Chad Borlase

Design and AI Transformation Leader | I turn Design Org's into growth engines | Human-Led, agent powered Design at global scale | 12 years Enterprise Design Transformation

Most design leaders are still debating whether AI belongs in the room. I've spent the last year building the answer — a human-led, agent-powered operating model running across a 350-person global design practice, with 15+ working agents in the delivery workflow and cycle time cut by 50%. Before that I doubled Verizon's experience design account in 18 months by building the global delivery engine Publicis Sapient didn't have — founding its India product design capability and its first LatAm experience practice from zero.

I lead global teams and enterprise engagements to unlock the value clients need to grow their products and services, through AI-enhanced, human-centric design. A company at enterprise scale that knows its design function needs to do more — and wants a leader who has built exactly that.

Selected clients

Sunbelt

01 / TELCO/HI-TECH

Scaling Verizon Design work to $25M.

I Built out Sapient's global Design Delivery approach to meet the scaled demands of Verizon.

View case study→

02 / AUTOMOTIVE

Global Folks making Folks VW pitch.

CRM & Experience Strategy for Volkswagen, presented globally at the board level.

View case study←

03 / AI DESIGN DELIVERY MODEL

Human Led, Agent Powered Design capability transformationtrans-
formation.

A new delivery model implemented for Merkle's global Design practice, that scaled at the speed of customer needs.

View case study→

How I show up, with and for my team

My leadership principles

I believe it's important for product vision, design leadership, hiring, and team development
to have a set of fundamentals.

01 / Principle

Protect your people. They make the work shine.

Follow the money: design for design's sake doesn't move anything, the work has to add value for the business and the experience for the customer.

02 / Principle

Surprise and delight. Every. Single. Opportunity.

Nobody goes home to their loved one and talks about the best Excel spreadsheet they ever saw. They talk about the experience they had.

03 / Principle

Let AI do the reps. Keep the room.

It's not about speed and stop anyone that only says that in Design. The more time we free up for judgment, the better the outcome, and the value for the business.

04 / Principle

Critique is care. Embrace the awkwardness.

The work only gets better in the room, before it ships, not after your name's on it, and it's unfortunately already out the door.

How I rub shoulders

Testimonials

What other people say about how I work, collaborate, sell and drive business outcomes.

Raj Shah

North America Industry Lead for Telecom, Media and Entertainment, and Technology · Publicis Sapient

I've had the honor of knowing Chad for six years, including three when he worked for me as the CXO for the TMT business in North America at Publicis Sapient. He's a leader in his craft, having built complex, customer-centric experiences and solutions for companies across industries ranging from media to telecom to travel and hospitality. But just as importantly, he's a leader who holds himself and his people accountable — he cares for them on a personal level while ensuring they have the support and accountability at the professional level.

Any organization that works with Chad gets better immediately.

Moritz Bosselmann

Design Executive · TWCo · SoundCloud · Razorfish

Chad has a rare mix of creative credibility and operational discipline. Designers trust him because he understands the work at the craft level and gives feedback that makes it better, not just different. Leadership trusts him because he connects that work to business outcomes without hand-waving. He is the kind of leader designers want to work for. Not because he is easy, but because he is clear. You always know where he stands, what good looks like, and why it matters to the client and the business.

Scott Allen

Digital Transformation & Advisory Sales Executive · Merkle

I've had the pleasure of working with Chad and can honestly say he's one of the most thoughtful and impactful UX and Customer Experience leaders I've had the opportunity to collaborate with. Chad has an exceptional ability to connect customer needs with business goals, transforming complex challenges into intuitive, engaging digital experiences that deliver real results.

What has always stood out to me is Chad's ability to engage with clients and executive stakeholders. He's an outstanding partner during the sales process, helping clients see what's possible while building trust through his collaborative approach.

Matt Neenan

Executive Director · Morgan Stanley

Chad is a fantastic design leader who not only knows how to cast, build, and scale holistic global teams, but also how to best address client needs while fostering and protecting talent from politics and organizational dysfunction. He truly embraces agile and digital-first ways of working and knows how to strike a balance among business strategy, technical capability, and a focus on always putting the user first. Above all, he is just a really great guy who deeply cares about the people around him.

Francisco Miranda

Marketing / Advertising / Tech / CX Leader · Merkle

Chad didn't bolt AI onto our existing process — he replaced the double diamond outright with X4 IGNITE, built from scratch into an operating model a 350-person global practice now runs on, and it's become one of our sharpest stories in the room with clients.

Chad is a strong client partner. He builds trust, delivers results, and turns successful engagements into long-term relationships and new opportunities by helping clients solve real problems in new ways.

Tony Gandía

Enterprise Transformation Executive · Publicis Sapient

Chad brought a valuable combination of large-scale delivery experience and practical leadership judgment to our conversations. He was candid about what it takes to build and lead distributed experience-design teams, and he translated those lessons into useful guidance rather than abstract theory. He also took the time to mentor several people from my experience team, helping them work through real leadership and delivery challenges with clarity and empathy.

He contributes well beyond the boundaries of his formal remit.

David Swezey

Client Growth and Sales Leadership at the Intersection of CX, Loyalty, CRM, and MAdTech · Merkle

When design meets the tech stack you need someone leading that understands how to bridge that divide. How to lead a team and an organization. As the leader of our Experience Design team, I knew I could depend on Chad as my success partner.

Internally, he helped get things done by bridging gaps across the organization. In pitches and pursuits, he translated our message into client speak that they understood and could apply to their business.