Business Artistry with Nir Hindie

Millard "Mickey" S. Drexler built Gap into a cultural brand, launched Old Navy, led J.Crew, and now chairs Alex Mill. He also spent 16 years on Apple's board — and played a pivotal role in shaping the Apple Store as we know it today.But this conversation isn't about the résumé. It's about how Mickey thinks.He leads through taste, instinct, and an obsessive attention to what a customer actually experiences. He'll tell you data doesn't design product. That most CEOs never talk to customers. That creativity is in the DNA — and you can spot it in five minutes if you know how to look.In this episode: what instinct actually is and where it comes from, why the best leaders protect the creative process instead of delegating it, how the Apple Store was born from a warehouse prototype and one honest conversation, and what it means to micromanage the customer experience — not the people.A conversation about taste, imagination, and what it takes to build something people actually love.Thank you to Mike Cerre for making this conversation possible.Links:Alex Mill — alexmill.comMickey Drexler on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/millard-mickey-drexler-1b00a9269/Business Artistry Course — courses.theartisan.com

What does it take to create something that changes everything? In this episode, I sit down with Steve Hayden - the man who wrote the 1984 Apple commercial, still considered one of the greatest ads ever made. But this conversation goes far beyond that sixty seconds. We talk about where revolutionary ideas actually come from, what Steve Jobs was really like to work with, the disaster of 1985 that almost nobody talks about, and why the business world keeps choosing efficiency over creativity - even when history proves creativity wins every time.What we cover in this episode- Where the idea for the 1984 commercial actually came from - including Russian soldiers in Afghanistan, Orwell, and a South African Olympian with a hammer- Why Apple's board wanted to kill the greatest ad ever made before it ever aired- The disaster of 1985 - the campaign that crashed Apple's stock and contributed to Jobs being pushed out of his own company- Why you can't measure creativity - and why that's exactly the reason boardrooms keep killing it- Steve's final message to business leaders: creativity is not an exercise in feelings. It's an exercise in horizons.Steve Hayden passed away last year. This is one of his last conversations. I hope it stays with you.Special thanks Kathy Mandato, for making this conversation possible.The Business Artistry Organizational Course:https://courses.theartian.com/business-artistry-for-organizations/

What happens when an artist imagines the future decades before the rest of the world catches up?In this episode, Nir Hindie sits down with pioneering media artist and researcher Michael Naimark, whose work has shaped immersive and interactive media for more than forty years. If you’ve used Google Street View, you’ve seen the shadow of a project he helped create at MIT in the late 1970s: the Aspen Movie Map, a radically early experiment in “surrogate travel.”Michael’s career moved across some of the most influential innovation environments of the last half-century: MIT, Atari, Lucasfilm, the Apple–Lucas multimedia labs, and Interval Research, Paul Allen’s legendary “five to ten years ahead” laboratory. Across those settings he explored how artists, engineers, and researchers push each other toward breakthroughs that conventional corporate structures rarely allow.Shownotes:Michael's website: http://www.naimark.net/Michael's workshop: MediatedPresence.comAspen Movie Map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Movie_MapSteve Jobs at the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9HmOz8H0qI

This episode dives into one of the most overlooked turning points in modern innovation: the moment artists and engineers decided to build the future together. Julie Martin, co-director of E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology), joins Nir Hindie for a deep exploration of the collaborations that shaped contemporary tech culture long before Silicon Valley existed.They unpack how the legendary “Nine Evenings” project brought together world-class artists and Bell Labs engineers to create performances that pushed the limits of sound, movement, computing, and imagination. Julie explains why these collaborations worked, what tensions and breakthroughs shaped them, and how they became a template for cross-disciplinary innovation in every industry.For leaders, creators, and anyone trying to understand how real innovation happens, this conversation is both historical and uncomfortably relevant. It’s a reminder that progress doesn’t emerge from optimizing what already exists. It comes from people with different languages, disciplines, and obsessions daring to build something new together.Resources:Experiments in Art and Technology Websitehttps://www.experimentsinartandtechnology.org/Silver Clouds by Andy Warhol:https://www.brooksmuseum.org/exhibitions/andy-warhol-silver-clouds

In this episode, Andrew Zolli, Chief Impact Officer at Planet, the imagery company, speaks about the initiative he leads, “Art as Planet.” We discuss what the role of art in communicating scientific vision is? How artists have been helping in shaping an innovative culture in a satellite company, and why should small startups launch their own artist in residence?Zolli is a technologist, strategic foresight expert, and author. In the past he was the primary creative and curatorial force behind PopTech, a well-known innovation, and social change network; he served as a Fellow of the National Geographic Society and served on the Boards of the Brooklyn Academy of Music.See the show notes here. 

In this episode, Dr. Claudia Schnugg, an author, curator, researcher, and producer of art and science collaborations, shares her knowledge about building art-science collaborations, examples of successful partnerships, and what organizations can benefit from these collaborations.Check the show notes to learn more.

In this episode, Dr. John Maeda, speaks about art and artists, the difference between art and design, why parents who sent their kids to RISD thought about innovation, and why, art and design are positioned to transform the economy of the 21st-century economy.Click here to see the show notes.Voices:John Maeda's Ted TalkDavid Bowie in an interview to BBC 1999

In this episode, we host Anouk Wipprecht, artist, designer, and innovator, together with Christoph Guger, the founder and CEO of GTEC. The two have been working for more than six years, creating robotic dresses and brain-computer interface devices that are extremely exciting in their thinking and innovation.Anouk Wipprecht is working in the emerging field of "FashionTech" - a rare combination of fashion design combined with engineering, robotics, science, and interaction/user experience design to make fashion an experience that transcends mere appearances.Christoph Guger is the founder and CEO of GTEC, a company that develops and produces high-end brain-computer interfaces and biosignal processing hardware and software.See all images and videos on the episode's show notes. 

In this episode, Jeffrey Madoff, the founder of Madoff Productions, fashion designer, film director, and educator speaks about creativity, entrepreneurship, and how to lead creative teams. Madoff is on the faculty at Parsons School for Design, teaching a course he developed called “Creativity: Making a Living With Your Ideas”.  Madoff published the book entitled based on his course.Click here for the show notes. 

In this episode, Dr. Arthur I. Miller is back on our show to discuss his latest book - The Artist in The Machine. We discussed machine and creativity, why there is not enough AI in the world, and why, after all, you need creativity to stay relevant in the future. For the shownotes click here.

In this episode, Noah Weinstein, the previous creative director of Autodesk Pier 9 - The world's greatest creative workshop - speaks about how to build creative communities, what is the role of management in supporting creative initiatives, and how one space in San Francisco became the epitome for experimentation in digital fabrication, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D, and biotechnology, all led by artists.See the show notes for more information. 

In this bonus episode, Tim Ellis, the co-founder and CEO of relativity space speaks about his dream to become a writer; how his life with his partner, the artist Richelle Gribble, is influencing him, and why art, science, and space are all tied together when we are looking to answers our most meaningful questions.

In this episode, Richelle Gribble, an expeditionary artist who explores planetary connectivity, both on and off Earth, speaks about her experience at biosphere 2, the north pole, and why she is practicing to become an astronaut.See show notes here.

In this episode, we talk to Uli Schmitz, the founding manager of FreeTech, the managing director of Axel Springer Digital Ventures, and the Axel Springer Plug and Play Accelerator co-founder. Uli discusses how to create an artist in residence program at your company, how to make up for the fact that outcomes are hard to measure, and the importance of diversity of thought for innovation.Check out the episode show notes where you will find videos, images, links and more.

In this episode, Dr. Giovanni Schiuma, a Knowledge and Innovation Management Professor at the Università LUM, speaks with us about why companies should integrate the arts, what aesthetic technologies are, and the power of having an arts architect. Dr. Giovanni Schiuma, as a high international academic and consultant, is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in organizational development and innovation, and for his work on business model innovation of arts and cultural organizations, and the strategic knowledge management for company value creation dynamics.Giovanni is widely recognized for his work on the use of the Arts for Business and his work on assessing and managing knowledge assets.Click here to see show notes and additional resources.

In this episode, we talk to Adam Rosendahl, the Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Late Nite Art®. How can art facilitate discussions and improve team building? Why should leaders want their teams to be more open with one another? What is one way to make Zoom meetings more engaging? How can art bring together people from different backgrounds? All these questions and more in our new episode.Click here to see the show notes on our website.

In this episode, we speak to a Google staff research scientist, Dr. Erik Lucero. In his work, he leads the production quantum hardware team that supplies the world with quantum computers that can perform beyond classical computations. We talked about what quantum computing is, how it can change the world, what his interest in photography has to do with it, and much more.See show notes that include videos, links, images, and much more.

In this episode, we speak to the leadership speaker Dov Baron. In his work, he teaches us how to recognize, find, retain, and nurture dragons (the top talent) who are hidden in our organizations. We talked about how leaders can better manage gen Z, why artists are leaders, vulnerability in the workplace, and much more.See show notes that include videos, links, images, and much more.

In this episode, we learn from Daniel Canogar about making data stimulate all the human senses, not just the visual. Canogar is a visual artist that focuses on hacking into obsolete technologies, finding the similarities between human and technological expiration dates, creating inner order within chaos, and much more. If you think that big data is just good for charts and grafts, after this conversation, you will think differently.Click here for show notes, recommendations, transcript, and more.

In this episode, we speak to the professor of psychology Ellen Langer. In her work, she studies the illusion of control, decision-making, aging, and mindfulness theory. We talked about the beauty of mistakes, why the process of making art is more important than the result, not assuming that you know everything, and much more.See show notes that include videos, links, images, and much more.

In the second episode with Ben Grosser, an artist focused on the cultural, social, and political effects of software, he talks to us about taking the algorithms out of different digital platforms, teaching students how to analyze digital platforms' systems, and doom scrolling.How did he hack TikTok? Should Spotify and Netflix rethink their algorithms? Nir and Ben discuss this and more.Click here to see the show notes, videos, transcript, and more on our website.

In this episode, we talk to Ben Grosser, an artist who is focused on the cultural, social, and political effects of software. We talk about why numbers are so important on social media, making music with computers, and how to add humans to the equation when creating software.Click here to see the show notes on our website.

In this episode, Danica Purg, the founding and current President of the IEDC-Bled School of Management, speaks with us about her MBA program that incorporates art as much as business, how to prepare leaders for an increasingly complex world, and being a pioneer in education. Professor Danica Purg is also the President of CEEMAN, the International Association for Management Development in Dynamic Societies, which aims to accelerate the growth of relevant and excellent management education in the global markets that need it most.Click here to see show notes, videos, and beautiful photos.Sound Credits:FTIEDC - Bled School of Management

In this episode, we speak to the artist-scientist and author Arthur Miller. In his work, he explores the nature of creative thinking – the mind’s ability to transform information from everyday experiences into the most sublime works of art, literature, music, and science. We talked about the history of ideas, the importance of generalists, the similarity between Picasso and Einstein, and much more.See show notes that include videos, links, images, and much more.

In this episode, we speak to the artist and computer programmer Lauren Lee McCarthy. In her work, she creates artworks that use a variety of media and techniques, including performance, artificial intelligence, and programmed computer-based interaction. We talked about the importance of presence, exploring intimacy through arts, and developing relationships in a surveillance culture. See show notes that include videos, links, images, and much more. 

In this episode, Michael Hendrix, a partner, and Global Director of Design at IDEO and Panos Panay, Senior Vice President for Global Strategy and Innovation at Berklee, speak with us about what businesses should learn from the music industry, how failure is necessary for learning, and how we can create better partnerships.In 2021, Panay and R. Michael Hendrix, global design director at IDEO, co-wrote and published Two Beats Ahead, a book that covers what the musical mind can teach about innovation, featuring interviews with top creatives including Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake, Gloria Estefan, Imogen Heap, Radiohead, T Bone Burnett, Hank Shocklee (co-founder of Public Enemy), and Jimmy Lovine.Click here to see show notes, videos, and beautiful photos.

In this episode, Dr. Elif Gokcigdem, the founder of Empathy-Building Through Museums Initiative speaks with us about how empathy can be strengthened by museums and beyond. For her, empathy is not a buzzword, but rather a way of being.Dr. Gokcigdem has a passion for helping people develop their empathy through art. In addition to the Empathy-Building Through Museums Initiative, she is the editor of two books: “Fostering Empathy Through Museums”, and “Designing for Empathy” and the chief curator/co-chair of the world’s first summit on empathy and museums with Dalai Lama.Click here to see show notes, videos, and beautiful photos.

In this episode, Domhnaill Hernon, the Head of Experiments in Arts and Technology (E.A.T.) at Nokia Bell Labs speaks with us about innovation as a cultural change, bringing humans back to the center of design, and the history of creativity at Bell Labs. Domhnaill is passionate about turning research/ideas into reality and exploring the bounds of creativity to push the limits of technology. He currently collaborates with the artistic and creative community to push the limits of technology to solve the greatest human need challenges at Bell Labs.Click here to see show notes, videos, and beautiful photos.

Are you ready for season two?In Season 2, we will be releasing conversations with Ben Grosser, the artist who invented the Facebook Demetricator; Domhnaill Hernon, VP of Research and Innovation and Head of Experiments in Art and Technology at Bell Labs; Elif Gokcigdem, founder of the Summit on Empathy and Museums; and many more. They will be discussing how artists think, how art can influence business, and why business leaders and entrepreneurs should be paying attention to artists.

This bonus track is part of a series of interviews we conducted for episode 23 Draw Everywhere: Space and Quantum Computing Art with Forest Stearns.This time we interview Tara O’Shea, the director of forest programs at Planet.We spoke about her relationship with the artists-in-residence program at Planet and how it can promote inclusivity in a company.

Launching on March 25th, Shaping Business Minds Through Art season 2 will include even more conversations about how artists think, how art drives innovation, and why business professionals should adopt the artist’s mindset, told by leaders from the arts and companies such as Google, Bell Labs, IDEO, and more.Click here to see past episodes.Subscribe today!

This bonus track is part of a series of interviews we conducted for episode 23 Draw Everywhere: Space and Quantum Computing Art with Forest Stearns.This time we interview Joseph Mascaro, a space ecologist, writer, and science advisor, as well as Ben Haldeman, the founder and CEO at Lifeship.We spoke about their experiences with art and how it created space for unique problem-solving and gives people permission to be creative.

This bonus track is part of a series of interviews we conducted for episode 23 Draw Everywhere: Space and Quantum Computing Art with Forest Stearns. This time we interview Briand Monteiro, an artist and a mechanical engineer at Blue Canyon Technologies, and Cyrus Foster, Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Control Engineer at Space X.We spoke about their encounter with art in a space company and how art influences their day-to-day. 

In this bonus track, we chat with Jierui Fang, a design strategist, and a recent MIT graduate. We wanted to learn from her about gen Z and their perception of art in the business environment. This conversation was recorded as part of episode number 20 with Sam Magee where we discussed creative entrepreneurship at Harvard and MIT.To listen to the original episode or see the show notes click here.

In this episode, Forest Stearns, a space and quantum computing artist speaks with us about art exhibitions that started in the desert, moved to Space, and now are on Quantum computers at Google. Forest Stearns an artist, an adventurer, speaks with us about innovation, creative permission in business environments, and why he works quite often with scientists.Stearns has a passion for founding Artist in Residence programs that connect art, science, and technology. Currently, he is the Creative Innovation Consultant and Artist in Residence founder at Google AI Quantum in Santa Barbara Ca.Click here to see show notes, videos, and beautiful photos.

On Friday, December 11, Airbnb went public. One of the unique unicorns of its time, Airbnb quickly stabilized on a market value of almost 100B$.   While it is a tech company, Airbnb's founders are not. In this episode, we share the art behind the Airbnb story and how two founders leveraged their creative background to build this company.Click here to see the show notes with links, videos, and more

In this episode, we speak to the artist Nathalie Miebach. In her work, she takes weather data from massive storms and turns it into complex sculptures that embody the forces of nature and time. These sculptures then become musical scores for a string quartet to play. We talked about data visualization, data representation, the potential of data, and much more.See show notes that include videos, links, images, and much more.Episode Music Credit:Hurricane Noel by Axis EnsembleShifting Winds by Matthew Jackfert

In this episode, we speak to Sam Hunter Magee, the associate director at the Leamn program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship at Harvard University. Magee discusses, why Harvard University, just like MIT, has a platform to allow students to mix art, creativity with business? How these programs help in building creative entrepreneurs? What are the benefits for engineering and business professionals when they work with the creative/artsy group? Check the show notes on our webpage for videos, links, transcripts, and more.

In this episode, we talk to the artist and designer, Liliana Farber.  Farber explores how the internet can create legal, technological, and emotional experiences. In her work, she investigates ways the virtual redefines the physical world. Using custom-made software and collected material from the Internet, she creates images, installations, and interactive works.Surveillance, anonymity, storytelling, data visualization, and more - all are being manifested and used in her work.Check the episode show notes on our web where will find videos, images, links and more.

In this episode, Madeline Gannon, an artist and researcher, talks to us about why industrial robots are her interest, how she convinces robots to do things they were never intended to do, and what it means to live with them. As one of the "The World's 50 Most Renowned Women in Robotics," - She is the Robot Whisperer.Click here to see the show notes, videos, transcript, and more on our website.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Marc Moss and Katherine Reed, who run and collaborate in the Colorado Resiliency Arts Lab at the University of Colorado Medical Campus. What does it mean to build resiliency among medical care teams? Why art is the way to do so? How medical teams actually building their resilience through the program? How is the program teaching resiliency? All these questions and more in our new episode.Click here to see the show notes on our website.

In this episode, we host Shun Matsuzaka, Digital Creative Director at McCann. Matsuzaka created the world’s first AI creative director, capable of directing a TV commercial. We discussed the future of creative work, creative AI, and its abilities; we heard about genetic design, how robots can help us with creativity, and what parents need to remember about their kids’ education.Click to visit the show notes on our website to see videos, links, and images.

In this episode, we speak to Jim McKelvey, a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of Square, a financial payments company, together with Jack Dorsey. McKelvey is also a glass artist who always works at the intersection of technology, art, and entrepreneurship. He speaks about innovation management, entrepreneurial skills and mindset, and why entrepreneurs and business people are different. Click here to see show notes, videos, transcribe, and more.

In this episode, we speak to Dr. Yossi Vardi, a technology entrepreneur, and investor. As one of Israel's first high-tech entrepreneurs, Yossi has a deep understanding of technology and startups. He talks about why technology and art are connected, what tech entrepreneurs need to think about, what Kinnernet, the imagination festival he founded,  is, and much more.Click here for show note, links, videos, and transcript.

In this episode, we talk to Ariane Koek, a world leader in the field of science and art. She is the initiator and Founding Director of Arts at Cern (2009-2015), the writer of the book Physics and Artistic Imagination, and a curator of many exhibitions in the field. We talk about the interactions artists and scientists have, how scientists see the artists' work, what is the role of imagination in both areas, and much more.See show notes, links, pictures, videos, and more.

In this episode, In this episode, we speak to James George. An Emmy-winning artist and entrepreneur. He co-directed the first volumetric film CLOUDS and co-created the original volumetric capture tool, Depthkit. As a multidisciplinary creator, George is involved in groundbreaking works. We discussed his experience as an entrepreneur, how his artistic background shaped his entrepreneurial experience, what he did at Microsoft Lab and what are the tips for entrepreneurs and business professionals who want to set into the intersection of art and tech.Click here to see show notes, videos, links, and much more.

In this episode, we speak with Moon Ribas & Manel de Aguas, two cyborg artists and trans-species activists based in Barcelona. In their work, Ribas and De Aguas create new organs and senses that later were implanted into their body. We speak about the future of technology, how society responds to external organs; why each chose the technology they implanted; what the cyborg art lab is, and much more. Delve deeply into the future with Ribas & De Aguas.See show notes, links, and videos.

In this episode, we speak with the new media artist and software developer Eran Hadas. Hadas build computer-based poetry generators that utilize the internet for their input what he calls: Augmented Poetry. We discuss creativity in machines, how he wrote a Eurovision song using robots, what he thinks about artists and technologists, his course  Computational Literature course, and much more. Click here to see show notes, videos, recommendations, and other materials.

In this episode, we learn from David Galenson about the two types of innovators - experimental and conceptual. Galenson has dedicated his life to research the cycle of creativity. If you think that innovation is for the young, after this conversation, you will think differently.Click here for show notes, recommendations, transcript, and more.

In this episode, we host Naomi Kaempfer the Creative Director for Art, Design, and Fashion at Stratasys. In her work, she focuses on growing and championing outstanding collaborations between creatives and Stratasys 3D printing technology. She bridges between innovation and creation, a bridge that not only offers a technological advancement, but also philosophical and cultural growth. She shares with us why a business company wants to work with artists, some of the innovative products that came up from these collaborations, and more.See episode's show notes, videos, and recommendations.