Conversation with Design Originals Club
Design Leadership in the age of AI
In this conversation we covered everything related to leadership and AI
Head of Design, Atlassian
Currently he lead the design practice at Atlassian as the Head of Design,
AI-Driven Transformation in Product Design
At Atlassian, AI has rapidly become a core part of the design and product development workflow. Divye described how AI-first thinking is now embedded in processes: product managers and designers are expected to provide “wipe-coded” prototypes along with PRDs to enable faster visualization and validation. AI tools like Figma Make and Replit automate repetitive tasks.
Design’s Strategic Role & Future Vision
Design at Atlassian is evolving from a purely functional implementation toward a strategic business role. The “teamwork graph” connects data across Jira, Confluence, Loom, and other products to provide actionable insights on company goals and resources. AI is leveraged not to replace designers but to raise quality and speed, enabling more dynamic prototyping and customer validation.
From Silicon Valley to Indian Startups: Lessons from Amazon, NVIDIA, and Upstox
After spending years at global giants like Amazon and NVIDIA, where design teams operated with deep process rigor and ownership grounded in strong leadership principles, moving to Upstox was a drastic change in pace and culture. Startups demand speed, scrappiness, and rapid iteration—features that can ship in days instead of months. While Amazon’s scale required meticulous collaboration, Upstox required building everything from scratch:
design systems, processes, and a growing team scaling from three to fifty designers in just under two years. The biggest challenge was finding Indian designers who balanced aesthetics with systemic thinking, communication, and business savvy. Despite the differences, both environments shared a core focus on ownership, customer value, and adaptability—lessons that shaped effective design leadership across very different worlds
Remote Work & Creative Collaboration
The conversation began with reflections on the benefits and challenges of remote work, including the loss of informal office interactions, the importance of discipline and ownership in a remote setting, and how async collaboration has become more viable with modern tools
Tech Tools That Tie Us Together
Today’s tools make a difference, letting teams brainstorm, review, and deliver from anywhere. With the right digital platforms, designers can sketch, comment, and refine ideas without skipping a beat. But behind the screens, it’s still all about how people support each other, even if they’re miles apart
Remote Work & Creative Collaboration
The conversation began with reflections on the benefits and challenges of remote work, including the loss of informal office interactions, the importance of discipline and ownership in a remote setting, and how async collaboration has become more viable with modern tools
