Post by Oliver Ristau

A proud moment for me. As of this year, I’ve stepped into the role of Senior Managing Consultant (Design Director) — a milestone in my journey as a designer and technologist in a field I truly care about. Especially over the past year, I had the pleasure of working for and with some of Germany’s most prestigious automotive brands. The use of AI is rapidly transforming everything around us, and as a designer and techie at heart, I’m most excited about how we can use technology to enable humans — amplifying creativity, empathy, and impact rather than replacing them. Technology alone isn’t the goal — experiences are. They shape emotion, build trust, and ultimately define how innovation shows up in people’s lives. That’s why I’m grateful to be part of IBM, a company that continues to place design at its core. After all, as Thomas J. Watson Jr. once said, good design is good business. Special thanks to the people who helped me along the way: Asli Y., Antje Kruse-Schomaker, Wibke Huber-Saffer, Tatjana Voss, Ina Bolten-Wegner, Lena Armbruster, Chu-Yi Vuong, Melanie Beck, Salina Iten, Maria Terhorst, Mark Mauermann, Alexander Runggas, Ramon Wartala and Dr. Robert Krombholz Looking forward to what’s next 🚀 #HappyNewYear #DesignLeadership #ExperienceDesign #IBM