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 global scale, the work changes, my approach doesn’t.
I've started teams from nothing, inherited broken cultures, redirected products heading the wrong way and built design orgs that didn't exist yet.
Scale and stage
I’ve built from the ground up and led at global scale. From a team of one to organisations serving 70M+ users, I know where things break and how to fix them before it slows everything down.
Direction and strategy
Design needs to be there when direction is set. If it comes in later, you’re paying to undo decisions. I work upstream to shape the problem and define strategy, not just execute the solution.
Hands-on and AI native
AI isn’t just a feature. I use it daily across research, prototyping, strategy and delivery. Not as a shortcut, but to change how fast teams move. I know where it creates real leverage and where it doesn’t. Most teams get this wrong.
Culture and structure
I know how to change a team when it isn’t working. At Careem, I rebuilt the design org and moved team satisfaction scores from -24 to +78 in two months. That came from structure, clear ownership and giving design real authority.
"Luke kept the team steady under pressure while shaping strategies that drove impact. He shielded us when stakeholder demands became unpredictable."
~ Valentina Pozzebon, Product Design Lead, Careem
SELECTED WORK
What was broken, what changed & the impact.
CAREEM • HEAD OF DESIGN • 70M+ USERS
Changing the culture of Careem’s 40+ design org
-24 to +78 - 102 point eNPS improvement.
300% - Improvement in team satisfaction.
40% - Increase in early stage design involvement
THE AA (AA-X) • HEAD OF UX • 14M+ USERS
From 15 legacy services into a single platform
27% - Increase in bookings in app
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 strategic positioning
Strategic playbook - Built and used from day one
CAREEM • UBER • MENA
The brief said iterate, the research said rebuild trust
140 - Features updated and redesigned
23% - Fewer driver related cancelations
95% - CSAT scores improved
"Luke is the kind of leader who always raises the bar - for quality, for accountability and for the culture of the team."
~ Linden Dance, 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.
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.
BACKGROUND
My Design journey.
I’ve spent 20+ years helping companies build the right thing before they scale the wrong one.
I’ve built and led design across Careem, The AA, YTree, and Casim. From zero to scale, across strategy, operations, and hands-on craft. The goal has always been the same - make organisations capable of better decisions, not just better screens.
I’ve worked at every level, from individual contributor to VP. Different roles, same core problems. Clarity, direction, and how teams actually work together to deliver outcomes.
I also speak and run workshops for product, design, leadership and AI-first ways of working.
Casim -VP of Design
Make it a Conversation - Founder, Fractional Design Leader & Advisor
Careem (Uber) - Global Head of Product Design
Careem (Uber) - Head of Design - Rides, Captains, Pay
The AA (AA-X) - Head of User Experience Design
YTree - Head of Design
Pace Revenue (FLYR) - Lead Product Designer
Ninety Percent of Everything - Design & Product Manager
Aviva - Senior Product Designer
Simply Business - UX Specialist
Digital Catapult - Senior UX/UI Designer
iDirect - Interaction & Visual Designer
Freelance - Graphic & UX Designer