Nivan 2026 in Review

May 21, 2026

Institute of Design at Illinois Tech

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Arrival & Registration

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Opening Welcome

The voices that set the lens and carry the thread — anchoring where we begin, connecting every session, speaker, and story as we move from reflection into reimagination.

Niketa Jhaveri | Opening Keynote @ Nivan.Live 2026

Niketa Jhaveri

Curator, Nivan
Senior Manager, UX, Amazon

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Welcome by MC

A smiling man in a purple suit with a rainbow-colored lapel pin stands with arms crossed in front of a digital, futuristic background with glowing lines and particles.

Carlos Manalo

Master of Ceremonies (MC), Nivan
Co-CEO, The Office of Experience

9:15 AM - 9:45 AM

Back to the Future: Where Eras Converge

The systems we inherit shape the systems we build. From legacy data to future-scale decisions, this session connects history, judgment, and direction into one continuous arc.

A man wearing a black suit with digital and neon light patterns, smiling against a colorful, futuristic background with purple, blue, and green hues.

Nick Allen

Keynote Speaker

Former Head of Design, Fidelity Investments

Event poster titled "Scale vs Craft" for an AI conference on May 21, 2026, organized by Nivan Institute of Design. Features two silhouetted speakers at podiums and portraits of speakers Noel Childs and David Kazaryan with their affiliations, Digitas and United, respectively.

Debating whether expansion strengthens or dilutes meaningful design.

A man with white hair and glasses wearing a dark purple suit with digital circuit patterns and a logo on the chest, standing against a dark purple and pink background.
A woman with long brown hair in a dark purple blazer with a neon rainbow logo on the chest, standing with her hands behind her back, smiling against a digitally-created background of purple and blue circuitry and light trails.

Noel Childs

SVP Group Experience Design Director, Digitas

vs.

David Kazaryan

Senior Product Design Manager, United Airlines

9:45 AM - 10:15 AM

Scale vs. Craft

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM

The Tools that Shaped Us

The essential approaches innovators rely on to navigate complexity and create change.

Bob Nesbitt

Former Director of Portfolio Strategy, AbbVie
Former Director of Advanced Development, Eli Lilly and Company

Reflect on the Past

Learning from what shaped us.

10:30 AM - 10:45 AM

Patterns that Refuse to Disappear

Rapid perspectives on defining decisions that reshaped the field.

Linnea Hagen

Consumer Insights Manager, Netflix

Realize the Present

Designing and building in today’s reality.

10:45 AM - 11:00 AM

Morning Coffee Break

A man wearing glasses and a dark suit with a small rainbow-shaped logo on his lapel, standing with a vibrant digital background of purple and pink light streaks and particles.
A woman with blonde curly hair, glasses, and earrings, wearing a dark purple blazer with a glowing digital logo on the shoulder, standing in front of a vibrant, futuristic pink and purple digital background.
Event poster titled "Human Judgment vs AI Assistance," featuring two speakers, Bennett Hornbostel from Amazon and Varun Kapoor from Microsoft, scheduled for May 21, 2026, at the Institute of Design, with the subtitle "When the model says yes and your gut says no, who wins?" The background has a futuristic digital theme with side profiles of human faces facing each other.

Examining where human intuition and machine intelligence intersect.

Bennett Hornbostel

Principal UX Researcher, Amazon

vs.

Varun Kapoor

Lead Product Designer, Microsoft

11:45 AM - 12:15 PM

Human Judgment vs. AI Assistance

11:30 AM - 11:45 AM

The Ecological, Relational, Emotional, and Cultural Lenses for AI Transformation

Exploring the future through 4 core lenses.

Suzanne Currie

Director of AI/UX Research, Geico

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Lightning Talk: The Present

The choices we make with AI today define what comes next across industries.

Gavin Lew

Managing Partner, Bold Insight

A smiling man with short curly hair dressed in a dark suit with a digital badge on his chest, standing in front of a futuristic digital background with circuit-like patterns and checkmark icons.

12:15 PM - 12:30 PM

The “Bug-Free” Workforce

How AI efficiency is subtly disrupting the interactions that build strong teams.

Casey Hudetz

Senior Product Design Manager, Docusign

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Networking + Lunch Break

A man in a dark suit with neon pink and blue digital effects, standing with arms crossed and wearing a smartwatch.

1:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Interactive Workshop

Identifying early signals within complexity and noise.

Tony Bynum

Associate Professor & Director, Institute of Design Executive Academy 

A smiling man in a dark suit jacket with neon pink and blue accents, standing in front of a digital, futuristic background with colorful light streaks and data displays.
A man with a beard wearing a dark suit jacket with a logo on the chest stands in front of a digital, futuristic background with neon purple and blue lights, circuitry, and glowing lines.
Event poster for a discussion on personalization versus privacy, titled 'Personalization vs Privacy,' held on May 21, 2026. Features images of speakers Sarah Wallace and Eric Smallwood, with Sarah associated with Proprietary Insights and Eric a former Walmart employee. The poster has a dark background with neon-like accents and two podiums.

Where should we draw the line between meaningful personalization and personal privacy?

Sarah Wallace

Customer Experience Strategist, Proprietary Insights

vs.

Eric Smallwood

Former Director of Design, Walmart

2:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Personalization vs. Privacy

2:30 PM- 2:45 PM

Designing the Next Chicago

Insights into the future of Chicago and its urban landscape.

Kyle Schulz

Deputy of Strategic Advancement, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)

2:00 PM - 2:30 PM

The Future Won’t Design Itself

Why North Stars matter more than roadmaps.

Ben Shown

Managing Partner, Bold Insight

A man in a dark suit with a colorful logo on the chest, standing against a digital, tech-inspired background with swirling blue and purple lines and glowing points.

Reimagine the Future

Shaping what comes next.

3:15 PM - 3:30 PM

Lightning Talk: The Future

Progress is inevitable. Direction is not. What future are we choosing to create?

Matt Alverson

Partner, IA Collaborative

A man in a suit with a digital rainbow logo on his chest, standing against a vibrant, futuristic pink and purple digital background.
A woman with shoulder-length gray hair standing confidently with her hand on her hip, wearing a black suit with glowing blue lines and a colorful logo on her chest, in a digital background with holographic data representations.

How design leaders influence strategy long before outcomes are visible.

Ashley Craig

VP, Research & Product Strategy, AnswerLab

3:45 PM - 4:15 PM

Your Data Can’t See the Future: The Hidden Risk in Modern Product Decisions

3:30 PM- 3:45 PM

Designing the AI Continuum

Fast-moving insights weaving trust and innovation into the patient journey.

Kevin Yuda

Senior Director, UX, GE Healthcare

4:15 PM - 4:30 PM

4:30 PM - 5:00 PM

A woman in a black suit with holographic neon digital graphics and charts in the background, suggesting a futuristic or high-tech setting.

Afternoon Coffee Break

From Hindsight to Foresight: The Continuum Is You

Hindsight gave perspective.
Insight challenged thinking.
Foresight demands action.

Your Time Capsule captured a moment.
The pattern reveal shows the direction.

The future continues with you.

A man in a purple suit with a digital rainbow logo on the chest stands with arms crossed, smiling, against a futuristic, digital background with glowing lines and particles.

Niketa Jhaveri

Curator, Nivan

Carlos Manalo

MC, Nivan

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Cocktails & Connections

Wind down the day with a glass in hand and good company around you. Meet the speakers, fellow attendees, and collaborators you've been meaning to. No agenda, just good conversation and great people.