Birgit Geiberger
Global Head of Product UX Design at IKEA
Birgit Geiberger is a seasoned design leader with extensive experience in global leadership roles across for-profit and nonprofit sectors, industries, and cultures. Following her tenure as Global Experience Director at adidas, she now serves as Global Head of Product UX Design at IKEA, where she leads multidisciplinary teams of designers and researchers to create a better everyday life for the many people. She is an IKEA Foundation Ambassador, representing and championing the foundation’s mission to create substantial and lasting change by improving opportunities for children and families in some of the world’s poorest communities.
Passionate about giving back, Birgit has supported the global design community for over 15 years, including serving as a board member and Director of Local Liaison for the Interaction Design Association. She is the founder of Curious Bridges, an initiative fostering constructive dialogues around human-centricity, inclusivity, and leadership in design and beyond.
Birgit Geiberger
Global Head of Product UX Design at IKEA
Birgit Geiberger is a seasoned design leader with extensive experience in global leadership roles across for-profit and nonprofit sectors, industries, and cultures. Following her tenure as Global Experience Director at adidas, she now serves as Global Head of Product UX Design at IKEA, where she leads multidisciplinary teams of designers and researchers to create a better everyday life for the many people. She is an IKEA Foundation Ambassador, representing and championing the foundation’s mission to create substantial and lasting change by improving opportunities for children and families in some of the world’s poorest communities.
Passionate about giving back, Birgit has supported the global design community for over 15 years, including serving as a board member and Director of Local Liaison for the Interaction Design Association. She is the founder of Curious Bridges, an initiative fostering constructive dialogues around human-centricity, inclusivity, and leadership in design and beyond.
Sessions
A humane compass: purpose-driven leadership
We are encountering transformation at a pace we have never witnessed before. In this new context, we all need to embrace our leadership skills in new ways, consistently reflect on our approach and methods, while deliberately remaining connected to regenerative principles. This talk expands on the conference theme 'Beyond the Map' to discover how purpose-driven leadership helps us to navigate the ongoing rise in complexity and unpredictability. Grounded in her own long-standing leadership journey, Birgit Geiberger shares lessons learned and thoughtful perspectives. You will explore the psychology of power, how it shapes what we decide and do, and why empathy is essential for leadership that creates impact for positive change.
Through a systems mindset, practicing humility, empowering others, purpose-driven leadership becomes our compass. It is keeping us humane as we tackle global challenges and discover new opportunities to create a lasting positive change with our work. Designers are uniquely equipped to lead toward a more sustainable and humane future, fostering a paradigm shift, in which growth is redefined towards regeneration.
Design leadership