Stuff I’ve shaped, shipped, and stressed over.

Translating vision into impact through strategic direction, hands-on execution, and team enablement.

Selected full case studies

These selected projects show how I’ve brought that approach to life across different industries and challenges.

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

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

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.

Privacy platform at Meta

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

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

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%.

Evolving platform strategy to unlock revenue opportunities at Salesforce

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

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

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.

Lets

decode

connect

ship

Rakesh Patwari

rakesh@rakeshpatwari.design

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Based in San Francisco Bay Area, CA

© 2025 Rakesh Patwari

Curious George meets Mr.Spock meets Master Shifu

Lets

decode

connect

ship

Rakesh Patwari

rakesh@rakeshpatwari.design

Copy

Copied

Based in San Francisco Bay Area, CA

© 2025 Rakesh Patwari

Curious George meets Mr.Spock meets Master Shifu

Lets

decode

connect

ship

Rakesh Patwari

rakesh@rakeshpatwari.design

Copy

Copied

Based in San Francisco Bay Area, CA

© 2025 Rakesh Patwari

Curious George meets Mr.Spock meets Master Shifu