# Changying Zheng > Operations & AI Enablement Leader | Scaling Teams, Systems, and Execution at Global Scale | Leading Product Experience Operations @Cloudflare Empowering Human Values Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/changying People | Process | Tooling I am an operations leader focused on building scalable, human-centered systems at the intersection of product, design, and emerging technology. I specialize in helping organizations grow with clarity by aligning people, processes, and execution. At Cloudflare, I lead Product Experience Operations across design, research, and content, supporting a global organization at enterprise scale. I have grown and operationalized teams through periods of rapid growth, ambiguity, and transformation, partnering closely with senior product and engineering leaders to drive execution and organizational health. Over the past year, my work has increasingly focused on AI enablement. Not tool adoption, but operational readiness. This includes AI literacy, workflow redesign, decision frameworks, and governance that help teams use AI responsibly and effectively at scale. I am open to executive operations leadership roles, including VP of Operations, COO-type roles, or Chief of Staff to CEOs of responsible AI companies, where scaling responsibly is as important as scaling quickly. Where I do my thinking: https:www.changyingart.com Practical tips: https://changying.substack.com/ Join Ops Forward Community: https://discord.gg/Gr3ZsxfGuWhere I recharge as a creative Art: https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/2188563 Current project: https://slipshot.io ## Work Experience ### Founding Member @ Design Leaders Community Jan 2023 – Present Design Leaders Community is uniting diverse and passionate individuals to create an exceptional peer-to-peer design and innovation leadership community, catered for top-level leaders. Through open communication, shared knowledge, and collective problem-solving, they drive excellence in innovation and design, with the aim of shaping industries, transforming societies, and creating a better future for all. As a founding member of the Design Leaders Community, I've joined to actively influence and shape the community's evolution. ### Adjunct Professor @ Higher Education (Various Universities) Jan 2012 – Present California College of the Arts (CCA) Adjunct II Professor, Graduate Interaction Design Program Teaching Leadership by Design course. Academy of Art University (AAU) Teach and write a wide range of courses from VR/AR projects, Front End Development/Coding, UX, visual design to high-level design thinking approaches Advise on MFA thesis development and MA portfolio development Cañada College Adjunct Professor (Business and New Media) Teaching Web Design II University of San Francisco (USF) Adjunct Professor (Art+Architect Department) Teaching a wide range of courses Adjunct Professor (School of Education) Teaching Design Thinking for Educators ### Head of Product Experience Operations @ Cloudflare Jan 2022 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area I lead Product Experience Operations at Cloudflare, partnering with PX leadership to design and scale a high-impact, future-ready operating model across design, research, and content. During my tenure, the organization has tripled in size and expanded support across all product lines. My work sits at the intersection of operations leadership, organizational design, and AI enablement. I help teams scale with clarity by building systems that strengthen execution, decision-making, and quality. Increasingly, this includes enabling responsible, practical use of AI in day-to-day work, ensuring emerging technologies enhance judgment and craft rather than fragment culture or standards. Key areas of leadership include: -AI enablement and capability building Driving responsible AI adoption across the PX organization. Recently led hands-on “vibe-coding” training for designers, covering environment setup, databases, and MCP fundamentals, helping teams move from experimentation to real operational leverage. -Operational and strategic leadership Partnering with senior leaders to define operating models, priorities, and execution rhythms that support scale and cross-functional alignment. -Team growth and talent systems Designing career frameworks, capacity planning, and performance systems that support sustainable growth and clarity at scale. -Workflow, tooling, and process design Establishing workflows and tooling strategies that balance speed, quality, and long-term maintainability. -Quality, impact, and visibility Creating mechanisms to make work more visible, measurable, and aligned to business outcomes. ### Director of Product Operations @ Cloudflare Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 Support the product organization across core product, product experience, and business functions, while overseeing product finance operations, tooling strategy, and vendor partnerships. ### Principal DesignOps Manager @ Cloudflare Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 ### Lead Product Designer | Transformation Products @ VMware Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area (Acquisition of Pivotal Software, Inc.) Leading SaaS product development (focus IT, DevOps internal tooling), building strong partnerships across disciplines, advocating and strengthening the design practice across multiple groups (Lab, R&D, IPS, Marketing, Doc). ### Associate Director (School of Interaction & UI/UX Design) @ Academy of Art University Jan 2015 – Jan 2018 Associate Director, Interaction & UI/UX Design (Formerly: School of Web Design and New Media-WNM) Served as an operation and academic leader to nearly 800 students. Manage ~80 full-time and part-time faculty. Oversee the department's strategy and day-to-day operation. Develop the MA program, which currently comprises over 50% of WNM's enrollment. Support and coach a world-class faculty from the design and tech industries. » Oversaw department strategy and operation » Collaborated and oversaw all curriculum development within the department (WASC compliance) » Developed the MA program, which currently consists of over 50% of the department’s enrollment » Strengthen operational systems and processes to improve communication and decision-making » Coaching part-time instructors ### VP of Product & Design @ Coscient Jan 2012 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area Lead a team of designers, front-end developers, engineers, copywriters, interaction designers, UX designers, and product managers collaborating on client projects in this independent design consultant agency. With a focus on Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach, our projects demonstrate significant customer and business impact while considering every aspect of the user journey. Our team employs the agile process and delivers unique solutions that address the customers' needs—consulted companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Specialize in transformation for health care and education sectors. » Build organizational staff capacity, develop processes that ensure organization runs smoothly » Execute fiscal year plan and hit production goals while staying under budget » Assess and analyze risk associated with organizational strategies and growth opportunities » Conceptualizing and developing products with client (consulting) » Mentor and coach design managers and designers ### President | COO @ Maggiemudd Jan 2001 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Bay Area As an entrepreneur, my team developed alternative, sustainable, and health-oriented products. We were proudly diverse. As the co-founder and president of an award-winning wholesale and retail dairy-free company, I lead product and operations efforts. I successfully grew the startup business with regional distribution. Over ten years in operation, I led the development of multiple product lines. A problem-solver, I support all operational aspects of the company to improve team communication, remove roadblocks, and ensure the team members can spend their time focusing on their work. Main responsibilities »Growing Business (Set business strategy, build team culture) »Manage day-to-day operations (Oversaw finance, procurement, vendor relationship, sales and marketing) ### Sr. Interactive Art Director @ Various companies Jan 1996 – Jan 2004 | San Francisco Bay Area In this period, I've worked with multiple companies (full-time and/or contracting) in my capacity as the senior art director. I oversee creative projects with a team of designers, copywriters, front-end developers, and account managers working on client projects ranging from Silicon Valley startups to Fortune 500 companies. Growing the design team. Companies I worked for/with Loomis Group McCann Worldgroup Pearson Branded Liquid Thinking | Phoenix Pop Miller Huber | Lowe Live Once Smurfit-Stone | Design and Marketing Lab ## Education ### Master of Arts - MA in Educational Technology (Digital Technologies for Teaching and Learning) University of San Francisco ### Bachelor of Fine Arts - BFA in Graphic Design California College of the Arts ### Oxford Women's Leadership Development Programme Saïd Business School, University of Oxford ### Bachelor of Science - BS in Scientific English as a Foreign Language Xidian University ### Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders Certificate Yale School of Management ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/changyingz - Website: https://changyingart.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/changying JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/changying/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-08