Devin speaks with Aadeel Akhtar, CEO and co-founder of Psyonic, a company designing advanced bionic limbs for both humans and robots. What started in academia has grown into a startup pushing the boundaries of human-machine synergy – including applications as ambitious as outer space. Devin and Aadeel talk about how PSYONIC’s work with EMG technology and direct nerve integration is reshaping what prosthetics can do, why Aadeel will always build for humans and robots, and – why future AI androids will be plenty smart, just not in a C-3PO kind of way.
1:52 Aadeel’s journey to bionic hand innovation
2:36 Serendipity in Ecuador
6:39 From academia to startup: founding PSYONIC
9:00 EMG technology
10:57 Direct nerve integration
12:32 Human - robot synergy
14:09 Bionic hands in space
18:26 Lightening round
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
Devin speaks with Kofi Asante, VP of Business Development and Expansion at Arc. Before joining Arc, Kofi worked in autonomy across the trucking and aerospace sectors. Now, he and the Arc team are setting their sights on a new frontier: electrifying the maritime industry. From wake boats to cargo ships, Arc is working toward a zero-emissions future on our waterways. And it all starts with the rugged and hardworking tugboat. Devin and Kofi talk about building trust with operators, tackling infrastructure and cost hurdles, and what it will take to bring electric innovation to an industry that has remained largely unchanged for decades.
0:50 Arc's Mission to Electrify Maritime Industry
2:24 Building an Electric Tugboat Prototype
3:45 Finding an Early Adopter
5:29 Addressing Infrastructure and Cost
7:30 Why Electric?
9:22 Autonomy in Maritime and more
12:15 Charging Infrastructure Solutions
15:38 How Quiet Can a Port Be?
19:53 Lightning Round
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
We’re just getting started. New episodes coming soon.
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Devin speaks with Leonardo Giusti, founder and design director at Archetype AI. Leonardo is building a completely different kind of AI. Before starting Archetype AI, he led design at Google's advanced technology and projects division where he worked on some of the company's most experimental ideas. Now, he is training an AI model using – not language – but sensor data from the physical world. Leonardo and Devin explore how humans can wrestle agency back from AI, why designing for “polite” and “considerate” AI reveals a deeper design challenge, and how this work can inspire optimism—even among skeptics.
[02:41] Translating Sensor Data
[03:25] A Dog With A Stick
[07:08] Analyzing Traffic “Near Misses”
[9:42] Is There Such Thing As Too Much Information?
[12:09] A Win-Win for Profit and Sustainability
[13:16] Getting Philosophical
[15:55] Design Challenges in AI Integration
[22:15] Speed Round
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
In this special live episode, Devin is joined by Matt Ondler, Chief Strategy Officer at Axiom Space. Matt previously worked at NASA for 25 years where he led some of the agency's most ambitious projects in robotics, autonomy, and spacecraft systems. Now he's at Axiom, building the world's first commercial space station. Devin and Matt discuss how space might become an important manufacturing hub, the lengths Matt has gone to test something before launching it into orbit, and why squishy humans pose such a design challenge in space.
[02:11] Matt’s Origin Story
[03:23] Inspiring the Next Generation of Space Enthusiasts
[05:40] Everyday Tech With Roots in Space
[07:10] Building the First Commercial Space Station
[10:35] Human-Centric Design in Space
[13:39] Challenges of Space Environment and Testing
[19:21] Robots vs. Humans in Space
[21:22] Addressing Kessler Syndrome
[23:59] Multiple Space Stations
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
Devin talks with Bernadette Berger, Director of Innovation at Alaska Airlines, about the future of air travel. Bernadette is a self professed air plane nerd and has over a decade of experience designing the aircraft architecture of some of the world's largest commercial jets. The two discuss solving baggage anxiety, which tasks are still better suited to humans versus AI, and what raising a toddler can teach you about business leadership. And yes, “haba maba” comes up – it’s not just baby talk.
[03:06] Baggage Anxiety
[05:35] Fairness and Justice in Air Travel
[08:20] Personalized Air Travel and AI
[12:38] Designing For The Seams and New Destinations
[15:55] HABA MABA
[20:23] AI and Human Superpowers
[24:03] Speed Round
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
Devin talks with Carla Diana about the social connection between humans and robots. Carla is the author of My Robot Gets Me and serves as Designer in Residence at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Carla explains why social robots don’t actually need to look human, what KITT taught us about chatty robots, and what it might mean if robots surpass us in emotional intelligence. Plus, Carla and Devin ask: as we make robots more human, are we becoming more like them?
[02:50] Simon the Robot
[06:36] Making our World More Robot Friendly
[10:21] Social versus Chatty Robots
[11:51] KITT
[16:31] Social Robotics in Everyday Objects
[21:49] Emotionally Intelligent Robots
[23:10] Speed Round
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
Devin talks with Anthony D. Paul, director of Strategic Foresight at Amtrak, about the future of rail travel. Anthony explains why he’s not in favor of replacing human crews with AI robots, what co-working spaces and trains have in common, and the lessons train operators can learn from Airbnb and Barbie. The two futurists cover everything from the practical realities of repairing trains in motion to the idea that trains can one day become social spaces, not just modes of transport.
[02:17] Why Rail?
[05:29] Bringing Back Third Places
[07:12] AI Conductors
[09:59] A Company’s Mission vs. Its Business
[13:35] Three Types of Travelers
[19:06] Robotic Cockroaches Circa 2055
[20:05] Speed Round
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
Paul Puopolo, Executive VP of Innovation at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, joins Devin to talk about what the airports of the future will look like. Paul shares how he evaluates emerging technologies, what it will take to integrate flying cars into the airport experience, and why autonomous lawn mowers might be the future of keeping the grass alongside miles-long runways at FAA-regulated height. Paul is a former Navy helicopter pilot and has nearly 20 years of experience spearheading innovation at large organizations.
[03:32] Sensors, sensors everywhere
[06:36] Autonomous technology at DFW
[07:40] Private versus public 5G networks
[09:21] Testing autonomous lawnmowers
[11:11] Getting ready for eVTOLs
[14:25] Balancing innovation with daily operations
[16:23] Digital twin: Your one-stop shop
[20:28] Speed round
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
Jessica Speigel, VP of Product Design at Fanatics, joins Devin to talk about gamifying the fan experience, the downside of chasing parity features, and designing to maximize joy. Plus, Jessica explains why a futuristic idea from the ‘80s, called the “Knowledge Navigator,” still sticks with her today. Jessica previously led the design of innovative digital experiences at HBO and Amazon.
[02:12] Jessica’s First Impression of Sports Betting
[06:39] Betting on More Than Just Sports
[09:30] The Case for Responsible Gaming
[13:58] Chasing Parity
[14:55] How AR will Change the Game
[19:41] Don’t Underestimate Customers
[22:25] Speed Round
[23:30] Gamification and Innovation
Links
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
John Conafay joins Devin to talk about the kind of attitude it takes to work in space, what outsiders could learn from the space industry, and whether a toaster could be considered an ambitious machine. John Conafay is the CEO and co-founder of Integrate. He served as a mission systems specialist in the Air Force before building a career in the space industry, where he has worked for over 12 years.
[2:02] John’s introduction to microgravity
[3:29] Space neighborhoods
[6:25] Ambitious machines
[8:42] GPS & Tinder
[11:58] Tolerance for risk
[14:45] What is Integrate?
[17:30] Working with the U.S. Space Force
[19:05] The “FIFI” approach
[21:35] Speed round
Links
Teague
Devin Liddell on Linkedin
John Conafay on Linkedin
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near- and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
Get in Touch
Have a complex problem that needs solving? Have a great guest or topic idea? We want to hear from you. Visit us at teague.com or send us an email at hello@teague.com
What if the future isn’t something we wait for, but instead something we design today?
Welcome to Design This Day, a new podcast that shows you how the boldest innovators are shaping the world we’ll live in tomorrow.
Join us as futurist Devin Liddell sits down with visionary leaders from some of the biggest names in tech and innovation. Each episode will feature a brilliant mind who is building the opportunities of the future before most people even know they exist. What will space neighborhoods look like in the future? Can driverless vehicles go off-roading? What unexpected roles will robots play in our future workplaces and homes?
Get ready to explore the big ideas and bold designs shaping the future. New episodes start dropping Monday, March 3, 2025.
Subscribe now so you don’t miss it!
Design This Day is an original podcast brought to you by Teague.
About the Host: Futurist Devin Liddell
Devin Liddell is the Principal Futurist at Teague. With over two decades of experience in innovation and design strategy, Devin has worked with industry giants like Boeing, Intel, and Nike, helping organizations anticipate changes across both near and far-term horizons to create their preferred futures. Devin is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
