# Ashish Desai

> Ashish Desai is the CEO of Monograph, the San Francisco software company that helps architecture and engineering firms run the business side of the practice - budgets, staffing, forecasting and billing. An electrical engineer turned product leader, he scaled product at 99designs, Handshake and Shutterfly before joining Monograph as Chief Product Officer in July 2023 and stepping up to CEO in 2026, succeeding co-founder Robert Yuen. His pitch is simple: software that understands how architects actually work, so firms can spend more time on design and less time guessing at their numbers.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Monograph
- **Organizations:** Monograph, Handshake, 99designs, Shutterfly, Kruze Consulting, Agilent Technologies, Analog Devices
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BSE, Biomedical and Electrical Engineering, Duke University, MSEE, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, MBA, Finance and Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
- **Known for:** Led product at 99designs through its acquisition by Vistaprint/Cimpress in 2020, Scaled consumer product at Handshake as VP of Product, Helped grow Monograph into a platform serving 15,000+ architecture and engineering professionals

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Engineering roles at Analog Devices and Agilent Technologies
- **2016-2019** — Chief Product Officer at 99designs, leading product strategy and UX
- **2019-2022** — VP of Product at Handshake, scaling the consumer recruiting platform
- **2023** — Joined Monograph as Chief Product Officer in July, leading product and design
- **2026** — Promoted to CEO of Monograph, succeeding co-founder Robert Yuen

## Achievements

- Led product at 99designs through its acquisition by Vistaprint/Cimpress in 2020
- Scaled consumer product at Handshake as VP of Product
- Helped grow Monograph into a platform serving 15,000+ architecture and engineering professionals
- Rose from Chief Product Officer to CEO of Monograph in under three years

## Latest updates

- **2026** — Named CEO of Monograph, succeeding co-founder Robert Yuen after the company's first leadership transition.
- **2026** — Contributed to the Monograph 2026 Benchmark Report on architecture firm performance and discussed AI for firm management on the EntreArchitect podcast.

## Links

- Website: https://monograph.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashishdesai/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ashish-desai
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-14