Rahul Sharma
I've made a career out of balancing the tension between feasible, desirable, and viable — to design, then deliver products that matter.
Profile
Expertise: I have 17 years of experience with principal level expertise in:
- AI Product Strategy
- Design Research & Service Design
- Brand & Communication Strategy
- Product Marketing & Product Market Fit
Approach
Player Coach: I've led cross-functional projects from discovery to delivery with enterprise and 0-1 clients. I lean on strategy, service design and research skills to ensure rigour and a firm focus on customer value.
On the human side, I've helped mentor and lead designers and researchers. This includes fostering mentoring individual contributors, fostering communities of practice and most recently exploring how AI tools can be used to accelerate and amplify teams without compromising on rigour or quality.
Experience
Xero: For 2.5 years I've lived at the Xero's AI journey. In that time I've set the foundations of Xero's AI Product Design Principles, defined how AI will evolve workflows across cashflow forecasting, tax and practice management and de-risked the commercialisation strategy. I also established the feature evaluation programme to take features from concept to GA (general availability).
- 0 → 1 AI Product Strategy
- GA Feature Evaluation Programme
Les Mills+: Transformed Fitness+ from a basic video library into a true fitness app: a multi-surface experience across TV, mobile, and web.
- 69% Trial-to-Paid
- 95% Customer Delight
- Bronze (UX Design) - Best Design Awards 2020
Sky Broadband: Defined Sky's entry into the New Zealand broadband market, architecting the experience blueprint including Acquisition (pricing and packaging); Sales (redesigning skytv.co.nz); and Support (installation and customer care). This laid the groundwork to transform Sky NZ from a satellite entertainment service into a broadband provider.
- 200% - Cart Conversion Lift
- +44 - NPS
- 85% - CSAT
Zeffer Cider: Crafted the brand and communications strategy for Zeffer Cider, building the narrative and marketing collateral. These assets were used to launch the brand into China, support with capital raising and secure listings at major national supermarkets.
Personal
Life outside work is about giving back and staying inspired. I coach junior cricket, golf on good days, and explore cities and cultures with my family on great ones. Using AI tools I've built out a kids cricket scoring app and recently launched a new venture — check it out at axhilles.com.