Chaitanya Reddy J
UX leader operating at Director scope
Signal over noise
I build UX organizations that create competitive advantage through AI-integrated product delivery, cross-functional leadership and design strategy that moves at the speed of the business.
17+ years enterprise product / AI-Integrated SDLC / USA · APAC
Leadership philosophy
Strategic foresight
Zero incremental cost - AI guardrails ahead of industry standard
Stood up CBRE's enterprise AI guardrails - evaluation scorecards, usage governance and a cross-product enablement program, before AI adoption became industry standard, at zero incremental tooling cost.
Data driven decisions
1,500-participant research pool
Built the infrastructure for high-velocity research, then presented design investment to executives in time-to-market and adoption terms.
Systems thinking
20 people, 15 products
Designed the allocation frameworks and governance that let a 14-person team support a 15-product portfolio without dependency on any one person through multiple transitions.
Cross-functional excellence
50 people certified, over 200 trained, 76% rated it highly relevant
Ran NN/g training across Product, UX, Engineering, and Change Management — shared language across functions, not design advocacy.
“She leads beyond the boundaries of her function – influencing direction, bringing stakeholders along, and translating design thinking into outcomes that resonate at the business level. She’s exactly the kind of person who raises the ceiling on what a team believes it can do.”
Case studies
01
Case study 1
AI-Driven SDLC Transformation
14 → 5 days · average feature cycle, before AI tooling vs. after
AI tooling & integration, strategic initiative ownership, enterprise leadership, design systems at scale.
02
Case study 2
Scaling AI-Driven SDLC Transformation to Enterprise Scope
5 → 0 · governance challenges resolved to zero open blockers at enterprise scale
Governance design, org enablement, infrastructure thinking
03
Case study 3
Building CBRE’s APAC UX Function from Zero
Org building, global team leadership, talent strategy
04
Case study 4
Standardisation of digital-gap research
6 domains · 40+ sub-activities mapped from 10 users in 2 weeks — now the segment standard
Framework invention, Research-to-roadmap, IA & Taxonomy
05
Case study 5
Platform enablement – UX Direction
Multi-product UX governance, global research, strategic planning, cross-functional alignment at scale
06
Case study 6
Operational Maturity & ROI
Design quality governance, centralized research repositories, UX operations & ROI measurement, governed AI adoption at scale
I measure my leadership by what keeps
working when I’m not in the room.
The teams retained. The governance ran on. The AI infrastructure is still shipping. That was the design.
Career history
CBRE Inc.: Senior Manager, Product User Experience
Role operating at Director-equivalent scope
May 2022 – To Date
Leading enterprise UX transformation across a global portfolio, embedding AI into the SDLC and building the organizational capability to sustain it.
60%
design-to-dev cycle compression
AI & Delivery
- Builder.io + Figma Make embedded in core workflows
- Zero-cost 100-seat Figma sandbox — doubled prototyping capacity
- Cross-functional AI councils aligned to go-to-market
Measurement & Impact
- UX measurement framework across 15 products
- AI-enhanced feedback tools lifted research adoption
- Strategic redesigns measurably improved satisfaction & engagement
Org & Talent
- 14-person design & research org across geographies
- 50 team members certified through structured L&D
- 30% faster time-to-market through process redesign
CBRE Inc.: Manager, User Experience
April 2020 – April 2022
0 → 20
team across 3 countries in <2 years
Building at scale
- 20-person UX team built from zero across India, China, Australia
- Global resource allocation across 3 lines of business
- Scalable structures for consistent delivery at enterprise standard
Product adoption
- Drove adoption through targeted cultural transformation
- Cross-functional partnerships embedded design into core dev process
- Market-specific design strategies lifted engagement across regions
Product leadership
- Owned UX for CBRE’s Property Management suite
- Led end-to-end design strategy, discovery through delivery
- Set design excellence standards across the portfolio
“As her manager, I’ve come to depend on Chaitanya’s tenacity and operational mindset. She leads her team with a tireless focus on delivering real value… currently overseeing our AI prototyping exploration and truly exemplifies what it means to be someone you can count on.”
Chris Quinn · Senior UX Director, CBRE
Direct manager · February 2026
Infosys Ltd.: Manager, User Experience
May 2018 – February 2020
10+
active accounts. Multi million-dollar revenue secured
Client growth
- 10+ active accounts, multi-million-dollar programs secured
- Landed NextEra, Tomra, and SCI as anchor clients
- Long-term partnerships beyond single projects
Team building
- Recruited and on-boarded 10+ UX professionals from scratch
- Built a net-new division’s foundational team
- Grew ICs into leadership through continuous L&D
Delivery
- End-to-end delivery across geographies and verticals
- Multiple concurrent multi-million-dollar programs, consistently on standard
- Reputation for quality that drove repeat account growth
“Chaitanya built and led global teams of UX designers and researchers. She nurtured talent and created a vibrant team culture… worked in partnership with cross-functional leaders to develop UX strategy, resourcing plans, and operational approaches.”
Laura Hahn · VP, CBRE
Direct manager · November 2023
Oracle: Senior Designer, User Experience
October 2016 – April 2018
$6B+
revenue product
Design leadership
- Set UX direction for a $6B+ enterprise cloud platform
- Embedded stakeholder feedback into every design cycle
- Connected UX outcomes directly to business strategy
Design systems
- Built Oracle’s first corporate UX design guidelines
- Created reusable pattern libraries and component architecture
- Cut design-to-dev handoff time across product lines
Research
- Introduced mixed-method research: card sorting, interviews, usability testing
- Shifted the team from assumption-based to insight-driven decisions
- Built research capability that outlasted the project
Independent Consultant & Founder
May 2015 – September 2016
3 countries
Client base in India, Vietnam and China
Founding the venture
- Left consulting to found a digital product & merchandise studio
- Delivered solo, end-to-end, across multiple client engagements
- Built proprietary products under a lean, one-person model
Craft & global grounding
- Built UX craft hands-on across India, Vietnam, and China
- Took on freelance digital-transformation work for local businesses
- Built the cross-cultural fluency that later shaped global team leadership
Earlier experience
Senior consultant, Oracle applications
2012 to 2015 – Infosys Ltd
- End-to-end Oracle CRM delivery, requirements through deployment
- Owned change management and stakeholder adoption
Consultant, Oracle applications
2007 to 2012 –Tech Mahindra
- Oracle SCM delivery: requirements, configuration, deployment
- Process improvements that built the foundation for the later move into UX
“Chaitanya for me has set a benchmark for what a manager and a leader should be. She has a level of emotional intelligence rarely found these days.”
Shravan Kohli · National Lead, Bajaj Finserv
Direct report · April 2023
What I bring
Experience & reach
- Global team leadership – built UX orgs across the USA, India, China, and Australia
- Enterprise at scale – 17+ years across CBRE, Infosys, and Oracle, incl. enterprise CRM delivery
- Organizational growth – scaled UX functions from zero to 20+ person global teams
- Measurable business impact – design decisions consistently tied to quantifiable outcomes
Differentiated capabilities
- Strategy and execution – set direction and deliver outcomes without delegating one for the other
- Organizational builder -builds teams and culture, not just design output
- Business fluency – translates design impact for C-level audiences
- AI and emerging tech – hands-on implementation and governance in enterprise contexts
- Global perspective – scales design while respecting local context
FAQs
TEAM BUILDING
How do you build and scale UX teams across different markets?
Built UX orgs from zero across the US, India, China, and Australia — to a 20-person global team. The method: hire for cultural fluency, set shared standards early, and grow people into leadership. Global consistency and local adaptation require each other, not a tradeoff.
BUSINESS IMPACT
What’s your approach to demonstrating UX ROI?
I scope UX into business cases before they’re submitted, present quarterly at the C-level, and negotiate tooling so capability grows faster than spend.
STAKEHOLDER ALIGNMENT
How do you handle stakeholder conflicts about design decisions?
Conflict usually means alignment happened too late — so I get there earlier: workshops at problem-framing, evidence-based presentations, and rapid prototypes that make disagreements concrete. When conflict does arise, I refocus everyone on shared outcomes, not competing preferences.
DELIVERY
How do you integrate UX research into fast-paced development cycles?
Dual-track delivery: discovery runs parallel to build, so research informs the next sprint instead of blocking it. Ran this across a 15-product portfolio at CBRE, mixing usability testing, interviews, and card sorting as each decision required. The goal is research that reduces rework — not research that adds process.
PEOPLE LEADERSHIP
What’s your strategy for mentoring and developing design talent?
Structured development frameworks, not informal mentorship. At CBRE this meant 50 team members reaching L&D targets, including NN/g AI certification, with clear IC-to-leadership pathways. I look for high potential and invest in coaching, challenge, and visibility — so people grow faster than the org chart suggests.
COLLABORATION
What’s your approach to cross-functional collaboration?
I operate as a connector across design, engineering, product, and business — not an advocate lobbying other functions. At CBRE I set up cross-functional product councils that embedded design into strategic planning, not just delivery. Relationships and shared accountability matter more than tools.
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
How do you adapt UX strategies for different cultural markets?
Cultural adaptation is a design problem — it deserves the same rigor as any other research challenge. I’ve learned this building teams across India, China, Australia, and the US: global consistency is the baseline, local insight is the override. The result is design that travels without losing relevance.
LEADERSHIP TRANSITION
How do you approach your first 90 days in a new leadership role?
Days 1–30: listen more than direct, mapping stakeholders, capability, and unspoken constraints. Days 30–60: build trust and land early wins without disrupting what’s working. By day 90: a clear point of view on where to invest and how to sequence it — shared with the people who need to co-own it.
PEOPLE LEADERSHIP
How do you lead a design team through restructuring?
Directly, without pretending it’s painless. People hear hard news from me first, not the rumor mill. Performance management is continuous, so no exit is a surprise. When a decision isn’t mine to reverse, my job is executing it with dignity and protecting the team that remains. Through two years of AI-driven restructuring, we had zero regretted attrition — the people we fought to keep, stayed.
OPEN TO OPPORTUNITIES
If my work resonates – let’s talk.
Strategic leadership, hands-on delivery and applying AI to real business & product challenges. If that’s the kind of thinking your team needs, I’d welcome the conversation.
BOOK A 30 MINUTE CALL