Sumit Pandey

Hi! Hallo! Hei! Namaste!

I’m Sumit Pandey, a design leader with over 15 years of experience, many of which have been leading award-winning design teams. I’m originally from Mumbai and now based in Oslo. My work bridges the messy realities of systems, data, and human experience, often as industrial AI tools, digital services, or design-led strategy.

I lead the Design Studio at Cognite, shaping the vision for the company’s agentic industrial products with product leadership and the office of the CPO. At Cognite, I’ve led the ground-up redesign of products, helped define our Asset Performance Management (APM) suite, and shaped land-and-expand strategies in close collaboration with sales, GTM, and product teams.

Design for complex realities

From research to real-world systems

In 2019, I completed a PhD in design from the University of Oslo. My thesis, Designing Smart Things, explored how smart technologies are not just digital artifacts but collections of systems, stakeholders, and strategies that evolve over time.

Since then, I’ve applied that thinking across domains: industrial AI, research tech, fintech, and public-sector infrastructure.

LibraryUX: hands holding a paper prototype with sketched interface cards — Research years: LibraryUX at the University of Oslo Library, introducing and positioning design within the institution.

D+H transaction banking app on a phone held in a hand — Consulting years: 0-to-1 design of a transaction banking app for D+H India.

Cognite

At Cognite, I have focused on creating solutions that address challenges faced by industrial workers. These are people on the shop floor running machines that supply power, energy, and goods that keep the world running. Lately, I’ve worked on AI-powered tools for maintenance, operations, and reliability, built with and for the people who run heavy industry.

These have been some of the most challenging and rewarding problems of my career. I’ve travelled across four continents to work alongside the people who run heavy industry in their own contexts. You gain a special appreciation for “offline mode” five floors up a flare stack in 45-degree heat, trying to capture the size of a 1,500-degree flame.

In 2026, I founded and now lead the Cognite Design Studio across Oslo and India.

Technician in the field reading a device screen — Field research with operators: how the products actually get used.

Working session around a long table with laptops — Working sessions with the cross-functional trio shaping the tools portfolio.

Hand-marked paper P&ID drawings on a desk with drafting templates, from field sessions with reliability engineers — Paper first: marking up P&IDs with reliability engineers before designing a single screen.

Past work

Earlier, I worked as a design consultant at Halogen (2019-2021) and Globant (2011-2014), and as a design lead at the University Library, UiO, on LibraryUX and Frilux (2015-2018), combining hands-on design with long-term strategy. Across roles, I’ve led cross-functional teams from insight to implementation, turning ambiguity into products, systems, and futures.

Norstat Express 0–1 product design for the survey-creation flow, from login to results.

Norstat Express desktop screens: login, dashboard, results, and creation flows

SFS Group Configuration and quote tooling for the sales organisation, desktop-first.

SFS desktop configuration screens: dashboard, items, rules, discounts, and reports

Norstat Service blueprint mapping the journey from strategic workshop to implementation and training.

Service blueprint across strategy, planning, analysis, preparation, and implementation lanes

Design sprint wall with annotated screen candidates and sticky notes — **SFS Group** Design-sprint wall: five days of screens, sticky notes, and hard picks.

Diagram of learning layers from foundations to projects — **Design approach** Learning layers — foundations, practices, methods, projects.

Outside of work

When I’m not building things or sketching ideas, you’ll find me watching the latest creature feature or Bollywood masala flick, slow-cooking something warm, or debating if Arrival is better than Contact.

I’m always up for creative collaborations or conversations about design, food, infrastructure, or ancient aliens. Feel free to reach out at i.sumitpandey@gmail.com or connect on LinkedIn.

Sumit Pandey, Oslo2026