Iqbal Ali creates comic books about conversion rate optimization. That's not a metaphor. His CRO Tales series on LinkedIn uses a space-themed protagonist to explain experimentation concepts through visual storytelling, and he's self-published graphic novels including "Strange Skies" and "Smoking Bones." The comics grew out of workplace frustration, a creative outlet that became a distinctive method for communicating data concepts to non-technical audiences. His latest series, Tech Bro Tales, turns the lens on the tech industry itself.
His professional career spans 20+ years across UX design, development, data analysis, and optimization. He was Head of Experimentation at Trainline, where he built the company's experimentation program, and has run optimization work for BBC Maestro, Eventbrite, and Simpson Millar. He now operates independently as a fractional experimentation lead, trainer, and app builder, with a growing focus on AI and small language models. His latest project, Ressada, is an NLP platform that analyzes unstructured text from surveys, reviews, and conversations to surface product and marketing insights. He's a regular on the conference circuit, delivering a keynote on AI and CRO at Conversion Hotel 2025 and speaking at Experimentation Elite.
Three podcast appearances track an interesting evolution. The first explored how storytelling techniques from comics translate to data visualization and CRO communication, and why the experimentation community shares more DNA with Comic Con than most practitioners realize. The second (with Craig Sullivan) made the case for integrating generative AI into experimentation workflows while keeping the human element central rather than automating for automation's sake. By the third, the conversation had shifted to solopreneurship, with Iqbal arguing that individual builders are now outpacing large companies by combining agility with AI tools that eliminate traditional barriers to entry.
