2027 Speakers

Sin Lee currently leads a globally distributed UX research team that informs how Meta builds products that foster connections between people and businesses over Messenger and Instagram Direct. The most exciting aspect of her work involves Meta's utilization of Generative AI technology to amplify meaningful commercial connections. In addition to this role, she serves as the functional leader in APAC for UX Research. Here, she focuses on supporting the scaling and growth of a talented team, ensuring they have access to resources and inspiration to deliver impactful work to guide the future of Business Messaging products at Meta.

In her research career, Sin Lee initially specialized in commerce interactions and played a pivotal role in the conceptualization of Facebook Marketplace. She later shifted her research focus towards devising and implementing strategies for Meta to automate marketing at scale across various verticals. Prior to joining Meta, she started on her professional journey at eBay, where she generated insights for strategic initiatives that influenced eBay's development in areas such as trust, international localization, and long-term engagement.

Katie has built her entire career around asking questions and seeking solutions to basic human needs. In over 20 years of professional experience as a researcher, cultural anthropologist, and strategist, she has focused on understanding the “why” behind the “what,” using those insights to make sense of human behavior and advising leading brands (like Microsoft, Meta, Google, Apple, LEGO, Coca-Cola, and Disney, among others) on how to understand human behaviors, values, needs, and emotions in our ever-changing world. She believes that technology can be a force for good, but not without people putting in the work and approaching it with the right intentions. Currently, Katie leads AI Products and Product Belonging Research at Pinterest, aiming to make everyone feel like Pinterest is a place for them. Prior to this role, Katie was the research lead for Responsible AI at Meta, led ethics + trust teams at Microsoft, and was a global research lead at Apple.
Katie earned her BAs in English and Journalism from the University of Minnesota. She currently lives in Seattle, but will always be a Midwesterner at heart.

Mansi is Head of UX and Accessibility Center of Excellence at DHL, where she helps embed inclusive design practices across multiple business units and large-scale digital products in Europe. Based in Prague and working in a highly multicultural environment, she partners with product, design and engineering teams to make accessibility part of everyday product development. Originally from India, Mansi began her career as a program manager at Adobe before transitioning into UX after completing a Master’s degree in Interaction Design in Milan. Since entering UX in 2013, she has focused on building scalable design systems, mature design practices, and practical approaches to accessibility in complex organisations. Passionate about moving accessibility from compliance to culture, she now leads the UX and Accessibility Center of Excellence at DHL, supporting teams across the organisation to design products that work for everyone.

Gavin has over 20 years UX research, strategic planning, and consumer research experience. During that time he has led research and strategy projects for a broad range of products, services, and industries including hospitality, consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, healthcare enterprise tools, education, and financial services. Gavin joined Hyatt Corporation in 2021and leads a talented team UX design researchers focused on helping create world-class experiences for both guests and colleagues. Gavin has spoken on the topics of UX research, digital strategy, research methods, and cross-functional collaboration conferences across the globe.

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.

Jen Blatz is a Principal UX Researcher at BECU (Boeing Employee Credit Union), one of the largest credit unions in the United States. Jen’s path to UX started in journalism and graphic design, progressed to UX design and finally landed her in UX research and strategy. She has worked in a number of fields including finance, mortgage, cloud storage, security and pet health.
Jen loves being active in the UX community, and is the co-founder of the UX Research and Strategy group, one of the largest UX groups in the world. Jen is a seasoned conference speaker who has spoken at several UX international conferences. Jen spends her free time interviewing UX pros and creating videos for her YouTube channel called BlatzChatz.

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.

Yoel Lenti is Partner and Managing Director at Hatch Studio, a strategic design consultancy that helps leading companies drive innovation from a deeply human perspective. With more than 20 years of experience in research, strategy, and design, he works with global organizations to navigate uncertainty, identify new opportunities, and translate human needs into responsible product and business strategies..
His work increasingly focuses on Responsible AI, helping organizations explore the value of emerging technologies while addressing questions of trust, inclusion, cultural relevance, and human agency. He has led complex, multi-market programs for companies including Google, Airbnb, Pinterest, Meta, and Bentley Systems. Before co-founding Hatch, Yoel led Insitum’s operations in Brazil and Europe and became a Partner before the firm’s acquisition by Accenture. Yoel holds a degree in Industrial Design and a Master’s in Interaction Design from Elisava, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. He also lectures in Creativity and Innovation at Esade Business School.

Elena Svergunenko serves as the UX Research Director at Xsolla, a global leader in video game commerce. She leads a dedicated team of UX researchers, employing diverse methodologies to enhance customer experiences and fuel product innovation. With a focus on strategic alignment, Elena develops cross-functional processes that streamline collaboration and deliver measurable value for both users and businesses in the dynamic gaming industry.

Sebastian Syperek is Principal CX & UX Researcher at Kaiser X Labs, the inhouse digital experience agency of Allianz. With more than 20 years of experience in Market and UX research, he specializes in quantitative UX research, preference measurement, and advanced methods such as MaxDiff, conjoint analysis, segmentation, and driver analysis. His current focus is on combining robust human research with AI-supported approaches to make customer insights more scalable, predictive, and decision-relevant. Sebastian regularly works at the intersection of research methodology, data analytics, and emerging AI capabilities.

Achyutha has over 18 years of experience in research, strategy and design. He currently is the Head of UX research in the Flipkart Group and previously led teams in User Research, UX and closely collaborated with leadership to drive business impact. He has built depth in research and strategy through his work in the social sector; especially among the billion-users demographic across sectors such as livelihoods, education, water & sanitation, B2C products and health. Furthermore, his commercial sector experience has given him invaluable insights into Indian consumers and B2B markets. Achyutha’s work has been published in books such as ‘Feminist Futures’, and ‘History of UX Research in India’. Achyutha is also the founder of User Research India, a platform to educate and engage tech stakeholders about the value and impact of user research.
Social media: LinkedIn X/ Twitter: @AchyuthaSharma