Design Observer

Last year, just as we were winding down for our annual (and very much needed) winter break, I scheduled a handful of check-in calls with some of Siberia’s closest clients. I framed them as year-end retrospectives — a chance to reflect on what had gone well, what hadn’t, and how we could work together better in the coming year. Frankly, I expected polite conversation and mutual congratulations.

Editor’s note: If you prefer, find a version in Spanish below Nota del editor: Si lo prefiere, encontrará una versión en español a continuación Guillermo Flores Pacheco has a distinctive illustration style: vibrant colors, birds, lush plants, whimsical characters. It’s a style that has landed him projects with big companies like Adobe, Apple, Nike, Sephora, Burning Man, Marc Jacobs, Citi Private Bank, and Cirque du Soleil.

I’m not sure about much of anything right now. The world is <waves arms around> a lot. How about you? Here’s something that might help. I recently caught up with Linda Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and chair of the Leadership Initiative.

The launch of Kimi K3, the latest version of the Kimi chatbot, sent shockwaves last week and deftly tested the theory that open-weight models were no match for the closed-model giants from Silicon Valley. Kimi is the AI chatbot and family of large language models built by Moonshot AI, a Beijing startup founded in 2023 by former Google/Meta researcher and legendary Pink Floyd fan Yang Zhilin.

Editor’s note: In his first opinion piece for Design Observer, AKQA CEO Helder Santo explores the unintended consequences of AI and our growing reliance on technology for validation. He offers an unusual, and deeply human solution: to do your best work, stay doubtful. Doubt has a bad reputation. It’s treated as a flaw to be coached out of people, the thing that slows a meeting down, the hesitation before the bold call.

Editor’s note: In his first opinion piece for Design Observer, AKQA CEO Helder Santo explores the unintended consequences of AI and our growing reliance on technology for validation. He offers an unusual, and deeply human solution: to do your best work, stay doubtful. Doubt has a bad reputation. It’s treated as a flaw to be coached out of people, the thing that slows a meeting down, the hesitation before the bold call.

Design Juice is an as-told-to conversation series series that captures how designers think, work, and envision the future. Design Observer is catching up with design practitioners from across disciplines and at any career stage who offer distinctive perspectives on their craft and its impact.

I was fortunate enough to come into my own as an agency executive when design-led businesses were experiencing a golden age. Chief design officers had a seat at the table, and design was framed as a consistent driver of business success. I believe another golden age is possible, but it will not arrive on its own. It will be built, company by company, by leaders who decide that the customer experience is worth designing. But first, we have to reckon with what happened.

What makes you feel like you belong, particularly in a space that may feel intimidating or unfamiliar? I turned to an expert for answers. In 2025, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City welcomed 6.3 million visitors, and certain events brought in roughly 20,000 visitors in a single day — and that’s only the people who were physically there. Across web, social, and email channels, The Met reached over 45 million people last year.

In 2025, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City welcomed 6.3 million visitors, and certain events brought in roughly twenty thousand visitors in a single day — and that’s only the people who are physically there. Across web, social, and email, The Met reaches one hundred and fifty million people.