Events Event Speaker Charlie Lycett-Smith

With over 20 years in agency operations, I’ve spent my career building, refining and scaling the processes that make businesses work smarter. From ways of working and capacity planning to board-level decision-making and commercial strategy, I create operational structures that drive profitability, efficiency and sustainable growth.

Events Event Speaker Ryan Day

Ryan Day is a Senior Manager of Creative Technology at Wayfair, focused on building the infrastructure behind modern creative organizations. He works across disciplines to introduce AI, automation, and scalable workflows that empower teams to produce more, move faster, and adapt to changing demands. His approach emphasizes democratizing creative capabilities, upskilling teams, and creating systems that make high-quality output more accessible across the business.

Events Design Operations New York 2026 DesignOps in Unprecedented Times

If “unprecedented” is starting to feel pretty precedented, you’re not alone.

Shifting economic conditions, evolving workplace expectations, and global events are reshaping how teams operate and how we lead. Underneath it all is a shared reflection many of us are having: what kind of work do we want to create, and how can we shape it to thrive in this environment?

Events Design Operations New York 2026 DesignOps Was the Bridge. Design Thinking Is the Future

What if DesignOps was never the end state, but a bridge?

As AI accelerates execution and roles continue to blur, the value of operations is shifting. It is no longer just about delivery. It is about strategic leadership.

As design itself becomes less of a defined discipline, DesignOps evolves with it. What emerges is not the end of design, but the expansion of design thinking as a human capability.