Trusted Leader with 15+ Years of Experience

Tom is a trusted team builder and enterprise strategist with an infectious sense of humor and relentless reputation for getting results.

  • Over 15+ years of B2B / B2C / SaaS product design experience including retail, healthcare, finance, health & fitness, supply chain, technology, and enterprise tools.

  • Tom has built and led multiple research teams with the consistent goal of identifying what customers value most.

  • Tom builds operational models and frameworks that minimize overhead and accelerate productivity and innovation leveraging AI solutions.

Thomas Koulopoulos
Futurist. Author. Visionary. Leader.
Chairman at Delphi Group

“Tom’s greatest leadership strength is the personal dedication he has to the development of his teams. While some leaders focus on their own success, I’ve yet to have a conversation with Tom in which he does not speak to the importance of developing the abilities of those he works with and the responsibility he feels towards their success.”

What is
Leadership?

People

People leadership is the ability to guide and inspire individuals or a team towards a common goal. Effective people leaders understand that their success is directly tied to the success of their team members. They strive to create a positive work environment where individuals feel valued, motivated, and empowered to do their best work. This type of leadership requires strong communication skills, the ability to build trust, and the capacity to understand and meet the needs of each team member. Ultimately, people leadership is about building relationships and fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and growth.

The Big Picture

Design, research, and technology leadership maintains a holistic view of the organization, business requirements, and constraints while driving toward a north star vision that everyone can rally around. As a design leader, I forge strong collaborative partnerships with business stakeholders, product management and marketing, and engineering to ensure we are building sustainable platforms and scaling at the pace of digital transformation.

Incremental Value

Leadership understands the balance between longterm strategy and tactical execution. As a leader, I am responsible for directing multiple teams throughout the organization to make coordinated incremental progress and demonstrate value that contributes to our larger vision.

Measured Impact

It is not enough for design, research, and technology to improve the user experience or align applications to a set of standards. The impact of improvements must be measured and demonstrate a tangible increase in performance and value. For this reason, I align the priorities of our teams with the objectives and key results expected for each product. This unifies design, business, product, and engineering around a single mission.

“[Tom] consistently created a holistic view of the business for anyone to see the bigger picture, which allowed leaders under him like myself, to make a large impact. Because of his style of leadership and ability to bring the right people together to solve complex problems, I would work for him again any day.”

Elijah Fischer
Director, Product Design, AvidXchange, Inc.

My 7 Leadership Principles

  • Believing in the significance of your role and its potential to positively impact the work and lives of your team(s) is crucial. Such a perspective fosters a strong drive to become an exceptional leader, continuously expanding one's knowledge and abilities.

  • Every team member has something valuable to offer. Each person deserves to be treated with respect and provided with guidance and support. A capable leader sets an example by communicating with empathy and respect.

  • Clear leadership inspires greater confidence and commitment. When decisions are made collaboratively and with accurate information, and are promptly communicated, teams are empowered to fully engage in their work.

  • The primary focus when listening should be on understanding. By prioritizing comprehension, a leader can better discern the most effective way to respond and provide assistance in light of any feedback received.

  • Leadership involves taking responsibility, rather than merely holding power or a title. In addition to owning one's decisions and errors, it is equally critical to grant agency to one's team members. This fosters greater engagement and creates avenues for personal and professional development.

  • In essence, leadership revolves around serving those in your midst. By understanding their priorities and finding ways to support their success, a leader can create a positive and productive work environment.

  • A leader ought to motivate and energize their team by exemplifying their own fervor for learning, growth, and transformation.