Ryan Leffel is a user experience and product leader with expertise in crafting user-centric design strategies, building high-performing teams, and evolving design processes. He drives product and business growth through digital transformation, innovation, and elevating the user experience, helping brands maximize customer success.
His passion for finding elegant solutions to complex organizational and design challenges led him to earn a Master’s degree in Interactive Design from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. After NYU, Ryan held lead user experience roles at companies including R/GA, Yahoo!, Corra, and Pearson. He has been a featured speaker in the U.S. and internationally on topics including design, ecommerce and multi-channel strategy, personalization, and leading teams through change.
Ryan is currently focused on product and design leadership, partnering with teams on strategy, execution, and experience design across web, mobile, and platform environments. With extensive experience in UX, design leadership, user research, and multi-channel strategy, he ensures business objectives and user needs are aligned and delivered with clarity and impact.
Upcoming Talks
11 May 2026
Join us for an informal opening evening hosted at Figma’s office, just a short distance from the main venue.
This offsite session is designed for those arriving early, based locally, or looking for a more relaxed way to kick things off before the main event begins.
Expect drinks, conversation, and a provocative discussion to set the tone for the days ahead.
Note We cannot accommodate everyone from the event so only available to those who register in advance.
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.
Agenda:
- 5:30 PM Registration opens; reception F&B open
- 6:15 PM Welcome
- 7:50 PM Networking and F&B
- 8:30 PM Close
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
This will be followed by an open forum, giving everyone in the room a chance to speak candidly with the speakers about their hopes, concerns, and open questions in this space.
13 May 2026
AI is changing product work fast. It can write code, accelerate research, support design decisions and remove hours of repetitive work. But is it taking your job, or changing it?
In this debate, Dana Lawson and Christina Goldschmidt take opposing sides on one of the most urgent questions facing modern teams. One side argues that AI is reducing the need for specialists by collapsing roles, raising expectations and putting more pressure on fewer individuals. The other argues that AI is changing the job, not replacing it, freeing skilled practitioners to focus on judgement, systems thinking, strategy, creativity, and the decisions that matter most.
Moderated by Ryan Leffel, this session explores what happens as AI reshapes not just coding, but also design, research, delivery, and product decision-making. What does that mean for the future of cross-functional teams? Will experienced product managers, designers, and engineers become more valuable, or will the pressure on individuals become unsustainable? And if AI takes on more of the work across the product lifecycle, who stays accountable for what gets built, why it gets built, and whether it should exist at all?
Past Talks
A strong on-screen presence isn’t optional anymore. It is essential for influence, leadership, and collaboration in today’s world of work. Lorraine Lee, a top-rated virtual speaker, Amazon #1 best-selling author of Unforgettable Presence, and LinkedIn Learning instructor, joins Ryan Leffel for a fireside chat on how to elevate your presence in every interaction. Together, they will share practical strategies to help you communicate with confidence, command attention, and leave a lasting impact, whether you are pitching ideas, leading teams, or driving change.
19 May 2025
A/B testing has become a superpower in product development, enabling data-driven decisions that fuel business growth. But with great power comes a shadow: an over-reliance on testing can lead to incremental tweaks over bold, groundbreaking moves. This talk sheds light on both the superpowers and the shadows of A/B testing, exploring the risks of a test-heavy culture and how it can stifle creativity and big-picture thinking. Discover practical strategies to balance optimization with innovation, fostering a culture that leverages testing without losing sight of visionary product development.
- Harnessing the super powers of A/B testing to make revenue generating business decisions
- Recognizing the limitations of A/B testing and the risks of focusing solely on incremental improvements
- Identifying the “shadow side” of a testing culture on stifling creativity and broader strategic thinking
- How to balance rigorous testing processes without sacrificing creative exploration for breakthrough developments
- Practical steps to push beyond data dependency, fostering a mindset of experimentation that leads to transformative product outcomes.
14 May 2025
Hiring today is broken—candidates are getting filtered out by AI before a human even sees their application, and hiring managers are often relying on outdated methods that don’t assess the full potential of a candidate. This discussion will tackle hiring challenges from both sides of the table:
- How candidates can stand out despite AI screening and generic recruitment pipelines.
- Why skills, mindset, and cultural fit matter more than portfolios or take-home assignments—and how hiring managers can assess them effectively.
- How hiring managers can better brief recruiters to identify the right talent, even if they aren’t design or product experts.
- How teams are using AI and hiring tech effectively without missing top candidates or introducing bias.
- Real-world hiring strategies to improve hiring outcomes for both job seekers and hiring managers.
