What I do on my me time

Read philosophy

Climb mountains

Visit classic concerts & clubs

Enjoy the beach

I'm Melisa, Product Owner and design-led product leader currently shaping the future of the Mercedes-Benz App at MBition in Berlin.

I'm also an entrepreneur, an activist, a musician, and someone who still thinks the best ideas come from people who genuinely care about what they make.

I started on city walls.
I ended up building products for millions.

I started as a graffiti artist, drawn to the walls, the boldness, the urgency of making something that lands. That instinct never left me. It just evolved. From city walls to brand campaigns, from startups to Mercedes-Benz. I've always been driven by the same thing: making ideas real, and making them matter.

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Today I co-create AI products from scratch, design platform architectures, and own the product direction of tools used across one of the world's most iconic automotive organizations. I conceived Agentic Chat, an AI tool that lets product and design teams validate decisions by talking directly to expert and user personas — and designed the House of AI, a unified AI ecosystem for MBition. I bring design instinct to product decisions, and product thinking to design. Beyond the organization, I mentor the next generation of sustainability and impact leaders as part of the Mercedes-Benz beVisioneers program, because I believe building great products and building a better world are the same kind of work.

Entrepreneur.
Activist.
Founder.

I'm also an entrepreneur and an activist. I co-founded Colectivo Americana in Guadalajara, Mexico, a living cultural movement that transforms art into action, reclaiming city space through public interventions, photography, and urban activations rooted in social and cultural expression. I founded Love Living Being in Berlin, a nonprofit at the intersection of art, philosophy, and consciousness, built on the belief that love is not just a feeling but a responsibility: for animals, for people, for the planet. And I created xsassy, an artisanal vegan cacao brand born in Mexico and handmade in Berlin. Five days of preparation per order. No shortcuts. No machines. No animals. Because pleasure and purpose are not opposites.

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Outside of work, I play the handpan and produce electronic music. I follow a plant-based lifestyle, a choice grounded in deep care for animals and the environment. I read philosophy. I swim in the sea and climb mountains whenever I can. And I'm constantly learning, about product, about people, about what it means to build something that lasts.

I don't separate who I am from what I build. Both are driven by the same conviction: the best ideas come from people who genuinely care about the work, the user, and what it means to do something well.

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My biggest passion now? Using my creativity to shape a better future, investing my energy into ideas that make life better for everyone—humans and beyond.

♥︎

Resume

Product Owner and design-led product leader with 10+ years building consumer mobile products at Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.

I work at the intersection of user insight, product strategy, and AI, owning decisions, not just deliverables.
I started as an Art Director leading creative teams, transitioned through digital and product design at Rocket Internet and Volkswagen Group, and moved into product ownership at MBition, Mercedes-Benz's software subsidiary. There, I conceived Agentic Chat, an AI product for rapid validation through virtual experts and B2C user-persona conversations, and designed the House of AI — a unified AI ecosystem now used across the organization. I own the B2C persona system and built a Figma plugin to embed persona validation directly into design workflows.
I bring design instinct to product decisions and design rigor to product decisions. I'm direct with stakeholders, structured in delivery, and I raise the bar — not just on quality, but on what the product actually needs to be.

Let's connect

©2024 Melisa M. Pelayo