Our Visionary Speakers

Principal UX Researcher, Amazon

Bennett is a UX researcher with 15+ years of experience, currently working on Amazon's Rufus AI shopping assistant after leading research for Alexa's shopping features. His work focuses on how mental models evolve as AI reshapes existing shopping interactions and unlocks entirely new ones, giving him a front-row perspective on one of the fastest-moving spaces in consumer technology.

Consumer Insights Manager, Netflix 

Linnea Hagen spent over a decade at Amazon leading UX research across Shopping, Advertising, and Prime Video — most recently as Senior Manager of UX Research for Prime Video. She now brings that depth of experience to Netflix, where she focuses on Core Member Experience. Her work centers on building high-impact, curious research teams that blend rigorous qualitative and quantitative methods to directly shape product vision, roadmaps, and customer experience.

Lead Product Designer, Microsoft

Varun Kapoor is a Lead Product Designer at Microsoft with 11+ years of cross-industry experience spanning developer tools, AI-integrated experiences, and enterprise design. Having worked at Docker, Amazon/AWS, GE Healthcare, and IBM, he specializes in bridging technical implementation with user-centered design. His work ranges from enterprise dashboards and CLI-to-GUI concepts to hands-on experimentation with computer vision hardware and AI-powered agents.

Senior Director, UX, GE Healthcare

Kevin Yuda is the Senior Director of User Experience and Creative Director of Software at GE HealthCare, where he leads a global team building the platforms and AI-driven tools shaping how clinicians and patients experience healthcare technology. His work on the Ethos Design System has earned Red Dot, iF, New York Product Design (Gold), and Design Management Institute awards, and he holds multiple granted patents with 14 filed.

Director of AI/UX Research, Geico

Suzanne is Director of AI/UX Research at Geico, with a career spanning healthcare AI, enterprise systems, and Amazon moonshot labs. At Elevance Health she led AI-driven clinician decision support strategy; at Amazon she helped shape and launch Amazon Key and Amazon Care. She brings a "powers of 10" approach — connecting executive vision to tactical execution through research, futures thinking, and human-centered AI design.

VP, Research & Product Strategy, AnswerLab

Ashley is a research and product strategy leader with 15+ years of experience across big tech, startups, and agency work, currently leading product research at AnswerLab. She specializes in translating human insight into clear direction for teams navigating AI-enabled experiences and complex product decisions. Earlier she led research at Lenovo across AR/VR and enterprise collaboration, and applied behavioral science to digital learning tools.

Managing Partner, Bold Insight

Gavin is a UX leader with 25 years of experience, currently managing Bold Insight. He previously founded User Centric, one of the largest UX consultancies in the country, which made Inc.'s 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list six consecutive years before being acquired by GfK. His work pushes beyond surface-level satisfaction toward the qualities — intuitive, engaging, inspirational — that make products genuinely memorable.

Associate Professor & Director, Institute of Design Executive Academy 

Anthony Bynum is an Associate Professor and Director of the Executive Academy at the Institute of Design, where he focuses on early-stage problem framing, innovation strategy, and humanizing the value of emerging products and experiences. He brings a catalyst-driven approach to helping organizations connect design thinking to growth — through qualitative insight, concept development, and strategic frameworks that shape what comes next.

Chief Strategy Officer, Healthcare Private Equity (Confidential)

Nick Allen is a design and innovation leader with 20+ years spanning Lean Thinking, Six Sigma, and Design Thinking — shaped by mentors including Steve Wozniak, Doug Dietz, and teachings from IDEO and the Stanford d.school. After senior roles at GE Healthcare and Fidelity, he now serves as Chief Strategy Officer in Healthcare IT private equity. He regularly speaks and leads workshops at major CX and UX conferences, bringing a practitioner's perspective on making complex systems simple and human.

Customer Experience Strategist, Proprietary Insights

Sarah Wallace is a customer experience researcher and strategist who helps organizations turn insight into clear, consequential decisions. Over the past decade she has led hundreds of research and alignment engagements across 20+ industries, working with product, design, and operations leaders navigating misaligned incentives and high-stakes internal dynamics. She is known for naming the forces that quietly shape outcomes and building practical paths forward that hold up under pressure.

Senior Product Design Manager, Docusign

Casey Hudetz leads AI and design strategy at Docusign, overseeing a team shaping intelligent agreement experiences that are transparent and user-empowering. A published contributor to The UX of AI and speaker at SXSW and Design Matters Copenhagen, he has spent his career exploring the intersection of emerging technology and human experience. His background spans filmmaking, writing, and agency work in emerging tech — all grounded in a deep interest in how technology shapes our well-being.

SVP Group Experience Design Director, Digitas

Noel Childs is SVP Experience Design Director at Digitas Chicago, where he has spent over a decade leading experience design for clients including Dunkin', Kellogg's, and Whirlpool. With 30+ years in the industry, his background spans experience design, AI, branding, and design thinking — and he is a vocal champion of AI-empowered design. He also hosts A76, a podcast exploring the future of design through deep conversations with creative makers.

Senior Product Design Manager, United Airlines

David Kazaryan is a Sr. Manager of Experience Design at United Airlines, leading a team that shapes the end-to-end digital travel experience — from flight search and booking to travel management. With 15+ years spanning travel and financial services, his work sits at the intersection of experience strategy, innovation, and AI-enabled design. He is passionate about maturing design organizations, embedding generative AI into the design process, and developing the next generation of design talent.

Former Director of Portfolio Strategy, AbbVie

Bob Nesbitt is a product development leader with decades of experience in healthcare, human factors, and medical device design. At Eli Lilly he led the team that brought over a dozen drug delivery devices from concept to market; he later led the Human Factors group at AbbVie, focusing on patient needs for early-stage delivery systems. A contributor to US and international medical device standards since 1999, he recently served as ISO International Chair for TC84.

Head of Design,
Blink UX

Ben Shown is Head of Design at Blink UX, where he helps organizations like Amazon, Microsoft, NASA, and the New York Times orient around ambitious futures they can actually move toward. He brings equal parts design rigor and playful curiosity to complex challenges, with a deep commitment to user-centered, equitable technology. Beyond agency work, he teaches at Northeastern University, spreading his enthusiasm for making tech less frustrating and more human.

Partner, IA Collaborative

Matt Alverson is a Partner and AI Lead at IA Collaborative, helping organizations like Google, Nike, Airbnb, and the United Nations navigate the future of AI-enabled work. His focus is on what he calls Collaborative Intelligence — the redesign of work itself as AI moves from tool to active collaborator. Recognized as an Innovation Visionary by IFA Germany, his work has earned accolades from Fast Company, SXSW, and Red Dot.

Deputy of Strategic Advancement, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)

Kyle Schulz is Deputy of Strategic Advancement at CMAP, where he drives regional strategy and partnership across northeastern Illinois. His work focuses on positioning Chicagoland as a global destination in emerging industries, and his efforts have secured over 75,000 jobs — including the single largest economic development deal in Illinois history.

Former Director of Design, Walmart

Eric Smallwood is a Baltimore-based UX and product design leader with 17+ years applying human-centered design to complex systems. Previously Director of Design at Walmart, his client work spans NASA, CMS, the London Symphony Orchestra, and more. He is also the founder of Aether & Stone Design, a practice focused on mission-driven, human-centered digital products.

Co-CEO, The Office of Experience

Carlos Manalo is co-founder and co-CEO of OX, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in interactive and multichannel design strategy. A customer-centered experience strategist by training, he believes that loyalty and satisfaction are built by clarifying strategic intent and uncovering opportunity in the user journey. His work spans some of the world's leading brands, with a focus on experiences that drive alignment, progress, and measurable impact.