Designing products → systems → companies

Ira (ee·rah) Sharma

I enjoy the messy early days of companies, when the vision is clear and the org chart doesn't exist yet.

I've shipped clinical software, attempted untangling city-wide systems and run design awards, each time turning an unclear brief into something that makes people's lives easier. Now, I want to build companies.

Baltimore · 39.29° N · 76.61° W

Open to early-stage roles

Selected work

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      Ira Sharma

      irasharma.connect@gmail.comwww.linkedin.com/in/irassharma

      Product leader with 7+ years building consumer and clinician-facing healthcare products across telehealth, AI imaging, and health insurance. Track record of shipping products that customers love and that move business metrics (eg. 70% claims backlog reduction, 12 minutes saved per patient visit) by pairing human-centred discovery with disciplined cross-functional execution. Currently advising an AI TechBio startup on 0 →1 product and company build, and pre-seed raise.

      Relevant experience

      Aisomer (Stealth AI TechBio Startup)

      Dec 2025 - Present

      Product, Strategy & Operations · Remote, US

      • Defining business and product strategy for an AI-native company, positioning it long-term scale.
      • Building the operating roadmap, including the pitch and materials supporting capital raise and early customer acquisition.

      Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation / Oakland Mayor’s Office

      May 2025 - Mar 2026

      Project Lead – Permitting System Research & Solutioning · Oakland, CA

      • Led diagnostic of the city permitting system through 50+ stakeholder interviews across government, developers, and residents, identifying bottlenecks impacting thousands of applications annually.
      • Translated research into HTML prototypes of the 15 most-requested resident-facing permits ready to plug into the city’s website, and formulated an LLM chatbot process to make the experience replicable across additional permits.
      • Delivered service and process redesign recommendations and built alignment across city agencies and community stakeholders, increasing buy-in for adoption of proposed reforms.

      Nova Benefits (B2B Health Insurance Brokerage)

      Jun 2022 - Nov 2023

      Lead Product Designer, and Product Manager · Bangalore, India

      • Co-owned product definition and delivery for a cloud-based claims tracking platform; shipped a workflow optimization and automation solution that reduced claims backlog by 70% and improved team productivity by 40%.
      • Defined product requirements and prioritized backlogs with engineering, operations, and client-servicing teams; ran weekly scrums and internal hack-a-thons to boost product quality and team focus.
      • Used product analytics (PostHog, Excel) to inform roadmap decisions; co-developed a 3-year product strategy with the CTO aligning user needs with revenue growth and scalability.

      Qure.ai (AI for Medical Imaging)

      Jan 2022 - May 2022

      Product Design & Product Strategy Consultant · Mumbai, India

      • Conducted user research and co-creation sessions with US and NHS clinicians to design modular AI-enabled lung cancer imaging workflows aligned with public health priorities and constraints; solutions currently under testing at NHS.
      • Created a market analysis spanning 50+ US competitors, driving a 5-year market positioning and growth roadmap in partnership with M&A, Business Development, and Founder’s Office teams.

      Reya Health (Digital Doctor’s Assistant)

      Mar 2019 - Apr 2021

      Product Owner · Bangalore, India

      • Owned the full 0→1 product lifecycle for a clinician-facing neurology outpatient workflow platform, from discovery through launch; translated clinician needs into user stories, acceptance criteria, and prioritized engineering backlogs.
      • Led sprint planning and coordination across design, engineering, and clinical stakeholders; shipped a product that reduced appointment times by up to 12 minutes per visit while fully replacing physician documentation (deployed during Covid!)
      • Led co-creation with physicians to ensure usability, adoption, and clinical relevance within regulated healthcare settings.

      Education

      Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

      May 2026

      STEM MBA: Health, Tech & Innovation · Cert: Financial Mgmt · Dean’s Scholar, Forté Fellow, BoH Ambassador · Baltimore, MD

      Student Commencement Speaker, Class of 2026

      National Institute of Design, India

      Feb 2017

      Bachelor of Design (B.Des), Industrial Design · Ratan Tata Merit Scholar · Study Abroad: Politecnico di Milano · Ahmedabad, India

      Community involvement

      Johns Hopkins Carey | Teaching Assistant, Business Communications (Executive & Flex MBA)

      Aug 2026 - Present

      ADPlist Design Mentor

      Jun 2022 - Present

      Conducted 100+ 1:1 mentorship sessions with early-career designers globally

      Graduate Healthcare Business Association (GHBA) at JHU | President

      Oct 2025 - May 2026

      Women in Business (WIB) at Carey | Director of Alumni Relations

      Feb 2025 - May 2026

      Additional qualifications

      Independent Design Researcher & Strategist

      2017-24

      Delivered digital design and product strategy solutions for clients from start-ups to multi-national corporations (e.g., Spotify, MerilLife, Microsoft studio +91).

      Skills: Full Product Lifecycle, Consumer Healthcare, AI-Enabled Product Design, Agile (Jira, Confluence, Notion), Product Analytics (PostHog, Tableau), Clinical Co-Creation, Cross-Functional Leadership, 0 →1 Strategy