“Throughout my life here, there have been a lot of people who have created safe passage for me as a professional through my design career.” Ruki Neuhold-RavikumarIn the first episode of This Is A Prototype: The Design Leadership Podcast I speak to Antonio Garcia, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer at TXI, and Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar, president of the Kansas City Art Institute. We cover a wide range of stories about what it takes to be a leader in this new era of design, including those many jobs, experiences, and people that shaped our design journeys. I’m excited to present the first episode of This Is A Prototype, and eager to get your feedback!-------------Antonio García is Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer at TXI, a remote-first digital strategy and product innovation firm. Previously Antonio held leadership roles at Rightpoint, Gravitytank, and Firebelly Design and he’s the creator and host of The Dadwell Podcast, exploring the intersection of creativity and fatherhood.Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar is the President at the Kansas City Art Institute, a landmark, higher educational art and design institution in Kansas City, Missouri. Originally from Chennai, India, Ruki is a dynamic administrator, educator, thought leader, and award-winning designer focused on reimagining education, improving exposure to creative career pathways, and increasing access to knowledge at cultural institutions. She has previously served in leadership roles at the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Central Oklahoma.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented time in the history of the design profession. Businesses are investing in design at rates never before seen—building scaled design teams of hundreds and even thousands of designers, and hiring design leaders into executive roles giving them influence and access at the highest levels. As an executive design leader myself, I’m fascinated by the experience of designers moving into these new leadership roles. For most of us this is completely uncharted territory, the jobs are often undefined and there is rarely a roadmap or playbook to help us succeed, so most of us have had to learn on the job.In this trailer for the inaugural season of This is a Prototype, I introduce many of the themes that emerge in my conversations with design leaders from across the industry and around the world.