Will Work 2 Create

23yearsDesign

I'm Tony Phillips, a Product & Design Executive who builds the systems, teams, and cultures that ship great products from discovery → strategy → delivery.

Selected Case Studies:

My Experience

I led my team through AI Adoption with Psychological Safety

Faced with the industry’s AI shift, I fostered psychological safety to guide my team’s AI adoption. I identified early, user-driven product opportunities to launch Ozmo’s first AI implementation and continued prioritizing AI enablement within our design system.

Read more →
My Experience

I established Discovery as a formal process

I introduced Discovery at Exadel to better align customer and user needs with scope and requirements, helping map user outcomes to business value. This process brought together both internal and external stakeholders for a set-cost engagement before hasty estimates were offered around loosely defined problems.

Read more →
My Experience

I led Remote Video Support from Concept to Launch

During discovery at Ozmo, I personally handled early design and prototyping to keep Design priorities on track while Engineering explored technology quickly. That hands-on push carried the effort through to launch, driving a 300% increase in CSR engagement.

Read more →
My Experience

I used Design Visioning to influence Product Strategy

I used routine Design Visioning with my team to regularly explore an insights driven awareness of how CSR agents are overwhelmed by their service ecosystems. Looking farther ahead and describing a possible future where, in this case, adaptive intelligent experiences continued to be the answer, enabled Design to posture North Stars within Product Strategy.

Read more →
My Experience

I facilitated output quality governance through the Design System

Previously at Block.one I conceived, shaped, and filled a new Design/UX Engineer role to bridge Design and a globally distributed Engineering organization. Rather than relying on handoffs, I identified that the design system needed a dedicated practitioner who could translate it into coded components Engineering could directly consume.

Read more →
My Experience

I formed the first Customer Advisory Board

While at Ozmo, I formed our first Customer Advisory Board as a fresh, strategic opportunity to learn about what directions our SaaS clients were heading, introducing a new channel of insights and influence to our overall Product Strategy.

Read more →
My Experience

I led a suite of SaaS offerings from a systemic perspective

Through consistent context inquiries, I regularly evaluated where advantageous implementation of intelligent and automated features and capabilities could augment a larger user journey where Ozmo wasn’t the only tool or touchpoint.

Read more →

Projects that made an impact:

Check out select projects and successes from across my career → here

Allow me to introduce myself

Leadership Philosophy

My work sits at the intersection of product strategy, user experience, and emerging technology - shipping thoughtful products while building strong design cultures.

I work closely with product and engineering leaders to define product direction, prioritize opportunities, and align teams around shared outcomes. My goal is always to ensure design thinking helps shape the strategy: not just the interface.

My team building focuses on mentorship by fostering creative and innovative safety, establishing constructive critique culture and demonstrating the value of strong cross-functional relationships.

I contribute to emergent design and thought-leadership and the future of work. A few recent examples:

See more on my Leadership Philosophy and Thought Leadership → here.

I am continuously 🧠 learning. I recently attended Rosenfeld's conference: Designing with AI 2026 and Jesse James Garrett's AI Transformation for Digital Design Teams. I have also attended CDO's course Claude Cowork for Design Leaders, Rosenfeld's conference Advancing Service Design 2025, Dan Saffer's workshop: Designing for AI: New Techniques, Rosenfeld's conference: Designing with AI 2025 and Jared Spool's UX & Design in an AI World: Strategic Fundamentals.

Check out select projects and successes from across my career → here