Design Executive Council Podcast Creative Amplification: AI as empowerment over displacement
AI should not be measured by how fast it can be deployed, but by the trust it builds and the creativity it amplifies.
In this episode of the Design Executive Outlook on Enterprise AI series, our founder and CEO, Gordon Ching, sits down with Eric Snowden, SVP of Design at Adobe. Eric shares how Adobe resisted the industry rush to bolt AI onto products, choosing instead to prioritize trust, agency, and user choice.
He explains why design leadership in the AI era is not about chasing speed, but about defining the conditions of trust. From giving creatives the ability to opt out of AI workflows, to expanding ambition without reducing teams, to embedding transparency as a differentiator, Adobe’s approach reframes AI as a catalyst for empowerment rather than displacement.
Eric emphasizes that the difference between enabling people and displacing them is the line that defines creative leadership in this moment. By treating trust as a strategy and agency as non-negotiable, leaders can turn AI from a source of fear into a force for growth and lasting empowerment.
Podcast Recorded in February 2025
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