Deb Kawamoto is the Head of Design at Vanta. With 25 years of experience in product design, Deb has worked at leading companies, including Affirm, Credit Karma, Yammer (acquired by Microsoft), and Ten-X (acquired by TH Lee). She played a key role in three unicorn exits and managed teams through major growth stages. At Affirm, she served as VP of Design and Research, where she built the design team from 25 to 75 post-IPO. Previously, Deb was Senior Director of Product Design at Credit Karma, where she led multiple design teams supporting business monetization.
Passionate about fostering supportive environments for high-performing design teams, Deb is committed to helping individuals grow their careers and reach their full potential. She is also a founding member of the Design Executive Council.
Upcoming Talks
11 May 2026
We have been here before.
We have lived through waves of euphoria and dismay. First the computer. Then the web. Then mobile. Each time we believed everything was changing. Each time shallow practice was exposed. Now AI is not coming. It is here.
It drafts. It prototypes. It codes. It researches. It collapses handoffs. It accelerates output. It also accelerates mediocrity.
So who should be nervous?
This opening session revisits the role of the whole product team in an AI world, not from hype, but from history and fundamentals. It argues that this is not the end of design, product, or engineering. But it is the end of surface-level competence.
Drawing from past technology shifts and a return to hands-on learning in AI, machine learning and data science, this session explores and debates what actually survives disruption.
Our panelists will discuss:
- Why every discipline in product development is exposed by AI, not just Design
- Why shallow generalism and narrow specialism are both fragile in 2026
- How will team structures and ways of working change
- What “depth” really means when AI can generate output instantly
- The unique perspective Design brings when systems become intelligent, not just interactive
- How to think about generalist vs specialist in a world where AI fills skill gaps but cannot replace judgment
- What skills, mindsets and fundamentals will compound rather than decay
13 May 2026
This session examines two opposing views on unifying product and engineering under a single CPTO. One side argues that combining functions removes friction, clarifies priorities and strengthens customer focus. The other side argues that separating product and engineering creates healthier tension, clearer ownership and better technical depth. Drawing on Ellen’s experience stepping into a unified CPTO role at Synctera, and Deb Kawamoto’s experience at Vanta leading through hypergrowth, shifting design into a more strategic role, and navigating blurred ownership across AI, data, product and engineering, the debate challenges assumptions about alignment, autonomy and organisational design. Together, they will explore what happens when traditional boundaries stop reflecting how modern teams actually build.
Debate Outcomes:
- Compare the benefits and risks of unifying product and engineering under one leader.
- Explore how ownership shifts when teams are building across AI, data, compliance and product at the same time.
- Understand how customer problem ownership can support or undermine functional clarity.
- Gain insight into when organisational unity accelerates delivery and when it creates new bottlenecks.
- Consider how strategic design leadership can reshape decision-making in cross-functional teams.
