Farwa Kazmi | Product & Design Leader in AI. Founder. Startup Advisor. Educator. Speaker. - Farwa Kazmi

Product & Design Leader in AI. Founder.
Startup Advisor. Educator. Speaker.

AI Product & UX Leader. Founder. Startup Advisor. Educator. Speaker.

AI Product & UX Leader. Founder. Startup Advisor.
Educator. Speaker.

AI Product & UX Leader. Founder. Startup Advisor. Educator. Speaker.

Passionate about building impactful products, practices, and teams in emerging tech and scaling growth from 0 to 1 to 100.

Bio.

Farwa is an award-winning product, user research & design leader in AI / ML from Toronto. With 14+ years in digital, Farwa has conceived impactful experiences for B2C brands like Shoppers Drug Mart, Kraft, TSN, Sunnybrook Hospital, U.S Army, & launched software products at VC backed startups (3 exits) to impact millions of customers through technology & human-centered design.

Farwa previously led product design at Nudge AI (acquired by Affinity) - B2B relationship intelligence for sales teams from MVP to beta to revenue (from ~500 to 40 million relationships), built a team to take fintech startup BCM Exchange (acquired by Bitbuy) from a concept to MVP to acquisition, and led a talented team at legal tech AI scale-up Kira Systems (acquired by Litera) to help the world's top law firms review contracts with machine learning. Farwa was also Kira's Entrepreneur in Residence, where she incubated a new AI product that spun out into Zuva AI ($20M Series A raise). As the Founder of Explorux — a product strategy consultancy, she advises startups on building impactful Saas products, practices, and teams in emerging tech and scaling growth from 0 to 1 to 100.

As an Advisor for Junior Achievement Canada at Deloitte for 8 years, Farwa has coached 250+ young entrepreneurs on building tech ventures & agile product development practices. As a speaker & educator, she has taught at Brainstation, guest lectured at York University, University of Toronto, and spoken at 30+ events and conferences on product leadership, equity and design thinking.

Currently, Farwa is transforming health care for millions of Canadians at social enterprise GreenShield with UX oversight across 12+ health products & services spanning mental health, iCBT, chronic diseases, pharmacy, telemedicine, insurance and benefits.

Farwa is an award-winning product, user research & design leader in AI / ML from Toronto. With 14+ years in digital, Farwa has conceived impactful experiences for B2C brands like Shoppers Drug Mart, Kraft, TSN, Sunnybrook Hospital, U.S Army, & launched software products at VC backed startups (3 exits) to impact millions of customers through technology & human-centered design.

Farwa previously led product design at Nudge AI (acquired by Affinity) - B2B relationship intelligence for sales teams from MVP to beta to revenue (from ~500 to 40 million relationships), built a team to take Financial Exchange BCM (acquired by Bitbuy) from a concept to MVP to acquisition, and led a talented team at legal tech AI scale-up Kira Systems (acquired by Litera) to help the world's top law firms review contracts with machine learning. Farwa was also Kira's Entrepreneur in Residence, where she incubated a new AI product that spun out into Zuva AI ($20M Series A raise). As the Founder of Explorux — a product strategy consultancy, she advises startups on building impactful Saas products, practices, and teams in emerging tech and scaling growth from 0 to 1 to 100.

As an Advisor for Junior Achievement Canada at Deloitte for 8 years, Farwa has coached 250+ young entrepreneurs on building tech ventures & agile product development practices. As a speaker & educator, she has taught at Brainstation, guest lectured at York University, University of Toronto, and spoken at 30+ events and conferences on product leadership, equity and design thinking.

Currently, Farwa is transforming health care for millions of Canadians as the Director of Product Design at social enterprise GreenShield with UX oversight across 12+ health products & services spanning mental health, iCBT, chronic diseases, pharmacy, telemedicine, insurance and benefits.

Farwa is an award-winning Product Leader in Toronto with a background in design. With 13+ years in digital, she has conceived impactful experiences for B2C brands like Shoppers Drug Mart, Kraft, TSN, Sunnybrook Hospital, U.S Army, Blackberry & created 0 to 1 software products at venture backed startups (3 exits) to impact millions of customers through technology and human-centered design.

Farwa previously led product design at Nudge.ai — a B2B relationship intelligence platform & Canada's AI company of the year (acquired by Affinity). As the Founder and CEO of Explorux — a product strategy consultancy, she enabled startups to build better products, practices, & teams and helped take financial exchange BCM (acquired by Bitbuy) from a proof-of-concept to MVP to acquisition.

As the Director of Product Design & User Research in AI, she led a talented team at growth stage legal tech AI scale-up Kira Systems (acquired by Litera) to help the world's top law firms review contracts using machine learning. Farwa was also Kira's Entrepreneur in Residence where she incubated a new AI product for the corporate legal market that spun out into Zuva.ai ($20 Million Series A Raise).

Farwa is a veteran Advisor for Junior Achievement Canada with Deloitte, where she has enabled 200+ young entrepreneurs (ages 14-18) to build tech ventures for the last 8 years. As a speaker & educator, she has taught at Brainstation, guest lectured at York University, Western University, University of Toronto and spoken at Shopify Summit, Next Canada and more on product leadership, diversity and design thinking. She is passionate about empowering the next generation.

Farwa is an award-winning Product Leader in Toronto with a background in design. With 13+ years in digital, she has conceived impactful experiences for B2C brands like Shoppers Drug Mart, Kraft, TSN, Sunnybrook Hospital, U.S Army, Blackberry & created 0 to 1 software products at venture backed startups (3 exits) to impact millions of customers through technology and human-centered design.

Farwa previously led product design at Nudge.ai — a B2B relationship intelligence platform & Canada's AI company of the year (acquired by Affinity). As the Founder and CEO of Explorux — a product strategy consultancy, she enabled startups to build better products, practices, & teams and helped take financial exchange BCM (acquired by Bitbuy) from a proof-of-concept to MVP to acquisition.

As the Director of Product Design & User Research in AI, she led a talented team at growth stage legal tech AI scale-up Kira Systems (acquired by Litera) to help the world's top law firms review contracts using machine learning. Farwa was also Kira's Entrepreneur in Residence where she incubated a new AI product for the corporate legal market that spun out into Zuva.ai ($20 Million Series A Raise).

Farwa is an Advisor for Junior Achievement Canada with Deloitte, where she has enabled 200+ young entrepreneurs (ages 14-18) to build tech ventures for the last 8 years. As a speaker & educator, she has taught at Brainstation, guest lectured at York University, Western University, University of Toronto & spoken at Shopify Summit, Next Canada, and more on product leadership, diversity and design thinking. She is passionate about empowering the next generation.

Farwa is an award-winning Product Leader in Toronto with a background in design. With 13+ years in digital, she has conceived impactful experiences for B2C brands like Shoppers Drug Mart, Kraft, TSN, Sunnybrook Hospital, U.S Army, Blackberry & created 0 to 1 software products at venture backed startups (3 exits) to impact millions of customers through technology and human-centered design.

Farwa previously led product design at Nudge.ai — a B2B relationship intelligence platform & Canada's AI company of the year (acquired by Affinity). As the Founder and CEO of Explorux — a product strategy consultancy, she enabled startups to build better products, practices, & teams and helped take financial exchange BCM (acquired by Bitbuy) from a proof-of-concept to MVP to acquisition.

As the Director of Product Design & User Research in AI, she led a talented team at growth stage legal tech AI scale-up Kira Systems (acquired by Litera) to help the world's top law firms review contracts using machine learning. Farwa was also Kira's Entrepreneur in Residence where she incubated a new AI product for the corporate legal market that spun out into Zuva.ai ($20 Million Series A Raise).

Farwa is an Advisor for Junior Achievement Canada with Deloitte, where she has enabled 200+ young entrepreneurs (ages 14-18) to build tech ventures for the last 8 years. As a speaker & educator, she has taught at Brainstation, guest lectured at York University, Western University, University of Toronto and spoken at Shopify Summit, Next Canada and more on product leadership, diversity and design thinking. She is passionate about empowering the next generation.

2019 - 2022 DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT DESIGN & USER RESEARCH IN AI

Enabled the world's top law firms to review contracts for M&A Due Diligence
with AI & ML.

Hired, grew & supported a talented team across 3 product lines.
Led cross functional leadership initiatives: team rituals, road maps, scoping, strategic planning, agile practices, & product-led growth.

2019 - 2022
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT DESIGN & USER RESEARCH

Enabled top law firms to review contracts for M&A Due Diligence with AI & ML.

Hired, grew and supported a talented team of Researchers & Product Designers across multiple product lines. Led cross functional leadership initiatives: team rituals, road maps, scoping, strategic planning, agile practices, & product-led growth.

2019 - 2022
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT DESIGN & UXR

Enabled top law firms to review contracts for M&A Due Diligence with AI & ML.

Hired, grew and supported a talented team of Researchers & Product Designers across multiple product lines. Led cross functional leadership initiatives: how teams work together, road mapping, scoping, strategic planning, agile practices, & product-led growth.

2019 - 2022
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT DESIGN & RESEARCH

Enabled law firms to review contracts for M&A Due Diligence with AI & ML.

Hired, grew and supported a talented team of Researchers & Product Designers across multiple product lines. Led cross functional leadership initiatives: team rituals, road mapping, scoping, strategic planning, agile practices, & product-led growth.

2019 - 2022
LEADERSHIP: PRODUCT STRATEGY, DESIGN

Engabled law firms to review contracts for M&A Due Diligence with AI & machine learning.

Hired, grew and supported a talented team of Researchers & Product Designers across multiple product lines. Led cross functional leadership initiatives: how teams work together, road mapping, scoping, strategic planning, agile practices, & product-led growth.

Case Study

View Case Study

*Kira Acquired by Litera in 2021
New products spun-out to Zuva AI

"Farwa frequently impressed me - She led a team of designers & researchers in a challenging space (B2B Legal Tech), and simultaneously led customer discovery for a new AI product. She has an unparalleled ability to draw out insights from others & quickly and accurately construct a map spanning an entire workflow, like doing a jigsaw puzzle when no one person has the full picture. She has strong product strategy instincts and is a consummate collaborator. She's a pleasure to work with - I'd do so again in a heartbeat!"

"Farwa is a strong leader who combines deep product design experience with business acumen, team leadership and customer focus. Farwa partners closely with her team and peers to build collaborative relationships that make a difference in how business operate. Enjoyed our time working together!"

"Farwa was instrumental in leading and growing our Product Design & Research practice at Kira. She brought stakeholders together to align towards common goals, built strong relationships, and championed new initiatives. Farwa shaped our product roadmaps, strategy & team process and rituals like the QPDF - Quarterly Forum to showcase each pods work across the org. Through her leadership, she also pushed Product Development teams towards a metrics-driven approach. Her impact on Kira has been tremendous as she actively shaped our culture and norms - for which she faciliated a workshop across 250+ participants & 18 groups at our annual retreat.

Farwa also thrives in ambiguity, and can wear many hats from Product Management to Go-To-Market Strategy. She rolled up her sleeves to launch a new product line as our Founder-In-Residence, while drawing on her extensive experience with early stage startups. She brings the infectious enthusiasm, a positive mindset, & empathetic leadership needed to thrive in a fast-scaling tech company.

2017 - 2018 DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT

Shaped the future of finance with BCM Exchange from concept to MVP to acquisition.

Built a team and practice from the ground up and led the end-to-end product experience: strategy, brand, user research, and product design.

2017 - 2018 EXPLORUX: PRODUCT LEADERSHIP

Shaped the future of finance with BCM Exchange from concept to MVP to acquisition.

Built a team and practice from the ground up and led the end-to-end product experience: strategy, brand, user research, and product design functions.

2017 - 2018 PRODUCT LEADERSHIP

Shaped the future of finance with BCM Exchangefrom MVP to acquisition.

Built a team and practice from the ground up and led the end-to-end product experience: strategy, brand, user research, product, design.

2017 - 2018 AGENCY: EXPLORUX, PRODUCT LEADERSHIP

Shaped the future of finance with BCM Exchange from MVP to acquisition.

Built a team and practice from the ground up and led the end-to-end product experience: strategy, brand, user research, product design.

2017 - 2018
EXPLORUX, PRODUCT LEADERSHIP

Shaped the future of finance with BCM exchange from concept to MVP to acquisition.

Built a team and practice from the ground up and led the end-to-end product experience: strategy, brand, user research, and product design.

View Case Study

*Acquired by Bitbuy in 2018
Featured as Emerging Woman in Blockchain by Coinsquare

"Farwa was quick in hiring and assembling a high performing team, creating repeatable processes, & providing research insights to test & launch our MVP beta. Her team at Explorux is exceptional — insightful about business vision, strategic about product results, and an absolute delight to work with!"

“Farwa and her consultancy bring an impressive depth of knowledge, product leadership, & high-quality deliverables for early stage ventures. I highly recommend them."