John Maeda (born 1966) is an Americandesigner, visual artist, executive, strategic advisor, writer, and educator.[1] He serves as the vice president of design and artificial intelligence atMicrosoft. Previously, Maeda served as ischief technology officer ofEverbridge from October 2020 through October 2022, and as president ofRhode Island School of Design (RISD) from June 2008 until December 2013.[2][3] Before that he was a research professor at theMIT Media Lab leading advancements in computational design,[4][5] low-code/no-code,[6][7] and creative commerce.[8][9]
He is formerly executive vice president, chief experience officer atPublicis Sapient[12] where he developed the LEAD (Light, Ethical, Accessible, Dataful) doctrine[13] for technology products and services. Prior to that he was Global Head, Computational Design and Inclusion atAutomattic where he sought to address thediversity gap in tech[14] by exploring how inclusion could be a key ingredient for success in the technology industry.[15][16][17]
Before that he was Design Partner atKleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) where he advised startups on the business impact of design[18][19][20][21][22] and continues as a strategic advisor. He also served on the Board of Directors of consumer electronics companySonos and global advertising firmWieden+Kennedy.
From 2019 until 2020, he was an executive vice president andchief experience officer at Publicis Sapient[23] where he helped businesses bridge strategy and engineering with computational design.[24]
He was a professor at theMIT Media Lab for 12 years where he fostered a community of designers who could code and engineers who could design called the Aesthetics + Computation Group,[1][25] and then created the Physical Language Workshop[26] with Henry Holtzman. Shortly after the launch of the Design By Numbers[27] project to teach artists and designers how to code, he helped to accelerate the Scratch language project in an NSF proposal with outreach across the digital divide.[28][29]
He resigned from MIT in 2008[30] to become the president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) during the2008 financial crisis.[31]
In 2011, RISD's faculty majority passed avote of no confidence in Maeda.[32][33][34] He survived the vote,[35] and subsequently led RISD to be recognized by the business community as number one in the world[36] while shepherding the nationalSTEAM movement,[37][38][39][40] feeling that "art and design are poised to transform our economy in the 21st century like science and technology did in the last century."[41] For his work in advancing STEAM education, Maeda was recognized with a Tribeca Film Festival Disruptor Award[42] and the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy[43] at the John F. Kennedy Center.[citation needed] Maeda resigned from his RISD presidency at the end of 2013[44][45] and joined KPCB.[46] Around the same time he also joined eBay's Design Advisory Board as chairman.[47]
In 2014 and 2015, he guest curated and hosted PopTech: REBELLION,[48] and PopTech: HYBRID.[49]
In 2015 he published his firstDesign In Tech Report[50] to connect the investing world with the world of design and technology. A 2ndDesign in Tech Report was published in 2016 and later in 2017, a 3rdDesign In Tech Report was published.[51]
Maeda is married to Kris Maeda, and together they have five daughters.[60][61][11] Kris and John Maeda worked together on the design consultancy, MAEDASTUDIO.[60]
