Back to the LeaderboardThe Design Leadership Index

Catherine Courage

VP of User Experience (Knowledge/Search & Commerce UX) at Google

ExecutiveLeads from the backHybrid schoolEnterpriseOrgAI
A career executive who has repeatedly moved large orgs through design-led transformation and is now steering billions-scale UX through the AI shift while protecting and growing her teams.

Signature win. Transformed engineering-driven Citrix into a design-thinking organization by training nearly half its ~9,800 employees, then scaled human-centered UX across Google Search through the generative AI transition.

The case

editorial · CCBEI · with sources
CraftVP UX over Google Search/Ads/Knowledge — holds the bar on billions-scale consumer experiences; co-authored 'Understanding Your Users' on research-grounded craft.8
CommunicationTEDx Kyoto on igniting creativity, HBR/WSJ/Fast Company features, McKinsey interview — a leading public evangelist who makes design legible to executives and engineers.9
BusinessTied design to enterprise outcomes as SVP CX at Citrix and DocuSign; now a Fortune-500 board director (MasterBrand, Insight Enterprises) — design proven as a business lever.9
EducationTrained nearly half of Citrix's ~9,800 employees in design thinking, embedding it as company DNA; built and grew large UX/research orgs at Google and Salesforce.9
InnovationLed Google teams through multimodal search, AR commerce, and generative AI shifts — AI adoption that scales human-centered design rather than replacing the team; more org-transformation than frontier-building.7

Endorsed by peers

illustrative · opens with verified accounts
OverallI'd work for them109
CraftRaised my craft bar102
CommunicationMade the case for design115
BusinessMade design matter to the business115
EducationTaught me something I still use115
InnovationShowed me a new way to work90

Verified peers only — one tap with LinkedIn. Names stay private; we show role and industry. Bars are illustrative until the participation backend is live.

Stories

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