# Harsh Wardhan > Innovation & Transformation Leader | Google | Design Thinking, AI, & Experience Strategy Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/harshwardhan I use Design Thinking as a leadership discipline to help organizations navigate ambiguity, adopt new technologies, and deliver meaningful customer and business outcomes. My experience spans both legacy, asset-heavy organizations and fast-moving technology platforms, giving me a grounded perspective on how innovation scales. Over the past decade, I’ve applied this approach across innovation and transformation work with enterprise leaders, from shaping future strategy to driving adoption of cloud technology and AI solutions at scale. I focus on turning insight into action: aligning executives, teams, and technology around outcomes that stick. At Google Cloud, I lead high-complexity, C-level engagements where Design Thinking is used to accelerate decision-making, de-risk AI adoption, and translate ambition into executable roadmaps. I work closely with sales, engineering, and customer experience teams to ensure innovation moves from concept to delivery. Increasingly, my work focuses on building the systems, operating models, and experience frameworks that allow innovation to scale sustainably over time, from pilot programs and playbooks to measurable adoption and long-term value creation. My leadership style is rooted in influence, leading cross-functional teams in environments where trust and credibility matter more than titles. I enjoy working at the intersection of Design Thinking, innovation, and transformation, helping organizations imagine what’s next and make it real. ## Work Experience ### Innovation Manager @ Google Jan 2023 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Lead high-complexity, executive-level customer engagements for Fortune 500 organizations, applying Design Thinking as a structured approach to decision-making, alignment, and transformation. Use human-centered, systems-led methods to de-risk AI and cloud adoption, translating strategic ambition into executable roadmaps and pilot programs. Partner closely with sales, customer engineering, product, and delivery teams to ensure innovation moves from concept to implementation. Shape AI-enabled solution narratives and experience strategies, contributing to GenAI and LLM-based initiatives launched in 2023–2024. Act as a trusted advisor to senior customer stakeholders, guiding organizations through ambiguity, change, and large-scale transformation. ### Innovation Program Lead @ Google Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 | United States Led 50+ C-level innovation and transformation engagements globally, directly influencing $XXXM+ in committed value and $XXM+ in revenue. Created and scaled a flagship, design-led innovation program used across the Americas, EMEA, and LatAm, embedding Design Thinking into enterprise sales and delivery motions. Built playbooks, operating models, and scalable engagement frameworks to move innovation from bespoke workshops to repeatable impact. Mentored and guided cross-functional contributors, providing senior oversight on program design, delivery quality, and evolution of the offering. ### Solution Innovation & Design Lead - Cloud Solution Studio, Google Cloud @ Google Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | United States Designed end-to-end user and service experiences for enterprise-grade cloud and AI solutions, balancing human needs, technical feasibility, and business constraints. Conducted deep customer research and co-creation workshops with C-suite and senior leaders to identify high-impact use cases across industries, including healthcare, retail, and financial services. Partnered closely with solution managers, engineers, and product teams to synthesize insights into concrete solution architectures, experience concepts, and working prototypes. Built customer-facing demos and narratives to make complex cloud and AI capabilities understandable, actionable, and compelling for executive audiences. ### Design Strategist - Product Design Team, D-Ford @ Ford Motor Company Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Greater Chicago Area Led design-led innovation and future strategy initiatives for Ford’s heritage brands, working at the intersection of foresight, product strategy, and systems transformation. Partnered directly with the Chief Strategist to shape the 2030 future vision for iconic global vehicle brands, translating long-term foresight into actionable strategic direction. Led interdisciplinary teams across design, engineering, planning, and marketing to align human-centered insights with technical feasibility and business constraints. Helped establish design principles and strategic guardrails that informed long-term portfolio decisions across products and services. Applied Design Thinking and systems design to explore now, near, and far innovation opportunities across products, services, and mobility experiences. Designed and facilitated executive and senior-leadership workshops to align stakeholders around future scenarios, strategic trade-offs, and innovation priorities. Synthesized complex research inputs, customer insights, cultural trends, technology signals, and market forces into clear narratives, design principles, and opportunity areas. Acted as a connective bridge between long-term foresight and the realities of large-scale product and organizational systems. ### Design Strategy Consultant @ Finablr (Via Anijo Mathew Faculty Consulting) Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Chicago, Illinois, United States Designed and prototyped a scalable innovation system for a global financial services platform, spanning research, user journeys, engagement models, and collaboration frameworks. Codified the approach into an Innovation Playbook to support adoption, iteration, and long-term capability building, working closely with senior stakeholders to deliver within tight timelines. ### Design Researcher @ UI Health Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Greater Chicago Area Joint research project, UIC Institute of Healthcare Delivery Design in partnership with IIT Institute of Design and Steelcase. Alpha-Beta-Clinic is the Institute’s testing pipeline in which new concepts are reviewed and refined through a three stage progression: early stage concepts are evaluated and improved on by patients and clinical staff in a lab setting (alpha); refined concepts are tested in situ in exam rooms located in a clinical research space, using remote video ethnography to build evidence that concepts are promoting a desired behavioral/performance change (beta); finished models are tested at scale in an outpatient setting in which patients, staff and clinicians are using the solutions in an everyday context (clinic). The end result is evidence-based designs that are shown to change care experiences between patients and providers. The target is understanding the role of healthcare furniture and space to improve patient/provider interactions and better position patients as partners in their care. ### Research Assistant @ IIT Institute of Design Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Chicago, Illinois, United States Conducted research and synthesis for 2019 Pathways Study, which was jointly initiated by IIT Institute of Design and Sylver Consulting along with the industry partners Capital One, Ford, Google, Philips, Salesforce, and VMLY&R. The study resulted in a report published by IIT Institute of Design - "Lead With Purpose." which was featured in articles by Fortune and Fast Company. The report seeks to reveal the functional role design can play in achieving business and organizational success.­­ Featured in Fortune, February 3, 2020: https://fortune.com/2020/02/03/corporate-design-strategy-integration/ Featured in Fast Company, April 21, 2020 https://www.fastcompany.com/90487486/we-know-design-matters-to-business-heres-how-to-leverage-it ### Research Assistant @ IIT Institute of Design Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Greater Chicago Area Conducted research and created prototypes for exploring the potential value of intelligent agents and artificial intelligence to optimize the user experience of the dCAPE (digital CHICAGO Asthma Plan for Everyone) application. This project aims to support caregivers in identifying and avoiding the risk of asthma attacks in children. We are analyzing secondary literature on intelligent agent interaction, conducting primary research with participants, and developing concepts and prototypes. ### Design Research Consultant @ Convene Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Greater Chicago Area Conducted primary research with the in-house research-strategy and the real estate team to define opportunity areas for the upcoming Convene locations in Chicago. ### Design Strategy & User Experience Consultant @ Convene Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Greater New York City Area Partnered with the scenario planning project team to devise customer experience concepts for the future of the workplace. Collaborated with the Product Manager and Computer Engineers, Performed interviews and contextual inquiries to understand user behavior and needs, Developed a framework to perform the analysis of the current version of their digital product, Created strategies and design recommendations for the next update. ### Graduate Teaching Assistant @ Illinois Institute of Technology Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Greater Chicago Area Graduate Teaching Assistant for the subject of Digital Service Design. Mentored students on the topic of using Human-Centered Design for innovation in the digital space, assisted the instructors with design critique sessions and course administration. ### Co-Chair for NetworkID @ IIT Institute of Design Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Greater Chicago Area Worked with NetworkID team to enhance the networking experience of ID students with alumni and industry leaders in design roles. Established connection with companies to organize and facilitate design studio tours, meetings and interactions. ### Design Lead @ SCRA2CH MEDIA Private Limited Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | Jamshedpur Area, India - Designed the user experience for Scra2ch(dot)com, a website that would be accessed by around 20,000 nail-artists from around the world. - Co-created the experience strategy for the company. Website launch resulted in a five-fold increase in the online community size of Scra2ch. ### Co-Founder, Principal Designer @ Teepot Studio Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 | India - Created user experience for Android applications and responsive websites based on the research. - Co-led primary research to inform product design development. - Designed brand identities for startups & companies. Developed 360 degrees VR experiences for architectural and interior design projects. ### Architect @ Architecture Autonomous - India Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Torda, Goa, India Design and planning, 3D Visualization, Concept development. ### User Experience Lead @ 11 MONKS TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED Jan 2012 – Jan 2014 UX/UI Design, developing brand identity for various Android applications, and graphics design for social media marketing of the same. Highlight: chelseaseason.com, Game Has Just Begun, My Net Wealth ### Design Consultant @ Grids Consultants Jan 2011 – Jan 2014 | Ranchi Area, India Worked as an architectural and elevation designer for 85+ residential and commercial projects. ## Education ### Master's degree in Design Research, Strategy & Innovation Institute of Design (ID) ### Disruptive Innovation Strategy Harvard Business School ### Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) in Architectural Design Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hwardhan - Portfolio: https://www.hwardhan.com - Portfolio: https://www.wespeakinnovation.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/harshwardhan JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/harshwardhan/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-25