CASIM · EINVOICING · MENA
Defining the product direction before a single screen was designed.
VP of Design & Product Strategy · Founding team
I joined as a founding design leader to define the product, shape the strategy and build the company playbook.
ROLE
Early stage start-up
Product direction · AI strategy · Org building · 0 → 1
Design function · Brand · Research · Product management
SCOPE
"We wouldn’t be where we are today without Luke and the work he did to shape the product and direction."
~ Stuart McKechnie, CEO & Founder, Casim
THE PROBLEM
The ambition was clear. The product direction wasn’t.
Casim knew what it wanted to build. What it didn’t have was a clear definition of what that product actually needed to be.
In a compliance-heavy space, that gap is expensive. Every decision compounds into product complexity, technical debt and slower execution over time.
THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE
Execution wasn’t the problem, definition was.
The idea was good, the product wasn’t defined
Leadership knew what they wanted to build. What they didn’t have was a clear definition of who it was for, what it solved, or how it would stand out. In a compliance-led market, that gap compounds quickly.
There was no foundation to build on
No product definition, no brand position, no shared systems. Just a direction and the pressure to move fast. At this early stage, product, strategy and brand are the same thing.
Stepping back, not moving faster
I paused execution and rebuilt the direction from first principles. I mapped the market across 150+ competitors, spoke directly to business owners and finance teams and tested early concepts.
Clear direction produced an immediate shift
What we had before and what we aligned on were fundamentally different. The product became AI-first, built for all businesses, grounded in real workflows, not compliance checklists.
THE STRATEGIC SHIFT
Two weeks of research changed the company's direction.
Within two weeks of structured discovery workshops with the entire founding team, the company pivoted to a more sophisticated and defensible product direction.
I reset the work around a clear product definition.
Grounded in research, real users, and market understanding, we defined who the product is for, what problems it solves and how it stands out This became the North Star.
Product, brand and strategy became one system
At this stage, they can’t be separated. I defined the brand, product structure and positioning together, ensuring every decision reinforced the same direction.
We built a foundation designed to scale
The system was designed from the start to support, compliance, AI-driven workflows and evolving product needs. Not as layers added later, but as part of how the product works.
The company aligned around a single direction
What existed before and what we committed to were fundamentally different. This wasn’t iteration, it was a reset. From that point, product, engineering and leadership were working toward the same goal.
THE RESULT
I turned research into a product direction the whole company operated from.
01
Product direction defined from first principles
A strategic product definition of what Casim is, is not, and what it needs to be in 12 months to earn enterprise trust in a compliance-critical, AI driven market.
02
A brand that reflected the product, not just the market
Every touchpoint reinforced the same message, from interface to marketing.
03
An AI-first product model, not AI as a feature
AI was built into how the product works, not added on top.
04
An AI-first design system that encodes the product philosophy
Built for engineering to work from directly. Every component reflects the principle that AI decisions must feel accountable, not just automatic.
“Without design leadership, you get a product. With it, you define a category.”
WHAT THIS TAUGHT ME
At this stage, the difference isn’t execution. It’s who defines the product, shapes the decisions and holds the direction.
That means owning leadership, not just supporting, pushing for the right problem not the easiest one and protecting the user when the pressure is to move fast.
Without that, you get a version of the idea, with it, you build something the market hasn’t seen before.
The positioning, the strategy and the product are the same thing early on. I held that line against pressure to compromise. The playbook the company runs from today is the result