Treating AI as Material, Not Magic: Fostering Meaningful Application of AI in Business

How can businesses leverage AI as a material whose true value emerges when applied to real business problems, and not simply magic?

n this episode of the Design Executive Outlook on Enterprise AI series, Gordon Ching sits down with Matthew Holloway, Global Head of Design at SnapLogic, to explore a new way of thinking about artificial intelligence.

With over a decade of experience spanning early machine learning startups to enterprise-scale AI integration, Matthew challenges the hype-driven mindset that too often drives AI adoption. He argues that the real opportunity lies not in chasing novelty, but in treating AI as a design material, one with its own texture, constraints, and possibilities.

From exposing the limits of today’s conversational models to underscoring the importance of early design involvement, Matthew offers practical insights for design leaders navigating the AI era. He emphasizes the need to anchor innovation in real customer problems, reminding us that “ideas are naive, but problems have wisdom in them.”

This conversation repositions AI as something to be studied, shaped, and mastered, just like past materials such as mobile, the internet, and social networks. His call to action is clear: to design meaningfully with AI, we must stop romanticizing it as magic and start working with it like matter - with curiosity, humility, and care.

Podcast Recorded in October 2024

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