Irene Au


Background & education

Irene Au is best known for her work as a technology executive and pioneering engineer of user experience and website design. She graduated magna cum laude from University of South Carolina with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. For graduate school, she attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and earned her Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering/Human-Computer Interaction. 


Career

Au began her career as an interaction designer at Netscape Communications in 1996, where she designed the first commercial web browser. She also worked at Yahoo!, Google, and Udacity, where she built and led the entire User Experience (UX) and Design teams. She maintains unprecedented experience elevating strategic design within internet companies. 


Irene is currently Design Partner at Khosla Ventures, where she works with early-, mid-, and late-stage startup CEOs. She works with portfolio companies to make their design and UX great by building high performing teams, establishing design practices, mentoring and growing the next generation of great designers, and designing interfaces and experiences. 


Having gotten in on the ground floor of internet design and development, Au has an abundance of knowledge on how to build and leverage diverse teams. The tech world tends to be male-dominated, yet she has cemented her name, knowledge and presence among the icons in the industry. She currently works in venture capital, a field that continues to be gender-imbalanced.


At AdaMarie, we appreciate Irene Au for her pioneering spirit, her impressive leadership, and the incredible impact she has had on the internet. She has leveraged her expertise and perspective to build some of the strongest products and companies that exist today.

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Always inspiring

At AdaMarie, we admire Dr. Cole for her impressive achievements and her service to women and children in need. She inspires us every day!