I believe people are capable of extraordinary growth.
I’ve spent my career designing products, building teams, developing leaders, and helping organizations navigate change.
Over time, I’ve come to believe that many of the things we call “soft skills” are deeply learnable. Leadership, communication, influence, collaboration, strategy: people can get much better at these with attention, practice, and the right support.
That belief shapes how I lead, how I coach, and how I think about organizations.
Growth is something we can design for.
People do their best work when the environment around them helps them grow.
I care about creating the systems, relationships, and opportunities that help people stretch into new capabilities. I’m also always looking for the one-plus-one-equals-three moments, where different perspectives come together and create something better than any one person would have reached alone.
That’s a big part of why collaboration matters so much to me.
Creative people can change organizations.
I’ve spent most of my career around designers and other creative people, and I’ve seen how much they can contribute when their influence extends beyond the work immediately in front of them.
Creative leaders can help organizations make sense of complexity, understand people more deeply, imagine new possibilities, and bring teams together around a clearer picture of the future.
That’s why I care so much about helping design leaders grow their impact.
I’ve had a lot of different chapters.
My career has taken me through startups, hypergrowth, acquisition, large-scale organizations, executive leadership, coaching, and advising.
At PlanGrid, I grew the design team 5x as the company scaled rapidly and went through its $900M acquisition by Autodesk.
Today, I’m a Senior Director at Autodesk, where I lead a global UX organization across construction and data experiences.
Along the way, I’ve also led design at Brigade and Intuit, become a certified executive coach, advised founders, and spoken about design leadership, organizational change, AI, and creative leadership.
Each chapter has taught me something different about how people, teams, and organizations grow.
There’s more to us than our jobs.
Work is an important part of my life, but it isn’t the whole picture.
I care deeply about community, creativity, and staying connected to the world outside of work. Over the years, I’ve spent hundreds of hours volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and supporting local nonprofits and community organizations.
I also love making things, music, creative projects, and being outside.
Those parts of my life shape how I show up professionally, too. They keep me curious, grounded, and connected to the people and communities around me.
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Alissa Briggs is a design executive, certified executive coach, and speaker who helps leaders and organizations navigate growth and change. She is a Senior Director at Autodesk, where she leads a global UX organization across construction and data experiences. Previously, she helped scale PlanGrid’s design team 5x through its $900M acquisition by Autodesk and held design leadership roles at Brigade and Intuit.
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Alissa is a Senior Director at Autodesk, where she leads the global Construction and Data Experience organization—over 80 designers, researchers, and content strategists working at the intersection of design, business, and technology. Her leadership spans platform transformation, AI-driven user experiences, and the creation of scalable systems that support long-term innovation and customer value. She also chaired Autodesk’s Design Leadership Council, partnering with division leaders to to further design initiatives company-wide, and served on the Diversity & Belonging Council to help foster an inclusive, trust-based culture.
Alissa brings deep experience guiding teams through critical inflection points—from startup hypergrowth to enterprise reinvention. At PlanGrid, she served as Director of UX, scaling the team 5x and helping lead the company through its $900M acquisition by Autodesk. Earlier in her career, she led design at Brigade, civic tech startup, and served as Head of Design for Intuit’s Payroll division, where she shaped UX strategy across 15+ product lines.
In addition to her organizational leadership, Alissa is a certified executive coach and trusted advisor to emerging and established design leaders. She supports clients as they navigate growth, increase their influence, manage complex team dynamics, and align their careers with personal values. She also advises early-stage founders through her work with Designer Fund.
Alissa regularly speaks at industry and design conferences on topics such as UX leadership, customer-centered innovation, facilitation, and leading through change. She holds advanced degrees in Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and finds balance in trail running, community volunteering, and creative pursuits.