Brad Kaloupek
Summary
Product and design leader, twenty years as a creative technologist. I run a product strategy and advisory practice inside a digital agency, for clients including United Way, Diageo, and Bank of America. I stay through the build so the strategy survives contact with a delivery team. Founded four design teams and directly managed multi-disciplinary teams as large as 12 across research, product, UX, UI, and front-end. Launched 0 to 1 products and scaled a SaaS platform 85% to 3.7M users. AI is in the workflow, not the pitch.
Core focus
- Discovery and research: competitive analysis, stakeholder and user research, qual and quant methods, in-product analytics.
- Vision and roadmap: product strategy, vision direction, and roadmap guidance for client and internal teams.
- Strategy to delivery: design specs, delivery direction, and complex launches with enterprise partners.
- AI in practice: AI-enabled discovery, human-in-the-loop workflows, rapid prototyping.
- Teams and stakeholders: directly managed multi-disciplinary teams as large as 12 across research, product, UX, UI, and front-end; mentored designers, shaped investor and executive communications.
Experience
Head of Product & Design, Code+Trust
Remote · Aug 2023 to present
- Established a product strategy and advisory practice inside a digital agency, leading engagements from discovery through delivery.
- Build AI-enabled software products for startups and established companies such as United Way, Diageo, and Bank of America.
- Advise client teams on where AI fits in their products and processes.
VP of Design & Innovation, Setscale
Remote · Aug 2022 to Jul 2023
- Helped secure $9.5M in funding while launching a B2B trade finance platform in four months.
- Led all aspects of design: rebrand, marketing, investor communications, and product design.
Director of Design & Innovation, PlanSource
Remote · Jun 2016 to Aug 2022
- B2B2C SaaS insurance platform, acquired by Vista Equity for its innovation and product differentiation.
- Led product strategy for the innovation lab, introducing early AI, machine learning, and data analytics products.
- Built and directly managed a global nine-person team across research, product, UX, UI, and front-end.
- Grew the platform 85% to 3.7 million users over six years. Led the customer workshops behind a technology partner program that grew to represent 24% of revenue.
Principal, Kaloupek Design LLC
Charleston · Aug 2015 to Jun 2016
- Product design services for software startups, VC investors, and digital agencies.
Director of Design, SPARC (acquired by Booz Allen)
Charleston · Aug 2011 to Aug 2015
- Directly managed a 12-person multi-disciplinary team (research, product, UX, UI, and front-end) across federal and commercial software.
Senior UX Designer, Benefitfocus
Charleston · May 2009 to Aug 2011
- UX design for benefits technology products: design specs, front-end development, and mentoring designers.
Digital Agency & Software Design, Consulting
Seattle and Los Angeles · 1998 to 2009
- Consulted with digital agencies including Ogilvy and Deutsch on a national client list.
Education
Bachelor of Architecture, Virginia Tech. 1993 to 1998.