---
title: "Abhishek Saxena - Senior Product Designer in Gurugram | Tal"
description: "Meet Abhishek Saxena, AI-Native Product Builder | Microsoft, Airtel, Samsung | Founder (Watchlyst, ThinkPlanty) based in Gurugram. AI stack includes claude code, hermes agent, and kilocode. Explore public work links including github and thatguyabhishek.com."
image: "https://tal.club/meet/abhishek-saxena-7/share-image"
---

# Abhishek Saxena on Tal

## Headline

AI\-Native Product Builder \| Microsoft, Airtel, Samsung \| Founder \(Watchlyst, ThinkPlanty\)

## About

Senior product designer\. 12\+ years\. More decisions than pixels\. 📊 What I've shipped: → 2\.5B tokens and 1800\+ hours of Agentic AI coding, created 8\+ fully functional complex apps → Microsoft Excel: cut chart deletion 30%, drove 9% of total Copilot usage across Excel's AI features → Airtel \(100M\+ users\): shipped Thanks 2\.0, grew MAU engagement 6% through gamification → GoodWorker: rebuilt the conversion funnel \(\+12%\), built their design system from zero, managed 4 designers → ThinkPlanty: ₹60L revenue, 75% gross margins, profitable by year two \- shut down anyway, on my terms → Watchlyst: 50K\+ downloads, $40K from the Facebook Accelerator, ran out of runway before the monetisation model worked 🧰 How I actually work: I built my own framework for making design decisions under ambiguity \- a repeatable process for turning "we don't know" into "here's what we'll test," with a stated failure condition on every principle in it\. A principle nobody can prove wrong is just an opinion with good posture\. That's the systems\-thinking part\. The data\-driven part is simpler: I don't ship a redesign until I know what number it's supposed to move, and I've retired my own stats when they didn't hold up under a source check\. I'm also 1800\+ hours and 2\.5B tokens into building my own tools with AI\. Not a side hobby \- the way I now prototype, test, and ship before an engineer is even in the room\. 🧲 I'm T\-shaped: multiple deep spikes, not one wide shallow one\. Enterprise UX\. Consumer growth\. AI product design\. Design leadership\. Startup building, twice\. Currently open to design leadership roles \- Principal Designer, Staff Designer, Lead Designer \- at a company where design still has a seat at the table\. Email: abhisxn@gmail\.com

## Location

Gurugram

## AI stack

claude code

hermes agent

kilocode

Framer AI

OpenRouter

Supabase

## Work experience

Senior Product Designer at Microsoft, Feb 2024 \- Jan 2026 · 2 yrs, India, Shipped AI\-powered features for Excel\. The kind of work where you're designing for everyone from analysts to teachers tracking attendance\. 🎯 Impact • Ran the analysis that found 98% of Excel users never created a chart \- reframed the roadmap around removing that barrier, not adding chart types • Reduced chart deletion rate \~30% through data\-driven redesign of defaults • Drove 9% of total Excel Copilot usage via Chart Insights • Cut designer onboarding time 40% with an internal Wiki AI agent 🛠️ Key Projects • Chart Insights \- AI generates contextual insights the moment a chart is inserted • Default Chart Redesign \- fixed what the data showed: people were deleting charts because they were ugly, not wrong • Wiki Agent \- answers design questions faster than a Slack thread does 🤝 How I got buy\-in • Built the internal case before I said a word in the room \- the pushback that came wasn't about missing data, it was about who the feature was actually for • Presented the strategy to Excel leadership • Mentored junior designers on AI product craft

UX Design Manager at GoodWorker, May 2022 \- Apr 2023 · 1 yr, Bengaluru, GoodWorker ran two product streams inside a Temasek\-backed platform built to move India's blue and grey\-collar workforce into better jobs \- Learning, and Jobs\. I owned Jobs\. 🎯 Impact • Ran primary research with gig and blue\-collar workers to find what actually stops someone from getting hired \- not what a job board assumes stops them • Designed the hiring flow end to end: navigation, listings, and every stage from application to offer • Built social\-trust signals into the flow \- in a market full of fake postings, every worker opened the app assuming the job wasn't real until proven otherwise • Improved conversion funnel 12% through the employer portal redesign • Reduced time\-to\-hire 25% by streamlining job posting → hiring 👥 Leadership • Managed 4 designers across Worker and Employer apps • Built the design system from scratch \- tokens, components, documentation • Co\-owned product metrics with PM \- not just pushing pixels • Established critique rituals, design cadences, eng handoff processes

Founder Product Designer at Planty, Oct 2020 \- Sep 2023 · 3 yrs, Gurugram, Started a plant e\-commerce brand during the pandemic\. Built everything end\-to\-end \- product, brand, ops, growth\. The MBA I never wanted but definitely needed\. 📈 Traction • 4% MoM growth in a market where people prefer touching plants before buying • ₹60L revenue over 3 years · 75% gross margins · 40% operating margin at peak • Profitable within 12 months · 85% customer retention · 6\+ cities • Shut down at peak profitability \- chose not to raise ₹25\-35L for next\-stage scaling 🛠️ Built • Mobile\-first shopping experience with 360° plant preview • Brand identity, packaging, fulfillment automation • Vendor network and logistics from zero 💡 Real Learning Business model validation, unit economics, CAC/LTV\. Design school never taught me any of it\. Running a profitable business did \- the hard way\.

Principal Experience Designer at airtel, Mar 2019 \- Sep 2020 · 1 yr 7 mos, India, Led product design for India's 2nd largest telecom app\. 100M\+ MAU\. The kind of scale where a button color change triggers stakeholder meetings across three cities\. 🚀 Shipped • Airtel Thanks 2\.0 \- complete redesign, 100M\+ users, zero critical incidents • International Roaming \- end\-to\-end flows that simplified prepaid/postpaid journeys • Growth Design Function \- created Airtel's first experimentation team 🎯 Impact • Increased MAU engagement 6% via gamification \(quizzes, rewards, referrals\) • Built Design System V1\.0, scaling a shared component library across 5 product teams 👥 Leadership • Defined design org cadences and ways of working • Hired 25\+ designers across UX and visual • Created a Growth Playbook for experimentation modules • Mentored designers on product thinking and metrics\-driven design

Director UX Design at Cheil Worldwide, Feb 2018 \- Mar 2019 · 1 yr 2 mos, India, Agency\-side creative direction for Samsung India\. Part UX, part brand campaigns, fully chaotic in the best way\. 🏆 Wins • Galaxy A series digital launch \- exceeded sales targets 15% • Won 3 major pitches: Samsung Opera House, Aakash Digital, e\-commerce mandate • Led UX improvements on Samsung India e\-commerce 👥 Leadership • Directed cross\-functional team of 12 \(design, copy, dev\) • Managed end\-to\-end campaigns from concept to execution • Presented to Samsung leadership and handled client relationships

## Education

Certificate in Leadership with AI, Agentic AI, Indian School of Business

Bachelor of Design, National Institute of Fashion Technology Delhi

## Public links

- github: https://github\.com/abhisxn
- thatguyabhishek\.com: https://thatguyabhishek\.com/

[View the original profile](https://tal.club/meet/abhishek-saxena-7)

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