Harsha Vemulapalli
Scaling design from a service function to a strategic driver of business outcomes.
I transform design organizations. Over 25 years across Siemens, Amazon, VMware, GM, CARFAX, Bosch, and CDC, I've repeatedly taken design teams from tactical execution to strategic business partners—growing teams from 4 to 140 people while delivering measurable outcomes at every stage.
Currently leading 70-person global team at Siemens across UX Strategy, Design, Research, Content Design, Visual Design, and Taxonomy. Managing transformation across industrial automation and digital industries business units, establishing design thinking across product, engineering, and marketing organizations.
I'm exploring leadership opportunities at organizations navigating transformation—whether scaling design from tactical to strategic, implementing design systems at enterprise scale, or building design capabilities in complex, regulated environments.
Transformation Track Record
Siemens Director, Experience Design & Research
Leading enterprise-wide UX modernization across 100,000+ product SKUs in Siemens' complex B2B portfolio. Evolved design system for 3,000+ internal creators and agency partners across 150+ digital properties. Led AI-powered product finder delivering 10% conversion increase and 15% engagement lift. Built AI research agent reducing time-to-insight by 20%.
Amazon Senior Manager, UX Smart Vehicle
Co-led design strategy for Amazon's next-gen in-vehicle platform integrating commerce, media, and personalization. Directed 13-person team across vehicle systems and cloud services. Introduced lean UX processes increasing collaboration and reducing delivery timelines by 12%.
VMware Senior Director, User Experience
Led design transformation for VMware's internal employee experience serving 35,000+ users. Modernized SAP-powered CPQ platform, reducing time-on-task by 30% and enabling subscription-to-SaaS transformation. Built 75-person distributed team across Palo Alto, Sofia, and Bangalore. Re-platformed post-COVID systems maintaining 75%+ CSAT while reducing support load by 20%.
CARFAX Director, UX and Research
Directed end-to-end redesign of vehicle history report experience, achieving 7% conversion lift and reducing dev churn by 26%. Established repeatable research cadence and design process improving brand consistency. Led 30-person team across UX, research, graphic design, and operations.
Robert Bosch Head of Experience Design, North America
Built Bosch's internal design consultancy serving automotive, power tools retail, and IoT product lines. Led AI/ML-powered infotainment platform design balancing innovation, safety, and adoption. Drove service design initiatives saving $6M. Scaled 120-person organization across six North American locations.
General Motors User Experience Manager
Led research, UX, visual design, and front-end development for connected vehicle ecosystems across seven global brands. Designed unified design system launching seven global mobile apps in 23 languages within one year. Created mobile revenue stream exceeding $1M in first year. Led 140-person team across Detroit and Austin.
Centers for Disease Control UX and Analytics Manager
Designed and launched CDC's first mobile app and responsive website under HIPAA compliance and Section 508 accessibility standards. Increased HIV testing conversions by 70% through optimized user flows. Built enterprise measurement framework for data-driven decisions at national scale.
How Design Drives Outcomes
I don't just manage designers—I establish the conditions for design to influence business strategy:
Design Literacy Programs
Training product managers, engineers, and executives to think in terms of user outcomes, not features. At Siemens, established design governance frameworks across 5,000+ pages and federated business units.
Cross-Functional Operating Models
Where design has clear decision rights and influence at roadmap planning stages. At VMware, created centralized experience scorecard and measurement frameworks adopted company-wide.
Metrics Frameworks
Connecting design decisions to business outcomes: 30% time-on-task reduction (VMware), 10% conversion + 15% engagement (Siemens), 70% testing conversions (CDC), 7% conversion lift (CARFAX), $6M savings (Bosch), $1M+ revenue (GM).
Talent Development
Clear career paths and executive promotion readiness. Built mentorship programs, design critiques, and psychological safety practices fostering creativity and collaboration.
Key Metrics
CPQ
VMware
HIVTesting
CDC
Logistics Service Design
Bosch
MyChevrolet...
General Motors
Xcelerator Marketplace
Siemens
Global Site Redesign
Siemens
General Motors
Siemens
AI Integration Research
Completing 12-month research initiative examining AI adoption in enterprise UX organizations. 80 in-depth design leader interviews and 800+ practitioner survey responses exploring how design teams navigate AI transformation while maintaining human-centered practice.
Building frameworks for design teams to leverage AI tools effectively—from AI-assisted prototyping (Figma Make) to research automation (Microsoft Copilot agents) to conversational UX design. Currently developing AI research agent enabling teams to query validated insights through natural language.
Thought Leadership
- "Leading Teams through AI"
Panel Speaker, UX Researchers' Guild, Dec 2025 - "Forrester Research: Leveraging AI for e-commerce in B2B Organizations"
Featured, Forrester, 2025 - "IDC MarketScape: Digital B2B Ecosystems and Marketplaces"
Featured, IDC, Sept 2025 - "Designing the Human Experience"
Conference Speaker, Automotive Cockpit HMI Conference, 2018 - "Creating a Human-Centered Company"
Conference Speaker, AV18 Autonomous Vehicle Conference, 2018