Born and raised in the Czech Republic, in the heart of Europe, I spent my teenage years exploring the fundamentals of digital design, marketing, and web development while gradually becoming involved in the tech industry.

Fun fact – as my first ever “real” project, I built several Harry Potter fan fiction websites, including writing the content itself, which became some of the most visited platforms in the Czech Republic for that niche, with tens of thousands of monthly users.

Building on those early experiences, by the age of fifteen, I had already moved into the commercial side of things, designing custom websites and selling them to local companies together with a friend who handled the coding.

What initially started as a high school project quickly turned into a small web agency – legally registered under my mom’s name, as neither of us was old enough to run a business (you have to be 18 in Europe, formally speaking). It was our first real exposure to entrepreneurship, responsibility, and the reality that clients care far less about your age than about results.

A few years later, during my university studies, I had the opportunity to work on my first significant international project as a lead designer for a social network for Cambridge and Oxford universities called CrewDates. That experience expanded my network beyond Central Europe and eventually led me to found a boutique design studio called Mersade AG, focused on crafting useful and engaging digital experiences.

Over the following years, I worked with a diverse range of clients across Europe and North America, sharpening not only my design skills but also my communication, commercial awareness, and client leadership.

After completing my master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration at the University of Technology in Brno, I felt an increasing need for a broader perspective and change and started to plan my next moves – I have always been drawn to adventure for some reason.

Around that time, the culture of digital nomadism was gaining traction, and the idea of working remotely while exploring the world resonated strongly with me. In 2013, after some research and a fair amount of reflection, I decided to move to Asia – ultimately choosing Chiang Mai over Medellín, which was my second option at the time. I bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok, sold most of my possessions, and waved the “old continent” goodbye.

The first months in Asia were both exhilarating and challenging. I spent time in Thailand and later Malaysia, navigating new cultures and building networks from scratch, while quickly learning that “working from a beach” is a far better Instagram photo than an actual working environment.

At one point, in Krabi, I came close to completely depleting both my savings and my client portfolio and had to choose between flying back home, which I would have considered a failure, or rebuilding (somehow) from scratch. It turned out to be one of the most consequential moments in my journey, particularly when it comes to my own discipline.

Kuala Lumpur eventually became my base. I still remember standing on a balcony on my first evening there, looking over the skyline and realizing that if I wanted this to work, I had to stop romanticizing freedom, start building structure and go all-in on networking – and sales.

The city’s multicultural environment, combined with my relentless effort and a rapidly growing digital ecosystem, opened doors to projects across Southeast Asia and gave me my first opportunity to work on products used by millions of people.It was also where I learned that leadership styles don’t travel as easily as people do – and that understanding people is often more critical than understanding technology.

After shifting my clientele from Western markets to Asia and successfully wrapping up my entrepreneurial journey, I decided it was time for the next evolution and joined Althea Korea as a Lead UX/UI Designer, helping the startup expand into new markets and significantly grow its digital presence.

A year later, in 2018, I joined Accenture Interactive (now Song) as a Design and Innovation Lead in Malaysia, working across Southeast Asia and later the Middle East. During my consulting years, I led multidisciplinary teams of researchers, designers, strategists, and technologists, delivering large-scale digital experiences for Fortune 500 companies and regional business leaders.

It was an intense period of professional growth that strengthened my foundations in communication, people leadership, and commercial thinking – and also a reminder that presenting million-dollar software projects tends to improve one’s English pronunciation surprisingly quickly, and how important preparation is if we want to achieve our full potential.

After roughly three years in consulting, the desire to step closer to product ownership led me to an in-house role. During the COVID tech boom, I joined bolttech, a global insurtech unicorn, as a Product and Design Director.

There, I built practices and led distributed design and product teams across multiple time zones (Asia, Europe, and the US), scaling fintech and insurtech platforms serving millions of customers worldwide.

Witnessing the company grow from roughly five hundred to nearly three thousand employees and raising over $500M as part of the leadership team was a unique lesson in organizational scale, remote work excellence, and exponential industry growth.

After four years at bolttech, I felt the familiar pull toward new challenges and broader impact. Through a combination of timing, networks, and a bit of serendipity, I had the opportunity to meet AirAsia’s founder Tony Fernandes, which ultimately led to joining AirAsia MOVE, a Capital A company, in a senior management capacity.

At the company, which is an online travel platform serving over 15 million monthly active users across Southeast Asia and generating more than $2B in annual Gross Booking Value, I lead the Product Design and Research function. The role allows me to operate at the intersection of design, product, and business, shaping not only digital experiences but also teams, culture, and long-term strategic direction.

Alongside my primary role, I continue to advise several startups and previously mentored at the business school NewCampus. I also enjoy speaking at conferences, writing, and contributing to discussions that push the design and product industry forward.

Today, and since the beginning, really, I remain driven by curiosity and a constant belief in playing to win, adaptability, and making things matter – wherever it may be.

March 2026