# Thomas Sola > Head of Design · Enterprise Systems · Platform Architecture · AI-Enabled Products · Life Sciences Location: Petaluma, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/thomassola I work with founders and executive teams to convert strategic intent into system structure, shaping interaction models, workflows, and platform foundations that scale. Enterprise systems, platform architecture, and AI-enabled products in regulated industries are my focus. I build and lead design capability while staying hands-on. Open to founding or early design leadership roles at AI-first startups. ## Work Experience ### Principal User Experience Designer @ Veeva Systems Jan 2025 – Jan 2026 | San Francisco Bay Area Defined AI integration architecture across enterprise CRM in regulated life sciences, working across product teams with distributed ownership. • Established system-level interaction patterns for AI across CRM modules, including pre-call preparation, compliance checking, and voice-based capture • Partnered with executive stakeholders to define product vision and direction, delivering the platform's first AI features from strategy to shipped product ### Sr. Director, User Experience @ Aktana Jan 2023 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area Continued product leadership of the Tact platform through acquisition while taking on redesign of the broader Aktana product suite. • Led rebrand and unification of disparate Aktana products into a coherent, customer-centric experience • Drove usability-focused redesign across the suite, establishing visual and interaction consistency across previously disconnected tools • Maintained continuity of product vision through the transition from Tact to Aktana Copilot, ensuring design integrity carried through the platform evolution ### Head of UX @ Tact.ai Jan 2019 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco Bay Area Led design across AI-driven CRM platform spanning iOS, Android, Windows, and web. Worked directly with the CEO as a product leadership peer, translating customer needs and business direction into product vision and roadmap. • Reframed product architecture from database-oriented navigation to workflow-driven, user-centered design — a structural shift that transformed the product from a generic CRM UI into a purpose-built engagement app for pharma sales reps • Designed conversational and AI-assisted interaction models emphasizing structured outputs over chat interfaces • Unified fragmented workflows into a coherent system, improving usability and driving positive customer reception and sales impact • Built and led design team while remaining hands-on in complex areas including accessibility and system coherence ### Senior Vice President of Product Design & Strategy @ TalentSky, Inc. Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco, California, United States • Assumed product leadership responsibilities in partnership with the COO and CEO following departure of Head of Product • Contributed to board presentations and investor materials, joining sessions to present product vision and roadmap ### Vice President of User Experience @ TalentSky, Inc. Jan 2016 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area • Scaled design practice, hired and mentored team • Led GDPR compliance response in partnership with legal and engineering ### Director of UX @ TalentSky, Inc. Jan 2014 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco • First design hire — built product, design practice, and design-first culture from scratch • Designed multi-sided platform with AI-powered skill structuring and verification • Established accessibility as a foundational requirement from day one ### Sr Director of UX @ AppMesh Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | San Francisco Recruited by former Salesforce colleagues to lead UX for SalesMesh, a mobile sales application built on top of Salesforce. Drove a ground-up redesign focused on workflow-driven interaction design over database-oriented navigation, an approach I would later apply at scale at Tact.ai. · Led interaction and visual design across iOS and web · Hired and mentored first junior designer · Established user-centered design practice in a startup environment ### Architect, Platform UX & Engineering @ Salesforce.com Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 First designer promoted to Architect-level at Salesforce. Partnered directly with engineering to uphold universal design principles through code reviews, improving accessibility and consistency across the product suite. · Founded UX & Engineering team focused on accessible, reusable components · Served as sole UX and accessibility contributor to the Aura framework, defining interaction behavior and feel for what became the foundation of Salesforce's component architecture ### Principal User Interface Designer & Accessibility Specialist @ Salesforce.com Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | San Francisco First designer promoted to Principal-level at Salesforce. · Established company-wide accessibility standards and developer education program · Operated as technical contributor, partnering closely with engineering on standards-based HTML, CSS, and JavaScript ### Lead User Interface Designer @ Salesforce.com Jan 2009 – Jan 2011 | San Francisco · Pioneered Salesforce's first iPad dashboard app, achieving the highest user rating of any Salesforce product on the App Store at the time · Led accessibility initiatives in absence of dedicated lead; helped recruit and onboard first Head of Accessibility ### Principal User Experience Designer @ Computer Associates Jan 2009 – Jan 2009 | Petaluma, California, United States Contributed to UX redesign of CA's Clarity PPM enterprise project management product, focusing on usability evaluation, interaction design, and accessible front-end prototyping. ### Lead Usability & User Interface Engineer @ Qualys Jan 2001 – Jan 2009 | Redwood City, California, United States Sole designer for eight years at a growing security SaaS startup, responsible for all aspects of user experience and interface design for QualysGuard. Grew with the company from early stage through significant scale, driving multiple redesigns along the way. · Led complete rebuild of the product as a true web application — restructuring information architecture, front-end code, and content layout across the entire platform · Presented at annual user conferences and monthly company-wide meetings, reporting on design direction and user research · Educated development team on UI principles, semantic HTML, and CSS, establishing front-end standards · Partnered with senior management on product direction through PRD planning cycles ### Senior User Interface Designer @ Lendx Jan 2000 – Jan 2001 | San Francisco, California, United States Designer and front-end developer for web-based equipment finance and RFP management applications. Led transition from legacy interfaces to a modern web application — one of the earliest examples of that approach in the industry at the time. ### Senior User Interface Designer @ payMe Jan 1999 – Jan 2000 | Sunnyvale, California, United States Employee #1. Recruited by the founder to create the company's complete identity and user experience — naming the company, designing the logo, and building the product from scratch. Launched a person-to-person payments application within two months. Product and brand transitioned through acquisition by PayMyBills. ### Web Designer @ LinkExchange / Microsoft bCentral Jan 1998 – Jan 1999 Unified UI across LinkExchange's thirteen products into a single dashboard experience. Produced the integration model for folding LinkExchange into the Microsoft look and feel following acquisition — work presented to Bill Gates by LinkExchange leadership. ### Director of 3D Design @ Telepresence, Inc. Jan 1993 – Jan 1996 Led 3D animation and design team. Work nominated for a 1994 Emmy Award. ## Education ### Dual Major in Psychology & Studio Art in Minor in Creative Writing UMass Boston ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tsola - Portfolio: https://www.thomassola.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/thomassola JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/thomassola/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13