Kyleigh Wawak

Further reading: Learn how Kyleigh Wawak introduces master’s students to the concept of design thinking, using a human-centered approach to problem solving.

“As artificial intelligence and automation change ‘work’ as we know it, I believe that solving problems is a critical skill of the future. Design thinking is a really effective problem-solving tool and I’m excited to teach others how to apply it to food business and innovation.”

Course: Design Thinking for Food.

Kyleigh Wawak works in a most unlikely place for a food innovation professional—a tech company! She works for Salesforce as a member of Ignite, an innovation consulting team that partners with Salesforce’s most valued customers to transform their futures. Like many innovation professionals, her background is varied and her career path winding, beginning with an undergraduate degree in accounting that led to a mind-numbing desk job that served as a wake-up call: follow your passion! Ms. Wawak’s own passion led to culinary school at Kendall College in Chicago and working as a consultant for a variety of food companies before landing at gravitytank, a design-led innovation consultancy.

It was there that Ms. Wawak and her colleagues developed the practice of Food Experience Design—a holistic, user-centered approach to food innovation that goes way beyond the product and packaging to consider all aspects of the ecosystem as opportunities for innovation. She has worked for companies like Pepsico, Quaker, Mondelez, Hormel, and AB InBev to reinvigorate brands, address new markets, and launch new products.

Kyleigh Wawak believes design thinking is a powerful tool to solve all kinds of problems, big and small, and is something that everyone can do, not just designers or innovation professionals. She lives in London with her husband and Persian cat Sheila, and in her spare time you can find her cooking up a storm, perfecting her downward dog, and getting lost in narrow streets throughout Europe.