Tom Devries

Background

About Tom Devries

I’m a curious, commercially-minded business and design leader with over 20 years of experience building and leading teams to create industry-shifting products and brands. My work challenges organizations to deeply understand their customers, craft distinct strategies, humanize technology, and harness the power of change to unlock innovative outcomes. I'm a radical simplifier, rigorous prioritizer, cross-functional mobilizer, and creative experience designer. Driven by a passion for liberating businesses and their humans from the ordinary, I’ve led teams to design, develop, and launch commercially successful solutions used by tens of millions of people.__ Here are some other things you might find interesting: I'm passionately curious - about our world, the people in it, the power of technology, and the potential of business. I've built and led diverse teams to discover and create new business value for companies on six continents in various industries. I love taking on big challenges with strong teams. I co-founded a design firm. For the past decade, I've worked as a partner in ThoughtFull Design, leading clients to innovate their products, services, brands, and customer experiences. In partnership with clients, our firm's work has earned awards from many of the world's leading authorities in research, strategy, design, brand, and innovation. I'm cross-trained in business and design. My undergrad studies were in business and my masters degree is in Design Methods. As a result, my work seeks to unify business, technology, and humanity. I'm a speaker. Sometimes, I go on stages and share stories about life, work, and things I'm thinking about. I still get nervous every time, but I'm told I do pretty well with a microphone in my hand. I'm a sports junkie. I have my favorites, but I love them all because they expose the most interesting aspects of humanity and put them on stage. I'm fascinated by outer space. So much so that I once fired a nanny for telling my four-year-old that he couldn't go to the moon. There were other issues, but telling my kid that something twelve people have already done is impossible is where I draw the line. I'm a traveler. I'm up for nearly any adventure as long as it doesn't require me to eat a vegetable. You can often find me exploring the great outdoors and cultures other than my own. I'm a family man. More than anything else, I enjoy taking on this adventure called life with my wife and three kids.