VP of Design · Head of Product & Design · CPO
Twenty years leading product and design at public and pre-IPO companies. With customer focus and design craft at the core, I build the teams, operating models, and products that move the numbers.
Product and design leadership at
What I bring
I build teams where product and design operate as true partners to Engineering and the executive team, with design as a strategic function, not an internal agency.
Built design from zero at Human Interest. Scaled a 35-person org at Weight Watchers, reporting to the CEO.
Simple process, clear decisions, a high quality bar. Reviews that end in decisions, and AI that handles the first pass so leaders focus on strategy.
Brought OKRs to Weight Watchers. Built AirHelp’s review system and AI design reviewer.
Every product starts with an insight and a clear value exchange: what customers get, what the business captures, and how we measure both.
Tripled sign-up conversion at Weight Watchers. 90% of people chose the recommended plan at Human Interest.
Selected outcomes
VP, Head of Design2025 to present
Rebuilt the design org around AI-enabled workflows, delivering designs 2x faster from prioritization to dev-ready. Led the shift from a transactional web product to a mobile relationship with travelers, reaching 1M+ app downloads in year one and improving web and funnel conversion.
Head of Product & Design2022 to 2024
Defined and launched a new category in men’s mental health. Generated $700K+ in revenue in under a year with a 5-star app.
VP, Head of Design2019 to 2020
Built the design function from zero and made experience a differentiator. 90% of people chose the recommended plan, and participation hit 64% vs. an industry rate under 50%.
VP, Head of Design2015 to 2019, reporting to the CEO. Co-CPO in 2017.
Part of the leadership team behind WW’s digital transformation. Tripled sign-up conversion, nearly doubled DAU/MAU to 35%, and raised the app rating from 1.5 to 4.5 stars.
CEO & Co-founder2012 to 2015
Co-founded a top-ranked fitness app and sold it to Weight Watchers. Raised $350K, grew to 500K downloads, and led the acquisition.
Built for the AI era
AI is changing how products get built and what products can be. I lead that shift from hands-on experience: I’ve shipped an AI product end to end, built the AI tools my teams use, and restructured an organization around AI workflows.
Building AI products
Designed and built end to end on the Claude API, from what the model sees to structured outputs, evals, and cost.
Using AI to build products
An AI design reviewer that checks every flow before product review, and a research assistant that answers product questions from real customer interviews.
Leading AI-native teams
A new Platform AI Design Lead role, and a design system documented as the foundation AI tools check against. Designs now reach dev-ready 2x faster.
What people say
Vlad operates at a level that's rare to find. He combines deep product thinking with execution speed, and has a strong intuition for what actually moves the business. He's not just a designer. He's a product leader who can shape direction and deliver results.
Vlad played a crucial role in shaping the strategy. His extensive experience and knowledge were invaluable to the team.
Vlad is an extraordinary Product Builder who can understand customer needs and define product direction.
VC Design Lab has been instrumental in bringing Sunny's first product to life, 0–1.
VC Design is a powerful combo of design strategy and execution that quickly hones in on the right problems.
Vlad has the intuition, insight, and creativity to turn product vision into sticky feature ideas.