In recent years AI has become the dominant disruptive force for businesses and scaled organizations in every industry and global region, and it’s having a dramatic effect on the profession and practice of design. Over multiple episodes this season, I’ll be examining the impact of AI on design and design leadership from a variety of angles.

In this episode I look at how AI is showing up in the academic design environment. How are students responding to the possibilities presented by AI, and by the immediate access they have to it? How are design educators integrating AI into their curricula, coursework, and programs? Importantly for design leaders, what does all of this tell us about the generation of designers who will be stepping into the profession—and into our teams—in the years ahead? 

My guest for this episode is Professor Jonathan Hanahan of the Sam Fox School of Art & Design at Washington University in St Louis. Jonathan brings a deeply technical practice and experimental approach to teaching design—an approach that is sometimes at odds with the more traditional craft-oriented graphic design foundation that the Sam Fox School is built on and known for. Later in the episode, we’ll hear about the new cross-disciplinary graduate design program just launched at the school.