Past Event

London, UK

During Clerkenwell Design Week 2026, we hosted a discussion at Orangebox grounded in experience, not speculation – considered, honest and at times incredibly candid about both the promise and the limitations of where we are right now with LLMs.

Debated by a brilliant panel of voices from across the industry: Rosie Oliver (Gensler), Gavin Hughes (HLW), Dominic Dugan (Oktra), Jeremy Kumala (M Moser Associates), Riku Rusanen (Nokia), moderated by Harsha Kotak (WOD).

Some of the strongest themes threaded through the conversation:

AI is beginning to return designers to the pleasure of designing, giving teams more space to explore, experiment and engage directly with the creative process.

At the same time, the panel reinforced that the truly valuable parts of the process remain deeply human: intention, imagination, emotional intelligence, cultural understanding and critical thinking.

Generic input still creates generic output. The more distinctly human the contribution, the more distinctive the result.

Collaboration and trust ran through the entire conversation, with governance, security and organisational structure repeatedly emerging as the factors that fundamentally shape what AI can realistically become inside global businesses.

There was also a powerful reflection on AI’s potential to capture and translate the voices of wider user groups beyond the usual decision-makers, returning richer, more honest insight to the people shaping workplaces.

The technology is interesting but what it reveals is extraordinary. A big thank you to Orangebox for hosting, and to Rosie, Gavin, Dominic, Jeremy, and Riku for such an honest and generous discussion.