Testimonials
“Tom’s greatest leadership strength is the personal dedication he has to the development of his teams. While some leaders focus on their own success, I’ve yet to have a conversation with Tom in which he does not speak to the importance of developing the abilities of those he works with and the responsibility he feels towards their success. Tom is a confident and strong personality, yet he also has the ability to set aside ego, demonstrates high self- awareness and EQ, and has a sincere interest in listening to others. At the same time he is analytical and decisive when it’s needed. He has an attitude of “do what’s right and get the job done, whatever it takes.”
Thomas Koulopoulos
Futurist. Author. Visionary. Leader.
Chairman at Delphi Group
“Tom is great to work with. He has an outstanding understanding of what end-clients need for User Design, Experience, and essentially how things should be done in life – simple yet sophisticated. He is “First Principles” focused, and well-liked amongst peers. I would love to work with Tom again.”
Jason Forish
Solutions Director, Insight
“Tom and I worked together on several iterations of timely curricular design, at a time when colleges needed to quickly ramp up the need for digital commerce and analytics education. He patiently worked with our faculty to not only layer learning outcomes in the classes he developed but also worked with other faculty to make sure content was spiraled. Teaching a senior level course, students gained invaluable knowledge in his sessions as he brought real world experience into the classroom. Not only that, Tom helped mentor several of our Capstone classes as he judged outcomes and presentations frequently. He has been a board member for the School of Fashion at Lasell University for several years and we rely on him to push our digital education for students at a critical time. He is easy to work with, incredibly articulate, sharp on his feet, highly educated and an excellent colleague. I highly recommend Tom in many capacities. His leadership, knowledge, big picture thinking, patience and insight are all key attributes he offers any firm in any capacity.”
Catharine Weiss, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Lasell University
“Tom Scotto is one of those leaders that incites trust, communication and psychological safety within an organization and its teams. During my interview process with Tom, I immediately knew he was going to be a great person to work with and for. Not many leaders can create an air of comfortably and open communication as Tom can. In my time working with Tom, he displayed impressive intelligence and a communication style that can only be described as very articulate. Tom takes the time to understand things deeply and the results are outcomes that display a solid understanding of complex issues with solutions. Tom would be a great leader for any team.”
Sonny Steele
Director of User Experience, FCP Euro
“Leaders and managers are not interchangeable, and Tom is very clear on that distinction. As a member of senior leadership, Tom focuses on motivating colleagues as opposed to managing them. He knows how to organize diverse groups and foster a creative (and productive) working environment. I’ve always thought Tom carries a unique ability: the power to command respect yet remain approachable. These are qualities I look for in a leader, and it’s why I enjoy working with him and the team he built at Wayfair.”
Julia Djeke
Associate Director of Experience Strategy, Primacy
“Tom is a charismatic leader who built the Enterprise Product Design team (60+) at Wayfair, with his direct influence across both Boston and Berlin. He posses both hard & soft leadership skills; he listens to us and provides us with solutions with his great dynamism, but also with resilience and patience. He nudges us to perform well by providing us with clear measurable success metrics - which can be translated in both design & business languages; it immensely helped us to succeed in the complex Eco-System at the large organization.”
Yoshiko Ford-Okimoto
Senior Product Manager, SAP
“Tom is a highly energizing and dynamic leader that successfully built a 70+ person enterprise-facing design team at Wayfair within the span of a couple of years. I am lucky to count myself as one of the first 10 individuals on that team, as well as his direct report for the past several months. Tom has a gifted ability to pull back the curtains on a resume and look for curiosity, grit/drive, passion, and the ability to learn/adapt in potential hires - I know this because he gave me my entry-level role into design. I have been one of many reports who have grown quickly under his direction - going from entry level to positioned for management. Tom will push you out of your comfort zone to grow and learn, but will kindly and directly coach you where it's needed to enable your success.
He leads with strategic design thinking and has helped shift a culture without design into one that respects and enables the skillset we bring to the table. Tom feels most at home when surrounded by his team, and it shows in the culture he helps cultivate and protect. I would work for Tom again if a professional opportunity presented itself.”
Katie Fitton
Product Design Manager, Toast
“Tom has spoken at our global conference series covering the many moving parts of digital transformation in business. Tom delivered some incredible insights into his work and offered our audience many great takeaways presenting with passion and conviction. Tom has clear leadership skills and came across as a real people person. It was a pleasure having Tom as part of the event and I look forward to having him back with us in the future.“
Chris Towers
Founder, Head of Events, Roar Media, Digital Transformation Conference Global Series
“Tom and I worked together at Wayfair in various different capacities. The one I value most, was working very closely with Tom as my leader and professional mentor. Tom invests time and care into each person who works with him, by coaching them on design craft, UX strategy, or even down to how to talk to difficult stakeholders. He heavily influenced the design culture within our team by being a champion and advocate for UX across all of Wayfair. He consistently created a holistic view of the business for anyone to see the bigger picture, which allowed leaders under him like myself, to make a large impact. Because of his style of leadership and ability to bring the right people together to solve complex problems, I would work for him again any day.
His leadership and investment in people truly raises the bar on product design team output. I gained very valuable knowledge and experience working for and with Tom, that I will carry with me always. As a leader or a mentor, Tom earns my highest recommendation.”
Elijah Fischer
Director, Product Design, AvidXchange, Inc.
“I first met Tom when he was a team of 1, and got to know him as he built a 60+ person team of designers, researchers, and content strategists. For me, he defined my idea of a “design leader”.
He’s one of the few people who understands the difference between a “manager” and a “leader”. He leads by sharing a compelling vision, hiring the best talent, and giving these people the tools and support they need to grow. At Wayfair, this created a strong culture where we felt comfortable taking risks and testing out new ideas. As a member of his team, if anything went awry, I knew Tom would always have my back and help me learn from the experience.
I highly recommend Tom and hope to have the opportunity to work together in the future.”
Kyle Savage
Staff Product Lead, Kevel
“I got the honor of joining Tom's team at Wayfair and from the start Tom offered me a safe space and confidence to speak my mind openly. During my interview, he asked me what excites me as a designer and what I want to do in five years from now. At the point, I already felt that I can express who I truly am as a designer. I told Tom that I do not want to be designing just digital products in five years rather I would like to focus on problem solving irrespective of medium. Long story short, I got the job and I worked directly with him as we grew the team overall.
This small example is a testimonial to a great supportive leader that Tom Scotto is. He instills confidence and stands by your side. He lets his team be themselves as his focus is not to micromanage the talent rather get the best talent and empower them to do the magic. His focus is to foster and nurture leadership in the team members irrespective of their level/role.”
Shivakant Pandey
Principal Experience Architect, Autodesk
“I was the twelfth person to join Tom’s team and watched as he built it to over 70. His strategic leadership moved research and design into a position of trust within our product teams, while his cultural leadership ensured that our team remained a community where each of us felt comfortable seeking mentors and growing professionally. Tom’s greatest skill is identifying and recruiting top talent who will not only expand the professional capacity of our team, but will also be a solid cultural fit.”
Christopher Gross
Senior Researcher, Appfire
“Tom is a tenacious leader with an astounding acumen for product design. He found a need at Wayfair to build an enterprise product design team to support the many facets of a complex organization. He built it from the ground up to a group of over 70 design professionals in a short two year timeframe. He leads with passion and is a great mentor. I highly recommend him if you are looking to build a top-talent team and to have design maturity above the rest.”
JD Vorheis
Sr. XD Manager, Autodesk
“Tom is an exceptional leader and mentor that I am incredibly lucky to have worked with and learned from. When approached with my interest in joining his team and pursuing a career in design, Tom was willing to invest in my mere potential and spent significant time coaching me and immersing me into the work of his team. While working together, Tom challenged me to grow quickly as a designer, but was always willing to take a step back and provide the coaching I needed to be successful. I would be honored to work under his leadership again.”
Kati Daczkowski
Business Analyst, Boston Consulting Group (BSG)
“Tom is a fantastic UX Leader. I worked closely with Tom as the Recruiting Lead for UX at Wayfair. Tom was Director of the Enterprise Design org and helped grow it from a team of about 5 people to over 50 in about a year. He is a great leader and builder of large-scale organizations and helped create a vision for Wayfair's Enterprise UX Org. I highly recommend Tom as someone who can help scale and lead an Org, add value as a consultant or play the role of "Manager Doer" as needed.”
David Leech
Senior Recruiting Manager, Product Management & UX, Wayfair