Our favourite learnings from Module 3 of Design Leaders

We just came back from sunny California, where our #DesignLeaders2026 were immersed in a week-long field trip learning directly from investors, startups, and iconic companies across the Bay Area.

And our #1 takeaway from the week is: AI’s biggest shift won’t be about us being more efficient. It will be about us rediscovering who we are as humans. More learnings below 👇

“What companies see as softer skills is actually the magic sauce”

Ivy Ross, Chief Design Officer at Google

Known for her work in Neuroaesthetics (the science of how our brain reacts to art), Ivy highlighted that empathy, creativity, and intuition is actually what turns technology and strategy into products we love and drives adoption/brand value – outcomes that show up directly in business performance.

Which will be the biggest competitive advantage for any company in the coming years.

“Not everything needs to be fast, easy and efficient. Play makes things harder, but more meaningful and fun”

Michelle Lee, Partner at IDEO

This is why people love strange things like golf – a not very efficient (or easy) way to put a ball into a hole. But this is what makes life fun, isn’t it? So maybe the next big idea is not about creating the most efficient product ever, but about reintroducing friction in our lives.

Insight echoed by David Kelley himself, who shared that Human-Centred design is in demand more than ever. So good news for all of us.

“Startups that help us spend free time will be the biggest winners"

Nicole Quinn, Investor & Advisor at Lightspeed 

With AI making our work more efficient and other services like Uber, Deliveroo, DoorDash and Amazon reducing the time we spend on chores, we will be looking for new ways to be entertained, learn something new, or connect with other humans. 

And just Netflix and TikTok are not enough. 

“Design is a team sport. It’s not about one person working alone with AI”

Charles Migos, Co-Founder of Intangible.ai, former VP of Product Design at Unity Technologies 

Charles shared how we should start focusing on collaborative use of AI as the biggest enabler of breakthrough ideas (one of the reasons he built Intangible) rather than how efficient one person can be.

“In the age of AI, we need to be more human to be unique"

Janaki Kumar, Chief Design Officer in Global Banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Janaki shared with our Design Leaders her CLEAR framework of how to start thinking like a leader of the future. 

• Curiosity Over Control: from managing complexity by holding tight to staying curious and adapting quickly
• Learning as Leadership: from claiming expertise to learning out loud and modelling growth
• Ecosystem Thinking: from working in silos to connecting the dots
• Always Human-Centred: from measuring success by systems delivered to measuring success by humans empowered
• Responsible Imagination: from dreaming big, one step ahead to dreaming wisely, considers second-and third-order consequences
  

Ready to transform your career while bonding with other humans?

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