LUKE DACEY • DESIGN LEADERSHIP • DUBAI
23 years building from zero to global scale.
Leading design at Careem for 70M+ users, The AA for 14M+ users and hands-on at Casim from zero to one in 9 months.
WHERE I ADD VALUE
Early stage or established, the brief is always different, my approach isn't.
I've started teams from nothing, inherited broken cultures, redirected products that were heading the wrong way and built design orgs that didn't exist yet.
Early stage to global scale.
I've managed teams from one to forty people and been responsible for products used by 70M+ users across 10 countries. I’ve built from zero and have seen where scale breaks.
Direction before it goes wrong.
When direction gets set without design in the room, the product suffers and I’ve seen how expensive that can be to unpick. I shape strategy, not just execute it and make sure we're solving the right problem before the wrong one takes hold.
Hands-on and AI native
I've been working with AI long enough to know where it actually creates leverage and where it creates the illusion of it. I use it daily, I've rebuilt how teams work around it and I teach it to product and design leaders who want to cut through the hype and actually implement it at scale.
Structure drives culture
Culture doesn't fix itself. I've learned that the hard way. Get the structure right first - clear ownership, the right people in the right conversations, design with real authority. I took Careem's design org from an eNPS of -24 to +78. Structure first, then the culture follows, every time.
"His ability to balance high-level design direction with the realities of execution makes him a valued partner to cross-functional leads and senior stakeholders alike. Luke is the kind of leader who always raises the bar - for quality, for accountability and for the culture of the team."
~ Linden Dance, Product Design Lead, Careem
SELECTED WORK
What was broken, what changed & the impact.
CAREEM • 70M+ USERS • MENA
Changing the culture of Careem’s 40+ design org.
-24 to +78 - 102 point eNPS improvement
300% - Improvement in team satisfaction
2x - Designers promoted into leadership roles
40% - Increase in design involvement at early stage
THE AA (AA-X) • 14M+ USERS • UK
From 15 fragmented services into a single platform.
27% - Increase in bookings in app
43% - Reduction in recovery call outs
18% - Increase in upsell conversion rate
57% - Decrease in customer service call volume
CASIM • FOUNDING • MENA
Building a product & design org from scratch.
9 months - Zero to market-ready
5 early adopters - Secured through product positioning
Strategic playbook - Built and used from day one
New design system - Built with AI workflows
CAREEM • UBER • MENA
The org said iterate, the research said different.
140 - Features updated and redesigned
12% - Increase in rides completion
23% - Fewer driver related cancelations
95% - CSAT scores improved
CAREEM • UBER • MENA
Iterating flows wasn’t enough. We had to rebuild confidence.
140 - Features updated and redesigned
12% - Increase in rides completion
23% - Fewer driver related cancelations
95% - CSAT scores improved
"He kept the team steady under pressure while shaping strategies that drove impact. He shielded us when stakeholder demands became unpredictable."
~ Valentina Pozzebon, Lead Product Designer, Careem
"His ability to balance hands-on execution with big-picture thinking makes him an invaluable example in any team."
~ Nadia Roeleveld, Product Designer, Koos
HOW I LEAD
THE STRATEGIC SHIFT
I don’t manage people, I manage the conditions around them.
My job is to understand what each person needs and remove whatever's in the way. I don't do surprises, not about performance, not about what's coming. People make better decisions when you treat them like adults.
I’ve worked in Fintech. Consumer. Automotive. Digital wealth. B2B SaaS. Maritime and Government digital. It has allowed me to see structural failure that are the same across all industries. The most useful thing I bring is a diagnostic pattern tested across contexts most design leaders haven't seen.
I work hands-on as a deliberate choice. The leader who stops being in the work loses the ability to tell when it's going wrong before the cost is already sunk.
HOW I WORK WITH AI
THE STRATEGIC SHIFT
Figma is dead. Designers will be replaced. Just prompt your way to production. Most of it is wrong.
— and the people saying it loudest are usually the ones who've spent the least time actually working in it.
I know where AI creates real leverage and where it creates the illusion of it. I use it daily across research, prototyping, delivery and strategy. I've rebuilt how I work around it completely — not as a shortcut, but as a fundamental change to how decisions get made and how fast teams can move.
The first place AI should live isn't in your product. It's in how your team thinks and works. Most teams get this backwards. They ship AI features before they've used AI to improve how they design, align, and hand off. I've done both — at Casim I designed the AI-native product experience and rebuilt the team's entire workflow at the same time.
I run a deliberate stack. Claude and Cowork for execution, ChatGPT for early strategy and breadth, Cursor with engineering to close the gap between design and production, Figma Make where it earns its place. I build custom workflows for teams — not tool recommendations, process architecture that removes real inefficiencies and reduces the cost of getting to production-ready.
I write about this, speak on it at events including Hub71 and Techstars, and run workshops for product and design teams and C-suite audiences who want to cut through the hype and actually implement it at scale.