In this first of a two-part conversation, host Jerry Cuomo sits down with Phil Gilbert — entrepreneur, design leader, and the mind behind IBM’s modern design movement.

Phil takes us back to his startup roots in the 1980s, when helping professionals adopt personal computers sparked a lifelong passion for design as a force for clarity and connection. Along the way, he reflects on the thinkers who influenced him — from Alan Cooper’s persona-based design to Richard Buchanan’s “Wicked Problems in Design Thinking.”

Phil reminded us that great design scales quality, solves real human problems, and sometimes means knowing when to break the mold. Whether designing products or the organizations that design great products, this formula has proven to be a winner.

Key Takeaways from Part 1 (on Design):

1. Design as a Way to Scale Quality — Design isn’t decoration; it’s a method for making complex systems more usable, reliable, and human-centered at scale.

2. The Alan Cooper Moment — Persona-based design reframed how to build products around real people, not requirements.

3. Wicked Problems, Not Simple Fixes — Inspired by Buchanan’s 1992 paper, Phil saw design thinking as a way to address messy, evolving challenges.

4. Design Beyond Products — The same mindset that shapes great software can redesign organizations and cultures through empathy and experimentation.

5. Breaking the Mold — From early PCs to the iPhone, Phil shows that great design sometimes means knowing when to break consistency to create transformation.

In essence, Part 1 traces Phil’s evolution from software builder to design thinker, showing how design became his lifelong tool for meaningful, human-centered change.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where Jerry and Phil continue the story — exploring how design principles shape companies and inspire Phil’s new book, Irresistible Change.

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