John Reese

Product Design Executive | Enterprise UX & AI-Native Product Development Expert | Digital Transformation Strategist | Design Systems Leader | Technology Innovator

John Reese is an accomplished product design executive, technology innovator, and user experience strategist with over 15 years of experience building enterprise-scale digital platforms, leading high-performing design organizations, and transforming complex technologies into intuitive, commercially successful products. With leadership experience across Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, PayPal, Capital One, Adobe, Dell, and General Motors, John specializes in connecting product strategy, user experience, artificial intelligence, and software development to accelerate innovation and measurable business growth.

Throughout his career, John has led major digital transformation and product design initiatives across e-commerce, advertising technology, financial services, enterprise SaaS, and AI-powered platforms. His expertise includes product vision, UX strategy, enterprise design systems, organizational development, and the creation of scalable digital experiences that improve customer engagement and business performance.

At Walmart, John played a key role in developing advertising technology and supplier platforms supporting an advertising business that grew from $0 to $6 billion in four years. His work spanned sponsored advertising, display, video, and in-store advertising experiences. He also contributed to an AI-assisted supplier onboarding solution that simplified a complex 70-field process into just five fields, dramatically reducing friction for business users.

At Home Depot, John contributed to a comprehensive website redesign and enterprise design system that helped deliver a 17% increase in conversion rates and more than $1 billion in incremental revenue. His experience demonstrates how thoughtful product design, simplified customer experiences, and effective technology execution can directly influence business performance at enterprise scale.

John is equally accomplished in building and leading design organizations. He has established design teams from the ground up, including General Motors' first design organization and Walmart's advertising design team, which grew from three to 25 professionals. He has led teams of up to 30 designers while developing the strategic frameworks, design governance, organizational structures, and collaborative cultures necessary to support innovation at scale.

What distinguishes John is his commitment to being both a strategic design executive and a hands-on technology builder. As AI-powered development tools transform the software industry, John has expanded his capabilities beyond traditional UX leadership to include building and delivering production-ready software.

At ModelOp, an enterprise AI governance platform, John served as the company's entire design function, leading a comprehensive product redesign centered on role-based user experiences. Using Claude Code and React, he translated the redesigned experience into working software aligned with the engineering team's existing frameworks, enabling faster implementation and closer collaboration between design and development.

John has also advised organizations including Microsoft and Tractor Supply on integrating artificial intelligence into design, user research, and product delivery workflows. His approach emphasizes using AI not simply to accelerate traditional processes, but to rethink how teams collaborate, develop products, and deliver customer value.

Beyond enterprise technology, John is the founder of BurrowBop, an independent iOS game studio where he personally designs and develops mobile applications using SwiftUI and AI-assisted development tools. In 2026, he built and released three games, including an Apple Watch application, demonstrating his ability to take products from concept through development and public release.

John is passionate about accessible, ethical, and human-centered product design. His development practices emphasize WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards, responsible monetization, and creating digital products that respect the people who use them.

His expertise spans enterprise product strategy, AI-native software development, UX research, design systems, accessibility, digital commerce, organizational leadership, and technical product execution. He brings a rare combination of executive-level strategic thinking and practical implementation skills, enabling him to identify business challenges and help build the solutions needed to address them.

John believes that effective product leadership requires more than creating compelling designs. It involves understanding business objectives, simplifying complex systems, empowering teams, and delivering technology that produces measurable results.

His mission is simple: Help organizations transform complex technology into intuitive, scalable, and commercially successful products by combining strategic design leadership, artificial intelligence, and hands-on software development.

Based in the Denver, Colorado area, John works with technology executives, product leaders, enterprise organizations, SaaS companies, and growing businesses seeking to modernize digital experiences, build high-performing design teams, accelerate AI adoption, and create products that deliver exceptional customer experiences and measurable business value.

He is open to Director, Senior Director, and Vice President of Product Design opportunities, including remote and Denver-based leadership positions.