The Board Director Mindset for Design Executives is a practical guide for design executives exploring a path to the boardroom. It distills the perspectives of seven experts featured in DXC's Fireside Chat series, led by Founder Gordon Ching: board recruiters, board and governance advisors, a former CFO, and design executives who have served as directors.

Boards are broadening what they look for in directors. Alongside financial and operating experience, many now seek digital, AI, and customer fluency, especially as AI reshapes how companies engage their customers. Design executives who have grown into enterprise leaders bring that perspective, and the path to the boardroom increasingly runs through the relationships and visibility they build along the way.

This report answers that question through a board and corporate governance lens, in the terms used by recruiters, board directors, and governance advisors. It distills the insights of seven experts and reframes them for design executives exploring a board career path. It was made possible by DXC members, and by DXC advisors Daniela Jorge and Kaaren Hanson, whose introductions brought several of the experts into these conversations.

When Gordon Ching interviewed chief design officer Daniela Jorge for his first design executive research study in 2023, she described her mindset as "business-first, designer-second." To succeed at the highest levels, design executives have to transform the way they perform, not by letting go of their hard-earned expertise but by translating it to address broader business problems that span multiple topics, constraints, and stakeholder dynamics.

That pattern has repeated across the hundreds of design executives DXC has interviewed since. They bring their design expertise to the table, but their highest form of business impact comes when they are sought after as strategic leaders who add a unique perspective to decision-making rooms. Many in the DXC peer community have asked the same question over the years: what does it take to make the leap to the board?

This paper answers that question through a board and corporate governance lens, in the terms used by recruiters, board directors, and governance advisors. It distills the insights of seven experts and reframes them for design executives exploring a board career path. It was made possible by DXC members, and by DXC advisors Daniela Jorge and Kaaren Hanson, whose introductions brought several of the experts into these conversations.