SARAVANAKUMAR KANDASAMY

Designing intelligence.
Keeping it human.

I’m Saravana, an AI-native product designer and design leader currently at IBM. I bring 16+ years of experience across enterprise software, connected products, and design systems.

Currently at IBMPreviously TCL, Infosys & Nanjing Robotics

Explore my work
PRODUCT DESIGNHUMAN–AI INTERACTION
Saravana with Tim Cook at an event in ChinaWith Tim Cook
Saravana with Peter Vesterbacka at an event in ChinaWith Peter Vesterbacka
Saravana speaking at the Friends of Figma Chennai Config watch party
Saravana presenting Creative Communities in China at Tech Temple, Shenzhen
Saravana presenting Solbit and discussing education at XTalks in Shenzhen
Saravana sharing his experience of the Shenzhen startup ecosystem
Saravana with Chris Saad at a Startup Grind event in Shenzhen
Saravana with TCL Chairman Lee and colleagues celebrating Chinese New Year
Participants at a Chinese-language branding workshop hosted with William Yu
Saravana beside artwork during a weekend graffiti community session
Saravana holding Solbit at a technology event in Shenzhen
Photographs of Saravana hosting a Madrasters design meetup
The fifteenth Madrasters meetup, hosted by Saravana
The Shenzhen and Hong Kong graffiti artist community gathered beside a mural
Participants at an event where Saravana shared his experience of Shenzhen’s startup ecosystem
PEOPLE, IDEAS & SHARED CURIOSITY

Design has taken me across borders—and brought me into some remarkable company.

The community story
ENTERPRISE UX · DESIGN SYSTEMS · CONNECTED PRODUCTSINDIA · CHINA · HONG KONGTEAM LEADERSHIP & HANDS-ON DESIGN
HOW I WORK TODAY

An AI-native
product designer.

AI is part of how I explore, make, and iterate.

I work with Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, and Midjourney, alongside local LLMs through Ollama. I use these tools to explore design ideas and turn concepts into working prototypes, while keeping product judgment and people’s needs at the centre.

My personal projects are a space to experiment with that practice: building design systems, trying interactions, and learning through working software.

Try my personal projects
EXPLORATIONS / PERSONAL PROJECTS

A little curiosity.
Something you can try.

Independent projects where I explore design systems and turn ideas into working experiences with AI tools, Figma, and code.

Actual Banking Experience System homepage with dark theme, blue controls, and system documentation
BANKING · SYSTEMS · AI-ASSISTED PROTOTYPING

Banking Experience System

An exploration of reusable banking interfaces—from money and transaction states to English and Arabic layouts.

Try it live
Actual Pulli homepage with warm dark theme, serif typography, and design system navigation
KOLAM · GENERATIVE DESIGN · DESIGN SYSTEMS

Pulli

A playful exploration of kolam geometry, tokens, and generated patterns as a language for digital interfaces.

Try it live

Independent experiments, built for learning and exploration. Open a project to see its current capabilities and development notes.

CLIENT & PRODUCT WORK

Different worlds.
One curious mind.

Selected projects across intelligent products, interfaces, and connected experiences.

CURRENT ROLE / ENTERPRISE EXPERIENCE DESIGNIBMComplex systems.
Clearer ways to work.
STORAGE MANAGEMENT · INTERNAL LEARNING

IBM

Workflow design, prototyping, and technology storytelling.

Current work
A high-level account · Confidential projects
01 — HUMAN × AISolbit peeking around a wooden pillar
EDUCATIONAL ROBOTICS · CHINA

Solbit

A little circle. A whole new language.

Experience architecture
Conversational interaction · Motion
02 — THE LIVING ROOMOriginal TCL Smart TV presentation with angled television interface screens
TELEVISION OPERATING SYSTEM

TCL Smart TV

Designing for distance. And everyday life.

Television UX
Wireframes · Visual system · Interfaces
03 — DESIGN LEADERSHIPKearney Benchmarking dashboard with comparison charts
ENTERPRISE UX · DATA VISUALIZATION

Kearney

Building a team. Making complexity clear.

Design management
Benchmarking · Supplier Prism
04 — MOBILE VISUAL SYSTEMAlcatel email, music, messaging, and compass icon designs
ANDROID · LAUNCHER · ICONS

Alcatel

Familiar Android. A distinct character.

Mobile experience
Icon redesign · UI guidelines
ABOUT SARAVANA

I build teams.
I stay close
to the work.

India · China · Hong Kong

I’m Saravanakumar Kandasamy—Saravana for short. I currently work at IBM, bringing 16+ years of design experience across enterprise software, television interfaces, and educational robotics.

At Kearney, I recruited, trained, and led a design team over three years. I also stayed hands-on: facilitating workshops, working through requirements with stakeholders and developers, and shaping the interfaces and shared design system.

Earlier work at TCL and Nanjing Perception Robotics connected software with physical products. Those experiences taught me to look beyond a screen—to the people, hardware, content, and decisions that shape the whole experience.

Today, I’m exploring how AI tools can help turn design ideas into working prototypes, using Claude, Figma, and code to test what an experience could become.

Currently at IBM
Previously TCL, Infosys & Nanjing Robotics

LEADERSHIP

Develop the people.

Recruit thoughtfully, train through the work, and give designers a shared foundation to build on.

PRODUCT THINKING

Make the problem visible.

Bring stakeholders and developers into the conversation. Use workshops and prototypes to turn scattered inputs into a product direction.

HANDS-ON PRACTICE

Keep making.

Stay involved in the details—from interaction and design systems to working experiments with AI.

03 / COMMUNITY, SPEAKING & SHARED CURIOSITY

Good design grows
in good company.

I co-founded Madrasters in Chennai in 2011 to make space for designers to share, learn, and grow together.

That commitment travelled with me to China—and continues to shape how I connect people, ideas, and opportunities.

Designers gathered for a Madrasters community meetup in Shenzhen
MADRASTERS / SHENZHEN

A shared space for different disciplines, backgrounds, and perspectives.

Saravana’s event photographs with Peter Vesterbacka on the left and Tim Cook on the right
ENCOUNTERS THROUGH THE COMMUNITY

With Peter Vesterbacka and Tim Cook at events in China.

Read the full community story
NEXT / SOMETHING WORTH MAKING

Let’s make
what’s next. ↗

Have a question, a possibility, or a beautifully difficult problem?

Email me LinkedIn