In the era of AI, the way we build products as a software company is now intrinsically and inseparably tied to our tools. As I’ve evolved my Design Ops practice at Microsoft to affect change to our collaborative workflows, I’ve unconsciously grown into a liminal space that sits at the confluence of Design and Engineering Operations. Driving audacious pilot programs that test novel tools, building business cases for CVPs and executives, and designing large-scale rollout strategies — I’m not just solving problems for designers, but for herds of engineers, and for skeptical business stakeholders who want to see highly-crafted products in the hands of our customers as quickly as possible.