Chris Hacker is a trailblazer in corporate design, shaping its role in business long before it became widely recognized. From leading design at Herman Miller and Aveda to founding the Global Strategic Design Office at Johnson & Johnson, Chris has spent decades navigating the evolving landscape of corporate design at the highest levels—including reporting directly to the Chairman of J&J. In this fireside, we will learn first-hand how it all unfolded, and what mistakes should be avoided to ensure the longevity of strategic design leadership.
In this fireside chat, we’ll explore Chris’s journey and extract critical lessons for today’s Chief Design Officers, including:
• The challenges of establishing and scaling corporate design programs.
• The shifting expectations of design leadership over the decades.
• Navigating executive relationships and influencing business strategy.
• The biggest pitfalls that threaten design’s long-term impact in corporations.
• What modern CDOs must do to ensure design remains a strategic, enduring function.
With over three decades of experience at the intersection of design and business, Chris offers a rare perspective on what it takes to build a design legacy inside global companies.
Join a Council of senior design executives united in advancing the practice of corporate design leadership at the C-Suite and Board-level of the world's most influential public and private companies.
