Soo’s story is about a transformation from design leader to strategic leader, embracing care, collaboration, and curiosity to create meaningful, resilient impact. Over the course of a year in an enterprise product company, Soo reimagines what design leadership can be - moving beyond titles, tools, and technical expertise to a deeper role as a strategic problem solver.

In this talk, Soo explores what it means to step beyond traditional professional boundaries through a process of unlearning and reinventing the designer identity. Her insights are grounded in sustainable approaches and core design mindsets that can equip leaders to navigate complex organizational landscapes and address environmental uncertainties with confidence.

Through stories, reflections, and practical frameworks, this session invites you to rethink your own approach to design leadership. You’ll leave with a richer understanding of how to foster trust, resilience, and sustainable impact, while creating environments where people and ideas can thrive.

Soo Basu

Sr Director, Product Design at Salesforce

Soo Basu is Sr Director, Product Design at Salesforce, a storyteller, and a UX designer with a proven track record of crafting inclusive, user-first experiences. A multiple-patent holder, she has led transformative design teams at Adobe Document Cloud, Microsoft Edge, Atlassian, and pioneered D&I for Microsoft’s Studio+91. She is a co-founder of WinD Women in Design, a community to empower women designers, and has also served as co-curator of the DesignUp newsletter.

Beyond professional design, Soo is a compulsive artist, journaling her life through drawings shared on her blog, inktales.me. As a design leader, wife, and mother, she seamlessly blends creativity, empathy, and authenticity into all aspects of her work and life.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunandinibasu/