← Back to the LeaderboardThe Design Leadership Index

Emmet Connolly

VP of Product Design at Intercom

ExecutiveLeads from the frontHybrid schoolAIProductSystemsEnterpriseOrgBrand
He is hands-on leading a design org through the AI transition and articulating a new design practice for probabilistic interfaces — pushing the craft forward in a way that elevates designers rather than replacing them.

Signature win. Built and led Intercom's design org for a decade and is now shaping the design of Fin, one of the leading AI customer service agents, while publicly defining how to design probabilistic AI interfaces.

The case

editorial · CCBEI · with sources
CraftCo-founded Android Wear and designed Google Flights at Google; 10+ years holding the design bar at Intercom, now shaping Fin, a leading AI support agent — judgment over pixels.8
CommunicationProlific public voice (Fin Ideas essays, Intercom on Product, Off Script) articulating deterministic-vs-probabilistic interface design — exactly the clarity-thesis work of making design legible.9
BusinessCore contributor to Intercom company strategy/vision; design helped position Intercom and Fin as a category-leading AI customer service product with real commercial traction.8
EducationBuilt and grew Intercom's design org over a decade, shaping process and culture; frames AI era around designers' adaptable capability portfolios, not displacement.8
InnovationPushing the practice forward on how to design probabilistic AI interfaces (Fin Procedures, agent builders) while framing AI as breaking UCD silos to elevate designers — elevate, not hollow.9

Endorsed by peers

illustrative · opens with verified accounts
OverallI'd work for them91
CraftRaised my craft bar88
CommunicationMade the case for design99
BusinessMade design matter to the business88
EducationTaught me something I still use88
InnovationShowed me a new way to work99

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

first-hand · reviewed before publishing
No stories yet.