatives, transforming it into a strategic force.
The result: 8% higher subscription revenue, 4% increased ARR, and UX Research adoption jumped from 15% to 80%+ and 4 design-led key initiatives.
Evolving platform strategy to unlock revenue opportunities at Salesforce
Player + Coach
4 Designers
1 UXR
Elevating
Execution
Shaping
Direction
Vision-driven alignment with strong execution focus.
At Salesforce, the pandemic accelerated demand for Experience Cloud, and we needed to pivot and mature the platform to cater to evolving market needs.
I led the transformation of the content services platform—one of our core pillars—by aligning cross-functional teams through JTBD workshops, co-creating foundational models with engineering, and shaping a cohesive narrative that brought executive alignment.
The result: a re-architected platform, 55.7% YoY ACV growth, a leadership spot in Forrester rankings.
Evolving platform strategy to unlock revenue opportunities at Salesforce
Player + Coach
3 Designers
1 UXR
Elevating
Execution
Shaping
Direction
Vision-driven alignment with strong execution focus.
At Salesforce, the pandemic accelerated demand for Experience Cloud, and we needed to pivot and mature the platform to cater to evolving market needs.
I led the transformation of the content services platform—one of our core pillars—by aligning cross-functional teams through JTBD workshops, co-creating foundational models with engineering, and shaping a cohesive narrative that brought executive alignment.
The result: a re-architected platform, 55.7% YoY ACV growth, a leadership spot in Forrester rankings.
Evolving platform strategy to unlock revenue opportunities at Salesforce
Player + Coach
3 Designers
1 UXR
Elevating
Execution
Shaping
Direction
Vision-driven alignment with strong execution focus.
At Salesforce, the pandemic accelerated demand for Experience Cloud, and we needed to pivot and mature the platform to cater to evolving market needs.
I led the transformation of the content services platform—one of our core pillars—by aligning cross-functional teams through JTBD workshops, co-creating foundational models with engineering, and shaping a cohesive narrative that brought executive alignment.
The result: a re-architected platform, 55.7% YoY ACV growth, a leadership spot in Forrester rankings.