No. Design Strategy is the craft of translating business intent into experience direction. It typically operates within product or design teams.

Executive Design is a leadership operating model that establishes vision ownership as a C-level capability. It doesn't just advise, it holds governance over how decisions are made, resources are allocated, and how vision propagates across the organisation.

The philosophical difference: Design Strategy assumes designers need strategists to be strategic. Executive Design requires every designer to carry strategy, because the C-level mandate makes it inherent. This reshapes how you recruit and develop design talent.

Yes. Scale-up automotive is the ultimate stress test. You're working across software, hardware, brand, and services; some features updatable, others locked to hardware. Some features are safety-critical, others legislative, others pure entertainment.

The product is scrutinised not just by customers but by media, where launch failures create lasting damage to sales and reputation. Vision failures cost hundreds of millions.

If Executive Design works here, it works anywhere.

Yes. From its design heritage, Executive Design makes context adaptation fundamental.

The operating model is designed to scale across size, industry, and maturity, not as a rigid method, but by focusing on flows and systems rather than prescriptive frameworks.

Founders need strategic guidance to embed the DNA early (via NED/Advisor). Scale-ups build the function to handle growth. Enterprises start with focused pilots. The principles are universal; the application is always contextual.

You'll need to recruit differently, but these aren't unicorns.

Executive Design requires designers who can carry strategy, not just execute tasks. This means recruiting for business fluency, systems thinking, and cross-functional communication alongside craft skills. You'll need to look outside traditional design recruiting frameworks, which means partnering with the right recruitment agencies. Message me for recommendations.

Longer term, Executive Design aims to influence design education itself. We're tracking what institutions like the Royal College of Art are doing, integrating business systems, prototyping, and strategic thinking into core curricula. Our ambition is to partner with design schools to train designers who carry strategy inherently.ription