FORTUNE BRAINSTORM Design Macau
Brainstorm Design is a unique conference dedicated to exploring the increasingly crucial nexus between business and design.
Empathy in the Age of AI
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence, blockchain and other digital technologies are radically transforming the way businesses use design to understand and serve their customers. New digital tools enable companies to gain unprecedented knowledge of customer preferences and motivations and make it possible to fashion ever more complex products and services in shorter time and with fewer resources. And yet those same tools raise new and daunting strategic and ethical concerns.
Brainstorm Design, held at the MGM Cotai in Macau, gathers powerful FORTUNE 500 executives and the world’s preeminent designers to explore the crucial question of how to achieve business results through design.
Critics fear that computers, and the corporations who run them, now know too much about human behavior. Others question whether companies can claim intellectual property rights to products that have been designed by machines that have been trained on the data from human actions and creativity. Many worry the dazzling new technologies will render designers obsolete and are creating a world in which the dominant ethos is the antithesis of good design—one that feels less user friendly, less human, less humane.
Brainstorm Design explores the ways in which design and design thinking can contribute to challenges related to climate change and sustainability; diversity and inclusion; ethics; and more. Experts will share their insights and the cutting-edge design work transforming their industries. First held in 2018, Brainstorm Design has become a leading international forum at the intersection of design, business and technology.
Global Advisory Council
Katrina Alcorn
Former General Manager, Design
IBM
Valerie Casey
Senior Vice President and Chief Design Officer
Walmart Inc.
Tony Chambers
Co-chair, Brainstorm Design; Founder and Creative Director
TC & Friends
Tom Dixon
Founder and Creative Director
Tom Dixon
Charles Hayes
Executive Managing Director, Asia and Partner
IDEO
Mauro Porcini
Chief Design Officer
PepsiCo
Ben Sheppard
Partner, London
McKinsey & Company
Sarah Stein Greenberg
Executive Director
Stanford d.school
Agenda
Clay Chandler, Executive Editor, Asia, FORTUNE; Chair, Brainstorm Design
A provocative recent essay in Fast Company argues that, over the past decade, CEOs of many large companies have “broken up” with design. Is that true? If so, what went wrong? In this opening roundtable, some of today’s leading commercial designers debate the value of design in an evolving marketplace.
Cliff Kuang, Author, User Friendly; UX Designer
Katrina Alcorn, Former General Manager, Design, IBM
Ben Sheppard, Partner, McKinsey & Company
Moderated by: Clay Chandler, FORTUNE
A globally recognized design educator shares insights on the new essentials of design education in these fast changing times.
Sarah Stein Greenberg, Executive Director, Stanford d.school
Is a piece of art less valuable because it is generated by an algorithm? Who owns art created by an AI system trained on the work of real people? The top executive at one of the world’s leading auction houses explains how AI is shaking up the art world.
Francis Belin, President, Christie’s Asia Pacific
In conversation with: Tony Chambers, Founder and Creative Director, Studio TC & Friends; Co-chair, Brainstorm Design
The founder of a leading international architectural firm has eagerly embraced AI as a design tool because of its seamless interface between pen, paper, and a hand-drawn sketch.
Keith Griffiths, Chairman and Founder, Global Principal Designer, Aedas
In conversation with: Clay Chandler, FORTUNE
Gehl's approach to city planning is centered around the idea of creating human-centric urban environments that prioritize the needs and well-being of people. The firm emphasizes the importance of designing cities that are not only functional but also enjoyable and sustainable. Gehl’s director of research and development will share thoughts on how data can help expose new patterns and unfold social connections to create better and more inclusive cities for everyone.
Liselott Stenfeldt, Director of R&D, Gehl
A bestselling author explains why feedback loops are crucial in every product’s design — digital or otherwise.
Cliff Kuang, Author, User Friendly; UX Designer
An award-winning interactive designer guides us through the new frontier in design: creating branded experience through spectacles and immersive environments that are redefining architecture, retail, and entertainment.
Andrew Lazarow, Studio Leader, The Lab at Rockwell Group
In conversation with: Tony Chambers, Studio TC & Friends
Great brand design must tell a compelling and holistic story. A celebrated Chief Design Officer explains how his team created a new look for an iconic brand that connects its storied heritage with the company’s bold vision for what’s to come.
Mauro Porcini, Chief Design Officer, PepsiCo (appearing remotely)
In conversation with: Alan Murray, FORTUNE
Macau has a bold economic vision for its future—one that involves dramatic expansion of the city’s array of cultural, art, retail, and entertainment tourism offerings. What role will design play in that transformation? A visionary local business leader describes how design can help shape and revitalize Macau’s iconic neighborhoods.
Pansy Ho, Chairperson and Executive Director, MGM China Holdings Limited
In conversation with: Alan Murray, FORTUNE
The founder and creative director of the globally recognised eponymous design brand tells us about his regenerative underwater factory, the growth of Biorock and how AI is bringing it closer to reality.
conversation with: Tony Chambers, Studio TC & Friends
Leaders of some of the world’s largest design teams describe how AI is changing the way they work.
Charles Hayes, Executive Managing Director, Asia & Partner, IDEO
Katrina Alcorn, Former General Manager, Design, IBM
Prue Jones, Design Lead. Accenture Song
Moderated by: Clay Chandler, FORTUNE
An architectural studio leader offers novel solutions for creating more space for shrinking families in growing cities.
Shuhei Aoyama, Architect, Founding Partner, B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio
In conversation with: Wang Fang, Executive Editor, Shanghai FORTUNE CHINA; Co-chair, Brainstorm Design
Why design will play a key role in deciding what companies win the global race to dominate the electric vehicle industry.
Frank Wu, Head of Design, JIYUE Auto
Zhang Fan, Vice President and Head of Design, GAC R&D CENTER
Moderated by: Alan Murray, FORTUNE
Designers at a leading European design studio show how digital twins can help clients understand how people will experience buildings and cities—before they are built.
Jan Bunge, Director, Squint/Opera
In conversation with: Tony Chambers, Studio TC & Friends
Leaders of the corporate design alliance are teaming up to tackle the world’s biggest problem. Founders of the network explain how this year, they used design to help take on a host of ‘wicked’ global problems related to water.
Ben Sheppard, Partner, McKinsey & Company
Teman Evans, Global Chief of Design, General Mills
Moderated by: Nicholas Gordon, Editor, Asia, FORTUNE; Co-chair, Brainstorm Design
The world’s architects are using AI to imagine other-worldly buildings.
Tim Fu, Designer, Studio Tim Fu
He Wanyu, Founder, CEO, XKool Tech
Moderated by: Wang Fang, FORTUNE CHINA
Startups now realize that a designer isn't someone you hire only after you scale. Founders ignore design at their peril; without it, they risk making a product that doesn't fit the market. Experts from the startup space explain how the principles of design—defining the problem, talking to potential users, and generating new ideas—are critical for any new tech company.
Minh Tran, VP of Operations and Academic Affairs, Goodnotes
Anouk Sylvestre, Director Design, BCG X
In conversation with: Tony Chambers, Studio TC & Friends
We live in a time when technology is always emerging, change is constant, and the path ahead is rarely obvious. The way we think about these technologies like AI now will determine what possibilities and perils we might discover or avoid down the road. An expert working at the intersection of media and design proposes new ways to think about and make the most of our ever-emerging tech.
Scott Doorley, Creative Director, Stanford d.school
Teman Evans, Global Chief of Design, General Mills
In conversation with: Clay Chandler, FORTUNE
Venue
MGM COTAI is the latest integrated resort of MGM in China. Designed as the “jewelry box” of Cotai, it offers approximately 1,400 hotel rooms and suites, Asia’s first dynamic theater, meeting space, high end spa, retail offerings and food and beverage outlets as well as the first international Mansion and Emerald Villa at MGM for the ultimate luxury experience. The Spectacle at MGM COTAI became the record holder of the largest free-span gridshell glazed roof (self-supporting) on January 19, 2019, making it the first architectural and structural GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for Macau, China.
Contact Us
For Speaker Inquiries:
To suggest a speaker for the Brainstorm Design, please complete the form at the link below. There are no exact deadlines for speaker submissions.
Please click here to suggest a speaker.
For Participation:
Participation at Brainstorm Design 2023 is by invitation only, and subject to approval. Registration is non-transferable. Participants are responsible for their own travel and hotel charges. The staff for the event will provide information about accommodations.
E-mail: brainstormdesign@fortune.com
For Sponsorship Opportunities:
A limited number of corporate sponsorships are available. Please contact us for more information
Khoon-Fong Ang
E-mail: brainstormdesign.sponsorships@fortune.com
For Press Inquiries:
E-mail: brainstormdesignPR@fortune.com