# Paola Sanmiguel, M.S. Design, Business and Technology > I help leaders turn AI into real organizational capability | AI Strategy, Adoption & Enablement | AI Transformation | AI Leadership Coach | Professor | ex-Google, ex-Salesforce Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/paolasanmiguelmsdesignbusiness My focus is on harnessing AI for UX research, product design, and driving revenue through innovative & responsible AI uses. I am committed to product definition and early-stage research to mitigate risk, streamline development and speed up delivery to market of products, services & experiences that users will love. As a Business Coach and Volunteer, I empower underrepresented founders, fostering globally impactful startups with product development and UX research expertise. My dual role as an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Arts allows me to mentor the next wave of product designers/developers & entrepreneurs, sharing insights into design research, strategy, and the startup ecosystem. ## Work Experience ### Founder & Principal @ CognivaLab Research Jan 2026 – Present | San Francisco Where decision-grade precision meets AI Speed. We are not a software vendor. We are a strategic research partner committed to decision-grade outcomes. CognivaLab Research builds AI-powered decision systems–expert-validated, senior-led, and designed to deliver defensible insights in days, not weeks. Built to compound, not end when the deck does. Most research engagements end when the deck is presented. Ours are designed differently. We build decision systems — not reports. Your team leaves with the AI tools, the validation processes, and the institutional knowledge to keep producing decision-grade insights long after our engagement ends. Fast insights are valuable. Defensible decision systems are durable. That’s strategic leverage. ### AI Transformation Leadership & Executive Coach @ Unknown Jan 2026 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area > AI Transformation Leadership Specializing in: > Leading like a Woman & a Latina in Tech. > Underrepresented Founders. > Leaders in Product & Innovation. ICF Leadership & Executive Coaching Certification candidate. ### StartUp Coach (Volunteer) @ Born Global Ventures Jan 2023 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area - Support under represented founders to deploy globally impactful startups, products & services. - Specializing in Product Development, UX Research, StartUps & innovation. ### Board Advisor (Former Board Member) @ Sunday Friends Foundation Jan 2022 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Create strategies & pipeline for sustainable economic empowerment programs to lift Latinx migrant community into prosperity. ### Adjunct Professor @ California College of the Arts Jan 2022 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Professor in the Interactive Design Department specializing in Design Research & Strategy, and Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Start-Ups. ### Advisor | Volunteer @ Hispanic Heritage Foundation Jan 2021 – Present | Los Angeles, California, United States >> LOFT Leadership Program Mentor >> Entrepreneurship & Innovation advising ### UX Research & Product Design @ Salesforce Jan 2022 – Jan 2026 | San Francisco, California, United States - Specializing in AI - Research for revenue generation - APIs & Integrations - Product definition & early stage research - Building & leveraging communities for research - Cross-platform collaboration - Metrics definition & enablement, VoC metrics. - Research enablement & thought leadership ### Designer, Freelance | Volunteer @ verynice Jan 2020 – Jan 2026 | Los Angeles, California, United States ### CPO & Co-Founder @ Scout | Privacy & Protection for Women Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Chief Product Office & Co-Founder Scout was designed by women for women to empower users to safely move in isolated spaces. With Scout running early in the morning or late at night is safe for women. As is showing real estate property without requiring a male colleague to accompany. We orchestrate privacy, security & emergency tools you already have in your devices & combine with instant communication to our community, the authorities & EMT operations. Scout gives women the power to determine who sees their information and for how long. You determine your emergency contacts and only they can access information if something occurs. ### Advisor, UX | Product | L&D @ Generation Connect, Inc. Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | Los Angeles Metropolitan Area ### Founder & CEO @ SprintAwesome Consulting Jan 2019 – Jan 2022 | Los Angeles, California >> User Experience Research & Design >> Product Testing & Trials >> Product Definition & Market Fit >> Product & Business Strategy >> Design Thinking & Innovation >> US | LATAM | EU | APAC ### Manager, Research & New Product Development (Global Product Solutions group) @ Verizon Jan 2014 – Jan 2019 | San Jose, CA >> Flexing into any stage of the product development life cycle (ideation, MVP, alpha/beta testing, launch), work on various product lines across all verticals: 5G, video, TV, IoT, mobile apps, augmented reality, hardware, and enterprise communications solutions. Promoted to build product testing program; transitioned to user research and product development as unit restructured and resources grew. >> Partner with engineering and product managers as an integral part of the product design cycle. Work directly with users (usability sessions, customer surveys/interviews) to surface actionable insights balancing user needs with business goals, seamlessly moving between the abstract and concrete, analyzing and synthesizing data, evaluating problems and patterns, and identifying opportunities to innovate and affect scalable change. >> Guide user-driven product design and development across a multibillion-dollar portfolio of high-end, high-visibility projects; 40% are in-market, netting $300M in revenue, 2017; 3 products were top priorities in their verticals. >> Designed infrastructure and process for alpha/beta product testing, working collaboratively on 3-person team. Created workflow for transparent, end-to-end error tracking and improvement. >> Served as key contributor in the creation of a Forrester-Awarded "Best-in-Class" Customer Experience Design Team. ### Sr. Curriculum Designer, Customer Experience @ Intel Media Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Santa Clara, CA Joined with carte blanche to design an innovative CX curriculum to support development and deployment of a disruptive online product, working in a fluid startup environment, quickly adjusting to shifting product specs and evolving business plans. Partnered with product, marketing, and operations. Executed beta testing; Verizon acquired project before product launch. >> Enriched product design and development by re-imagining the ultimate, people-centric, customer-support experience. >> Conducted extensive CX/UX research and designed brand new CX curriculum to ensure talented support teams and remarkable customer experiences with new product launch. >> Employed empathy and immersion training to uncover triggers and narratives that drive customer behavior, enabling reps to engage with customers on more complex levels to deliver genuine, solutions-based customer support. >> Designed curriculum with an autonomy, mastery, and purpose approach to motivate CX reps intrinsically; also, integrated career development to expand capabilities and opportunities, boosting job satisfaction and service. ### Google Sabbatical @ Google Sabbatical Jan 2010 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Bay Area >> Mentor. Year Up mentoring program for underrepresented urban youth, San Francisco, CA >> Mentor and Coach, Stanford’s Living Strong, Living Well program for Cancer Survivors. Palo Alto, CA >> Natural Chef & Nutritionist. Bauman Culinary College, Berkeley, CA >> Apprentice, Three Stone Hearth. Local, Organic & Seasonal Cuisine Cooperative, Berkeley, CA >> Program Lead, Family YMCA of Palo Alto, CA >> Team in Training, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Silicon Valley. San Jose,CA >> Ironman Triathlon training, Mountain View, CA ### Lead Global Trainer, Google AdSense @ Google Jan 2005 – Jan 2009 | Mt. View, CA Promoted to instill structure, discipline, and strong customer focus into a previously ad hoc training program for Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. Working in a cross-functional environment of rapid transformation, created a self-sustaining, self-improving training program and developed trainers to build customer experience teams to support users in 50+ countries. >> Advanced new product in global markets by facilitating exceptional customer experiences, leveraging design-thinking mindset, deliberate communication, and an ever-growing understanding of user needs and ecosystems. >> Mobilized engagement and optimized productivity with new communications structure that bridged cultural differences, deepened collaboration, and mitigated miscommunication among multi-lingual, global teams. >> Created customer rep shadowing program with certificate of completion for internal tools engineers to foster empathy and a direct understanding of customer pain points to drive improvements in product design while opening lines of communication between engineers and end-users. ### Customer Service Associate & New Hire Trainer, Google AdSense @ Google Jan 2004 – Jan 2005 | Mt. View, CA Revamped new-hire training and improved the CX during a period of explosive growth, working with the Online Sales and Operations Group. Uncovered customer quality issues and communicated insights to product development team. >> Provided feedback to drive improvements in product development by identifying front-line user issues and needs. >> Designed adaptable, iterative new-hire training curriculum that shortened the training-to-productivity cycle, saved costs, improved employee integration and engagement, and generated higher retention and satisfaction rates. ### Localization Lead, Google AdSense @ Google Jan 2003 – Jan 2004 | Mt. View, CA Recruited to AdSense's International Operations Group as the first CX Associate with charter to launch new advertising product into all Spanish-speaking markets (27 countries in Latin America and Europe). Worked jointly with legal, policy, marketing, product, and engineering teams. Became a policy SME and was promoted in 6 months. >> Shaped AdSense's early product development and launch through operational and product improvements. >> Identified product/market trends and customer issues and escalated these to product and engineering teams. >> Directed all product translation and cultural adaptation efforts for Spanish-speaking markets, championing true localization of policies and culturally appropriate content to serve users locally. (Native Spanish speaker.) ### Instructional Designer and Graduate Teaching Fellow, Media Studies Department @ University of Virginia Jan 2001 – Jan 2003 | Charlottesville, VA Co-designed Intro to Media Studies course. Defined teaching methodology and conceptualized all assignments. Taught several Media Studies and History courses. Developed undergraduate students’ analytical thinking and writing skills. ## Education ### Master of Science - MS in Integrated Design, Business & Technology University of Southern California ### Executive Certification in Generative AI, Agentic AI, Data Science & AI Business Strategy Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering ### ICF Leadership Coaching Certification in Organizational Leadership The Coaching Academy for Leaders ### d. School Executive Education Innovation Master Series in Design Thinking Methods & Practice Stanford University ### Doctoral Candidate in Science, Technology & Society University of Virginia ### Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political & Social Thought / English Language and Literature University of Virginia ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/paolas --- Source: https://flows.cv/paolasanmiguelmsdesignbusiness JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/paolasanmiguelmsdesignbusiness/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-08