2027 Speakers

Jess White is Director of UX Research at Expedia Group, where she leads research on agentic AI and traveler experiences. With more than 20 years of research experience spanning cognitive science, linguistics, market research, and user experience—and more than a decade leading research teams—she specializes in translating human insight into product and business strategy. Dr. White holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin, and her current work focuses on agency, personalization, decision-making, trust, and the human factors that shape effective AI-powered experiences.

Mike Silva leads User Research at SAS and has spent his career helping teams better understand the people they design for. Combining expertise in UX research, design, and product discovery, he works closely with customers, product teams, and leaders to drive user-centered innovation. He enjoys fostering conversations that connect practitioners, share lessons learned, and advance the UX profession.

Harsha is Global Director of Experience Design & Research at Siemens, where he leads a 70-person global team spanning UX strategy, design, research, content strategy, and taxonomy. With 25+ years of UX leadership across Siemens, Amazon, VMware, GM, CARFAX, Bosch, and the CDC, he brings deep expertise in enterprise design systems, B2B marketplace experience, and the practical integration of AI into design practice. His recent work centers on conversational AI and evaluation frameworks for enterprise product experiences and reflects a deep research-based understanding of users. Based in metro Detroit, Harsha writes and speaks on design leadership, design systems governance, and what it takes to build AI-fluent design organizations.

Kelly is the Global Head of UX/UI at Schneider Electric, where she leads the vision and strategy for delivering intuitive, scalable, and human‑centered digital experiences across a complex global portfolio. She partners with multidisciplinary teams worldwide to elevate design maturity, drive consistency, and ensure user insights shape every stage of the product journey. Before joining Schneider Electric, Kelly led the teams behind digital content for Nike.com and the Nike apps in Europe, refining her ability to create cohesive experiences at scale. Known for her curiosity, empathetic leadership, and her instinct to challenge the rules rather than simply follow them, she brings a bold, insight‑driven approach to modern UX.

Mandy has spent over 20 years proving that user needs, technical realities, and business goals aren't competing priorities - they are all part of a larger opportunity, and the best design solves all of it. As Head of UX for YouTube Trust & Safety, she leads the work of protecting billions of viewers and shaping the experiences that help creators avoid policy trouble and find their way back from it. Before YouTube, she spent five years turning Google's Help experience from 400,000 static articles into an AI system that resolves problems instead of explaining them, avoiding millions of support cases and delivering the largest satisfaction lift the program had ever seen. Along the way she grew her team 5X, promoted more than ten people, and hired Google Ad’s first conversation designers to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with AI engineers and improve model output at the source. Her most reliable tool for all of it has been a good story, the kind that makes competing stakeholders realize they wanted the same thing all along. At UX360 she'll walk through how storytelling turns product vision into roadmap, headcount, and things that actually ship.

Nikita Rochiramani has spent 9 years at the intersection of UX research, design, and a simple idea that refuses to go away: complex systems can feel effortless. She currently leads UX at the Supreme Court of Michigan, designing accessible, human-centered experiences where every decision carries real civic weight, for users ranging from attorneys to first-time citizens navigating the justice system.
Her career spans EdTech, AdTech, Health Tech, Field Services, and Civic Tech. Her design work earned Oracle Data Cloud an IHAF Gold Award for Corporate Communications Design. She is the Founding Secretary of UXPA Michigan and was featured in national publications including The Daily Pioneer and The New Indian Express for her solopreneur design venture, Paper Towers. She is, for the record, an accidental designer who never planned to end up here and cannot imagine being anywhere else.

Aileen Baxter is a Lead User Researcher with extensive experience delivering inclusive, evidence-driven research across complex public services. She specialises in research with seldom-heard and underrepresented communities, helping organisations better understand user needs, reduce barriers to access, and design services that work for everyone. Aileen has led large-scale research programmes covering topics such as social security, accessibility, vulnerability, and service transformation, using insights to inform policy, service design and strategic decision-making. She is passionate about championing user-centred design, embedding inclusive research practices, and ensuring that the voices of those most affected by services are reflected in how they are designed and delivered.