I'm a product builder with 13 years of enterprise design experience.

I build SaaS, AI and machine learning products and systems for companies like IBM and Cisco.

Armando Garza — design leader

Work

About

Professional Summary

I'm a lead designer with over 17 years of experience across software, technology, renewable energy, and government sectors.

I specialize in enterprise design and have worked extensively as a 0-1 designer, building products and services from the ground up. I thrive in leading teams through creative problem-solving and enjoy collaborating with cross-functional teams to bring ideas to life—from early concept to completion.

Expertise

Rapid Prototyping Low & High Fidelity AI Tools Figma Make Lovable Product Strategy Lean Research Enterprise & Platform UX B2B Interactive & Visual Design Cross-Functional Leadership AI & ML Product Design Design Frameworks Complex Systems Information Architecture
Stanford UI/UX Design for AI Products Certificate UI/UX Design for
AI Products Certificate
Duke Specialization Certificate AI Product Management Specialization Certificate
AI Product Management
  1. Business Consultant
    G-Worx Consulting
    2026

    Enterprise design and product strategy leadership.

  2. Senior UX Designer
    IBM
    2020–2025

    Enterprise design and product strategy leadership.

  3. Senior Interaction Designer
    Cisco Systems
    2013–2020

    B2B e-commerce and product design strategy.

  4. Design Consultant
    Independent Freelancer
    2010–2018

    B2C design, branding, project management, mobile design.

  5. Electronic Channels Specialist
    Meriwest Credit Union
    2012–2013

    End to end service design.

  6. Junior Designer
    San Jose Redevelopment Agency
    2009–2010

    Print and web marketing design.

My Stack

Figma Figma for Designing
Cursor Cursor for Prototyping
Claude Claude for Building
ChatGPT ChatGPT for Brainstorming + Planning
Adobe Adobe for Creating
Mural Mural for Collaboration
Slack Slack for Collaboration

Acknowledgements

I worked closely with him on the design and development of a wizard-like application to build Generative AI workflows. He was able to lead a team of designers, work closely with development and deliver a prototype quickly.

The project was so successful that it was adopted by our sales team as an entry point for generative AI and many of its features were incorporated into watsonx.ai.

Óscar Lara-Yejas, Ph.D.
IBM Principal AI Engineer

Armando brings exceptional team leadership to the table. He facilitates across-discipline meetings with clarity and intention, making sure everyone stays aligned and focused on meaningful, user-centered outcomes.

He's collaborative, generous with his expertise, and always thinking about how the team is working together and how to grow stronger.

Amanda Pasquili
IBM Senior AI Designer

Armando is a seasoned, structurally solid, and thinking designer. He's always looking to know more about the WHY and underscores the need to understand the problem space before jumping into defining solutions.

While at Webex Armando worked on a range of problems, from solving our online, direct channel experiences to defining the analytics experience for Administrative users of Webex.

Kedar Shiroor
Design and Research Vice President

I am please to recommend Armando Garza, a standout leader and highly respected colleague. We worked together at IBM but within different product areas. However, we overlapped in our interest in Enterprise Design Thinking and our passion in educating others.

In fact, Armando succeeded me as Board Chair for the SVL Enterprise Design thinking Chapter. He embraced this new responsibility with a collaborative approach that increased chapter membership.

Kristyn Greenwood
Senior Design Manager in IBM Product Excellence Office

Armando was a true delight to work with as he has a deep respect and understanding for the research role. He was helpful in bringing me up to speed while I onboarded the team and was great in collaborating effectively to ensure we were able to answer all the research questions needed to inform the product design.

It was very rewarding to work with Armando as a User Researcher because he was involved throughout the research process by making time to attend user sessions and was eager to act on the insights and findings.

Linda Martinez
Senior User Researcher