Tommy Williams
VP of Design
I build design organizations that move business — and the products that prove it.
15+ years building product design teams at companies like Paciolan, OneTrust, AT&T, Fiserv, and Visa. I connect design strategy to business growth — through the org I build, the culture I set, and the products my teams ship.
Currently Head of Design at Paciolan, where I lead the design organization and define how AI changes what we build — for a platform powering 120M+ tickets across 500+ collegiate and live entertainment organizations.
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DESIGN EXECUTIVE
I build and scale high-performing design orgs. I lead distributed teams of 20+ designers and strategists, setting vision and design direction while coaching talent, shaping culture, and driving measurable business outcomes.
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STRATEGIC THINKER
I connect design to business outcomes. I partner with product, engineering, and C-suite stakeholders to align design strategy with OKRs, define product roadmaps, and facilitate cross-functional workshops that uncover breakthrough opportunities.
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AI DESIGN LEADER
I lead design in the age of AI. At Paciolan, I'm defining how AI changes what we design and how we design it — from intelligent fan experiences and dynamic pricing interfaces to generative design workflows inside my team. I believe AI raises the bar on design judgment. The premium now is on knowing what to make, not just how to make it.
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HUMAN-CENTERED LEADER
I lead with empathy — and a high bar. Empathy without standards is just being nice. I hold my teams to expectations that stretch them, give direct feedback they can use, and build the psychological safety that lets people disagree with me when I'm wrong. That combination is where the best work comes from.
AT A GLANCE
- 15+ years leading product and UX design across live entertainment, payments, telecom, healthcare, and enterprise SaaS
- Built and led design teams of 20+ across four companies — including hiring, career development frameworks, and founding a Design Center of Excellence at OneTrust
- Shipped products and platforms touching millions of users — including Blue Shield of California (4M+ members), Visa (20,000 global employees), and AT&T (millions of digital customers)
- Currently leading AI strategy and design implementation at Paciolan — a Learfield company powering ticketing, fundraising, and fan engagement for 500+ organizations processing 120M+ tickets per year
- Award-winning work recognized with #1 in the Intranet Design Awards for Visa's global employee experience redesign
BRANDS I'VE WORKED WITH
Strategic design leadership across healthcare, payments, telecom, entertainment, and enterprise software:
I've led design in regulated industries — healthcare, financial services, compliance technology — and at consumer scale across telecom and live entertainment. That breadth isn't accidental. Pattern recognition across problem spaces is one of the most undervalued skills in design leadership, and it only comes from having operated in genuinely different worlds.
SELECTED CASE STUDIES
Paciolan — Design Org & AI Strategy
Built the design organization for a platform processing 120M+ tickets annually across 500+ colleges and entertainment venues — while defining Paciolan's AI product strategy, unifying the design system, and establishing the team and culture to sustain it.
View Case Study →-
Blue Shield of California — Member Experience
An established nonprofit health insurer serving 4M+ members was falling behind on digital. Led the redesign of their member platform across web, iOS, and Android — and developed the strategic benefits roadmap their digital leadership adopted as the organization's multi-year direction.
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Visa — Global Employee Intranet
Nearly half of Visa's 20,000 global employees reported their intranet made them less effective. Led the UX strategy for a complete intranet redesign — pushing back on stakeholder preferences to stay employee-first — and won #1 in the Intranet Design Awards.
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AT&T — E-Commerce Strategy & Vision
AT&T's buy flow was losing customers to digital-first competitors at scale. Optimized the wireline e-commerce experience and developed a data-driven personalization vision adopted as the team's strategic north star.
Currently
Thinking about: How AI changes the research-to-insight pipeline. What responsible personalization looks like at fan-engagement scale. Whether the design system as we know it survives the shift to generative UI.
Following: Writing on platform strategy, the cultural side of AI adoption inside product teams, and how design organizations evolve when execution gets cheaper and judgment gets more valuable.
Looking for More?
Much of my recent work is under NDA. I'm happy to walk through my process and outcomes for serious opportunities.