# Azeez Alli-Balogun > Chief Product and Design Officer at XQ Institute - Previously Netflix, IBM Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/azeez Azeez Alli-Balogun is a product executive, designer , and strategist working at the intersection of culture, technology, and social transformation. He leads teams that turn vision into systems—building the tools, stories, and products that help institutions evolve and communities thrive. Throughout his career, Azeez has treated design as an instrument for clarity, coherence, and change. His work explores how creativity, data, and human understanding can align to shape organizations, products, and movements that last. Known for bridging disciplines and people, he brings together the rigor of product strategy and the depth of cultural insight to help organizations move from intention to impact. As Chief Product, Design, and Creative Officer at XQ Institute, Azeez leads the organization’s product innovation and creative strategy—bringing together educators, technologists, and designers to reimagine what high school can be. His portfolio spans collaborations across education, technology, and culture, including work with Netflix, IBM, and Àrokò Cooperative, the design studio he co-founded to advance liberatory and indigenous approaches to design. Rooted in the belief that design is a practice of care, Azeez’s leadership emphasizes clarity, empathy, and imagination. He builds cultures of creative excellence that honor both craft and community—centering purpose, experimentation, and impact in equal measure. A first-generation Nigerian American from Louisiana, Azeez now calls Oakland home—a place that mirrors his practice: diverse, dynamic, and deeply human. ## Work Experience ### Chief Product and Design Officer @ XQ Institute Jan 2025 – Present Lead a cross-disciplinary team of product, engineering, design, brand, and creative to accelerate innovation at XQ Institute. Responsible for defining product strategy, launching new digital tools and experiences, and building the organizational capabilities to scale educational transformation. Steward the XQ brand to ensure consistency and resonance across storytelling, technology, and design—delivering products and experiences that inspire and equip change-makers—educators, students, and communities—to reimagine the future of American high schools. ### Head of Product Design @ XQ Institute Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 Established the product design function and developed the experience design strategy strategy for XQ’s digital educational tools, prioritizing user-centered experiences that align with the mission of reimagining high school education. Oversee product and experience design across a portfolio of 10 products. Accelerated the output of new prototypes, tools, and resources that reflect XQ's transformative approach to education, positioning the organization as an innovator in EdTech. Increased the pace of generating insights for product and curriculum development, enhancing strategic alignment with educational goals and responding to market needs. Cultivated a diverse network of developers, makers, and co-creators, integrating their expertise to enrich the XQ community and broaden the scope of collaborative innovation. Established a scalable GTM framework for XQ’s offerings, working with Product, Engineering, and Marketing teams to drive awareness, adoption, and user advocacy among target audiences. Presented regularly to the board, articulating design strategies and product impact, aligning executive insights with strategic initiatives, and fostering support for key educational products. ### Co-Founder / President @ Árokó Cooperative Jan 2020 – Present ### Principal Product Designer @ Netflix Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 Led design for globalization tools, optimizing workflows and enhancing user experience across international markets through close collaboration with Product, Engineering, and Localization teams. Strengthened global user engagement by applying user insights and data analytics to tailor UX design across diverse regions, ensuring a cohesive and high-quality experience. Drove strategic design decisions and cross-functional alignment that supported Netflix’s global expansion, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement in key markets. ### Senior Advisor | Product Strategy @ The Institute of Black Imagination Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 ### Founder & Creative Director @ Critical Discourse in Design Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 Critical Discourse in Design is a social forum that explores Design and its social implications through the lens of Pedagogy, People and Practice. ### Lead Product Designer @ IBM Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 Lead and coached a cross-functional team of designers and researches on projects for a range of business automation products on IBM's Data, A.I. and Cloud Integration team. ### Design Director @ Script Health Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 Founding product designer. Lead the end to end product, UI/UX and service design for an on-line exchange that expands access to treatment for opioid addiction patients in rural areas. Designed and rapidly executed qualitative research plans and synthesized insights that defined long-term product vision and strategy. Designed and established full brand identity, recruited and managed team of contract workers. ### Lead Product Designer @ Idealab Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Pasadena CA Contract work for AiPod, an autonomous mobility start-up within Idealab’s portfolio of companies. Helped establish a strategy for product development through human-centered research in urban mobility and AV technology. Defined, executed, analyzed and interpreted qualitative research, leveraging insights to contextualize product design and developed pitch decks and product stories. Designed and established a brand identity system that was implemented across company communications. ### Senior Industrial Designer @ Stuller, Inc. Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | Lafayette, Louisiana Area Designed and developed jewelry collections from concept to creation that lead to a 110% increase in sales revenue. Developed and wrote trend reports which were used to inform product line creation, and established a process to, capture, catalog and visually represent insights from trend and market analysis. ### Associate industrial Designer @ Stuller, Inc. Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 ### Visual Merchandising Manager @ Gap Jan 2006 – Jan 2011 ## Education ### Master of Science (M.S.) in Industrial Design ArtCenter College of Design ### Footwear Design and CMF Pensole Footwear Design Academy ### Bachelor of Science - BS in Industrial Design University of Louisiana at Lafayette ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/azeezalli --- Source: https://flows.cv/azeez JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/azeez/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05