Paul will welcome attendees, introduce speakers, and lead the Q&A sessions.

Paul Bryan is the Managing Director of ESP, and the producer of STRAT conferences in Asia, Europe and the USA. He also teaches a UX Strategy Workshop that has been hosted by Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, IBM, Netflix and many other companies in the US, Europe and Asia.

AI is leading us to a paradigm shift in user interfaces. Current interfaces are deterministic: a generic design is created that attempts to support all possible use cases. The result is often a complex design that puts the burden on the user. AI-driven user interfaces are probabilistic. The design is created real-time, based on the userâ•˙s intent, context and history, providing just the right options at the right time. This requires a completely new way of designing user interfaces, where we design the rules, and let AI fill in the details. This change is unavoidable in a world of AI interfaces. The question is who gets there first.

Skilled in leading design innovation teams, Kay Hofmeester has extensive experience working with AI and machine learning. He led the team that designed and shipped the initial Amazon’s Alexa, building one of the first successful voice user interfaces. He managed the Microsoft Research design team working on using machine learning models to turn vast caches of health data into actionable user experiences. At Meta he started the design team that helped take augmented reality glasses from the research stage to productization, working on complex engineering and user experience problems, and envisioning a future with augmented reality.

Currently Kay is defining AI experiences on smart and AR glasses, determining UX strategy and aligning hardware and software technical capabilities, including looking ahead to where AI might lead user experience design. Previously he was creative director at an agency, led a design team at a startup and at a design research organization.

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Currently, Prof. Jan-Erik Baars heads the post-grad program in Design Management at the University of Applied Science in Lucerne, Switzerland. He also researches the aspects of organizational maturity, design leadership and customer-centricity. He is the author of the book „Leading Design“, a hand and brain book to develop design-led organizations. He is recognized to be one of the leading experts in design management.

Jan is consulting with organizations to help them deploy design effectively and systematically. He is also a member of the board at the Swiss design agency Vetica, and he is co-owner of Customer Metrics AG.

Before starting his consulting, research, and education activities in 2011, he headed Design Management at Deutsche Telekom in Bonn, Germany. He joined DT in 2009 after 19 years with Philips, where he worked as an industrial designer, design manager and Head of Design. His design work has won various awards, like the Rotterdam Design Award and the IF-award in Gold.

Jan-Erik is an American born Dutchman, living in Germany. www.janerikbaars.com

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My personal mission is to create a better life for humans now and in the future. Experience innovation is my vehicle. I believe that curiosity is foundational for creating products, services and experiences that respond to human needs and supporting people in addressing their purpose and preventing harm.

I began my career as a pioneer in co-creation and collaboration in Amsterdam and then expanded my skills into digital marketing, data analytics and design thinking since moving to the US. As a creative and analytical thinker, I’m used to working in fast-paced environments, from startups to global enterprise, B2B and B2C. I am passionate about building brands and experiences that improve people’s lives and transform businesses.

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Chrissy is a UX Director working within analytics at ING Wholesale Bank. She builds elevated experiences that drive business growth for digital products. Her areas of interest and expertise are within AI, fintech, health-tech, e-commerce, & digital product innovation She is a design thinker, innovator, and creator. She aims for clarity, simplicity and consistency while leaving space for fun and surprising details for users. Her previous work includes being UX Directors at Deloitte & Philips.

In my talk I'll dive deeper in the essence of designing user-centric dialogues and what this looks like with Microsoft's newest AI solutions. As a product manager, I’ll share firsthand experiences of developing custom AI solutions, such as search interfaces, bots and Copilots, cutting through the hype to reveal the real-world challenges and milestones. Expect to uncover the practical wisdom hidden within industry case studies and to gain insights into the innovative tools that are propelling the field forward. This session is tailored for conversational designers seeking to transform buzzwords into meaningful, tangible experiences that resonate with users and redefine the future of human-AI interaction.

Josephine is a product manager for customized product solutions at Microsoft. As a product manager, she is responsible for overseeing the discovery and delivery work for implementing disruptive technologies and turning these into customized product solutions. Her primary goal is to ensure the final solution delivers user value, is usable, feasible and viable for the business. In addition to her role at Microsoft, Josephine also hosts The Design Strategy Podcast and is a guest speaker for events and education. Outside of work, Josephine enjoys strolling around her home city Amsterdam, hiphop dance and visiting impressionist art museums.

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Jascha is a seasoned design leader and people manager with more than ten years of experience. As a Design Manager with an AI focus at Booking.com, he leads multiple strategic AI initiatives and champions AI stewardship. In particular, he directs the UX work of Booking.com's AI Trip Planner, an advanced AI-driven product integrated directly into the Booking.com app, which combines Large Language Model (LLM) technology from OpenAI's ChatGPT with Booking.com's proprietary ML models to deliver a truly personalised travel planning experience. Jascha is passionate about how AI continues to shape design and product development, and the opportunities and challenges it provides for enhancing user experiences and product design strategy.

Strategic design and research is about shaping decision-making. It redefines how problems are approached, identifies opportunities for action, and helps deliver innovation. With an increased focus on data, new opportunities brought by AI and continuous discovery practices, clarifying and sharpening our value as designers and researchers has become more relevant than ever.

In this talk, Vanessa will share how research can shape strategic decision-making in an organization. She will share IKEA’s research blueprint for how research is organised to ensure impact at scale, and encourage decision-making at multiple levels of the organization. We’ll examine how strategic design and research is as much about people as it is about insights, and how we can play a fundamental role in driving innovation.

Vanessa is the Director of Design & UX Research at IKEA Digital, and leads a global team of researchers working across multiple product teams and business areas. In her research work, she draws upon both qualitative and quantitative to help organizations and product teams better understand deep human insight to drive actionable human-centered business & product innovation.

2024 is the year when generative AI moves away from experimentation - or random acts of AI - to focused value creation. In this talk, Cristina will cover the why’s and how’s of a focused genAI organisational strategy. From identifying highest potential areas within the customer lifecycle, to modelling the value case, to considering the wider aspects of scaling adoption across teams and departments. We’ll explore examples of successful genAI initiatives, common pitfalls, and of course the role of design strategy in this journey.

As the Experience Director for IBM iX, Cristina leads a full-spectrum team of designers, strategists and creatives through the ambitious journey of building business by design. Together with her team, she blends agency craft and consulting rigor for some of the world’s leading brands.

Cristina combines the Experience Director role with that of GenAI Strategy Lead for IBM Consulting, where she helps organizations maximize the business value of their genAI innovation initiatives and build meaningful impact for themselves and their customers.

In a dynamic and swiftly evolving environment like design, establishing a strong link between design research and business value holds immense significance. Through this presentation, my aim is to share how, at BI X, we leverage our Value Framework to foster a more profound alignment with our business associates. This involves harmonizing desirability with viability and substantiating the returns on investment derived from design research. Furthermore, we will delve into our strategy for conducting research within a compliant setting and pinpoint approaches that enable you to carry back tangible illustrations for scaling in diverse scenarios.

In the context of the Value Framework, I will talk about how we are experimenting with Generative AI for visioning, ideation, segmentation and prototyping.

Thomas is the Head of Product Design at BI X, Boehringer's Innovation Lab. Since its inception, he has been instrumental in establishing it‘s product design process from the ground up. Prior to his time at BI X, Thomas served as one of the pioneering UX Designers at ING bank, where he actively contributed to the development of their fintech hub. Before that, he had the opportunity to work in London, where he played a key role in the digital transformation of a traditional print business. Throughout his career, Thomas has consistently taken on the role of a 'Founding Designer,' joining organizations in their early stages of human-centered transformation, building high-performance teams, and spearheading the design strategy.

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Sarah is the Founder and CEO of Formatif, an AI-enabled venture design studio for emerging technology startups. Through AI design workshops and initiatives, she advocates Human-Centered AI Innovation for emerging technology startups. From designing AI-driven products for Silicon Valley startups, venture investments in B2B startups, and crafting organizational design strategies for MNCs – Sarah’s unconventional design entrepreneurship journey has always revolved around blending business, tech, and design to lead innovative transformations in complex tech sectors. Her experiences include working in Venture Capital investments in the Bay Area, driving innovation consulting in corporates like Philips and Gensler, to working with emerging technology startups in Web 3.0 and AI to design and launch human-centered products. A significant highlight was her yearlong collaboration with AI Singapore, where she developed the Human-Centered AI (HCAI) design methodology and toolkit, revolutionizing AI product innovation with an ethical focus.

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As Head of UX and Product Design in Universal Robots, Anja leads the Customer Journey and drive customer success in automation. Anja is an inspirational design lead working in an engineer dominated area, her background is within Ecommerce, Advertising and Concept development. Anja believes that Product Design and UX (User Experience) are strongly linked, and she will share her experiences creating a user focused and design driven organization in an engineering world.

Members of the audience will propose presentations, that will be upvoted for inclusion in the Lightning Talks.

Lightning Talk speakers are members of the audience.

In this interactive workshop sprint, immerse yourself in the 5-step Human-Centered AI methodology, a fresh approach to AI design thinking. Learn to uncover AI-enabled opportunities for your organization, merge user needs with data, generate AI-focused design solutions, and forge ethical AI applications. Utilize our AI Design toolkit and AI Design cards to ideate Human-Centered AI solutions and walk away with a tangible AI MVP, honed by our distinctive Human-Centered AI methodology. Enhance your critical thinking by evaluating AI’s impact on society, focusing on ethical issues and social responsibilities.

Sarah is the Founder and CEO of Formatif, an AI-enabled venture design studio for emerging technology startups. Through AI design workshops and initiatives, she advocates Human-Centered AI Innovation for emerging technology startups. From designing AI-driven products for Silicon Valley startups, venture investments in B2B startups, and crafting organizational design strategies for MNCs – Sarah’s unconventional design entrepreneurship journey has always revolved around blending business, tech, and design to lead innovative transformations in complex tech sectors. Her experiences include working in Venture Capital investments in the Bay Area, driving innovation consulting in corporates like Philips and Gensler, to working with emerging technology startups in Web 3.0 and AI to design and launch human-centered products. A significant highlight was her yearlong collaboration with AI Singapore, where she developed the Human-Centered AI (HCAI) design methodology and toolkit, revolutionizing AI product innovation with an ethical focus.

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Currently, Prof. Jan-Erik Baars heads the post-grad program in Design Management at the University of Applied Science in Lucerne, Switzerland. He also researches the aspects of organizational maturity, design leadership and customer-centricity. He is the author of the book „Leading Design“, a hand and brain book to develop design-led organizations. He is recognized to be one of the leading experts in design management.

Jan is consulting with organizations to help them deploy design effectively and systematically. He is also a member of the board at the Swiss design agency Vetica, and he is co-owner of Customer Metrics AG.

Before starting his consulting, research, and education activities in 2011, he headed Design Management at Deutsche Telekom in Bonn, Germany. He joined DT in 2009 after 19 years with Philips, where he worked as an industrial designer, design manager and Head of Design. His design work has won various awards, like the Rotterdam Design Award and the IF-award in Gold.

Jan-Erik is an American born Dutchman, living in Germany. www.janerikbaars.com

Join me for an immersive workshop where you’ll dive into the world of AI design toolkits. This workshop will equip you with the knowledge and skills to apply practical toolkits across various AI domains, such as human-AI experience, responsible AI and more. By the end of this workshop, you’ll have a solid foundation in AI design principles, practical experience with leading AI toolkits, and the confidence to design and develop AI products and services.

Josephine is a product manager for customized product solutions at Microsoft. As a product manager, she is responsible for overseeing the discovery and delivery work for implementing disruptive technologies and turning these into customized product solutions. Her primary goal is to ensure the final solution delivers user value, is usable, feasible and viable for the business. In addition to her role at Microsoft, Josephine also hosts The Design Strategy Podcast and is a guest speaker for events and education. Outside of work, Josephine enjoys strolling around her home city Amsterdam, hiphop dance and visiting impressionist art museums.

Craft groundbreaking solutions and ignite market success in this dynamic half-day workshop.

Go beyond brainstorming! We'll guide you through a proven customer-centric innovation process, from pinpointing critical customer needs to crafting winning solutions. Through years of experience in the innovation space, we have combined the best tools and methods and developed this step-by-step Innovation Playbook.

Deep-dive into:
- Unearthing customer challenges: Learn to connect with your audience and identify the problems that truly matter.
- Rapid idea generation: Unleash a creative storm and refine solutions for desirability, feasibility, and viability.
- Market mastery: Develop strategies to captivate your audience and drive product adoption.
- Get hands-on: Through interactive exercises and expert guidance, gain first-hand experience in a systematic approach to innovation.

This workshop is for YOU if you're:
- An innovator or product manager looking for fresh perspectives.
- A strategist or entrepreneur seeking a customer-centric edge.
- A product designer or researcher looking to perfect your game.
- Don't miss this opportunity to transform your innovation game!

As Head of UX at CarePay, Eva drives the user experience for the company's SAAS platform, linking millions of people to health insurers and healthcare providers. Her expertise lies in integrating UX seamlessly within business and technology, to form winning product strategies and help guide innovation projects to diversify CarePay's solutions.

She discovered her passion for customer-centric innovation as a UX consultant, while at Xebia, working for clients like ING and KPN. She greatly enjoys helping people and businesses to run and de-risk their next innovation project, taking customer-centricity to new heights.

Rachel is a Product Designer based in the Netherlands. She is currently working on Artificial Intelligence products at Mews, a unicorn startup in the hospitality industry. A T-shaped designer with broad expertise across innovation facilitation and product design, she has helped over 10 startups, corporations and non-profits around the world create more human-centered products.

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