Many designers don’t want to be leaders - Alipta Ballav (Sr. Design Manager @ Microsoft)

In this episode, I sit down with Alipta Ballav, Senior Design Manager at Microsoft, to explore what it takes to lead impactful design in complex, high-scale industries like retail, healthcare, and automotive.Alipta shares his journey from building a 21-member healthcare design team at Cerner Corporation, to shaping system-level retail experiences at Microsoft’s Retail Industry Cloud. We also discuss his work at Harman International, where he blended automotive UX with research-driven innovation.Beyond corporate leadership, Alipta co-founded Design Shots, a non-profit initiative aimed at democratizing UX education for aspiring designers.Whether you're a growing designer, team lead, or product leader, this episode is packed with strategic thinking, real-world stories, and practical advice from a seasoned design leader.Don’t forget to follow and subscribe to stay updated with new episodes.