Generative Pulse
First-to-market AI category. 199 leads, 139 upgrades, G2 Leader status in 6 months.
0-to-1 ProductAI StrategyMarket Definition
View case studyUX Leadership & Product Builder
I’ve never thought of this as a design job.
I’m Kirk Gustafson. I think about it as a strategy problem with design as the sharpest tool available.
At Muck Rack I helped drive 2.55x ARR growth, delivered $15.75M in revenue impact in a single year, and won the company’s Biggest Business Impact award for work most people wouldn’t expect from a design leader. That gap between expectation and outcome is where the interesting work lives.
0.00×ARR growth over tenure
$0.0MRevenue impact in 2025
0eNPS vs. 40 company avg
0UX orgs built & scaled
Selected Work
Building the Foundation
Defined how an organization thinks. Three journeys, four principles, five competencies, component library operating model.
Product StrategyTeam LeadershipDesign Systems
View case study
Reimagining UX Through AI
57 structured experiments. Research +60% faster, Design +80% faster, compound savings across every sprint.
Organizational ChangeAI AdoptionTeam Operations
View case study
AI-Native Product Delivery
Four AI products, two principles: transparency and agency. 38.8% media list creation, 57.5% search adoption.
AI Product DesignDesign LeadershipConsistency at Scale
View case study
Rolls-Royce Nuclear Hub
6 weeks. 3 user narratives. A validated prototype and a new workshop technique that spread across the organization.
Enterprise SaaS0-to-1Product Strategy
View case study
Kirk knows how to set the tone for what great design leadership looks like — his transparency, customer devotion, and resilience are values he genuinely embodies every day. He doesn't just set direction; he rolls up his sleeves and builds alongside the team.Gloria Leung · Senior Product Designer, Muck Rack
Kirk is the rare kind of Director who realizes that UX is better when people have the breathing room to actually think. He gives his team the autonomy to flourish while remaining a relentless advocate for the user, no matter how complex a project gets.Jacob Terranova · Senior UX Writer, Muck Rack
About
Most design leaders come from one context.
I come from three: agency, startup, and growth-stage SaaS. That range is what gives me a different lens on product problems. I’m not pattern-matching to what design usually does. I’m asking what the problem actually needs.
At Muck Rack, that meant defining product opportunity, prototyping in code, running GTM, and influencing $15.75M in revenue in a single year. Not just designing the product. Building it.
Read moreLinkedIn Open to opportunities
UX LeadershipProduct StrategyAI-Native Product DesignAgentic UXDesign SystemsResearch OperationsDesign OpsGTM ExecutionTeam Building & CoachingCross-functional Leadership