As emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) continue to push the boundaries of what's possible, the tech industry stands at a pivotal moment, advancing innovation while ensuring ethical, inclusive, and sustainable impact. Anushree Jain is a design professional based in New York, whose work addresses this issue. She applies the power of innovation strategy and human-centred design as critical tools for shaping how technology integrates into our daily lives in meaningful ways. She is evolving her approach toward life-centred design, supporting a philosophy that aim to ensure technology serves individual users and uplifts communities, protects ecosystems, and aligns with the long-term well-being of the planet.
Currently, Anushree is leading design & strategy efforts at Amazon in New York, focusing on user experiences and the business. Anushree has over 15 years of experience working with design, emerging technology, and behavioural science. She has contributed to the development of AI-powered solutions such as Jiva, an agritech platform, a dementia care platform for seniors, built inclusive debt relief tools for financially vulnerable populations, and led innovation strategies across sectors ranging from healthcare to sustainability. Anushree바카라™s design career spans four continents, and her work has gained recognition from the United Nations, Red Dot Design Awards, and other global design award bodies.
Anushree earned a Master바카라™s in Design and Innovation Strategy from the IIT Institute of Design, Chicago, and a Bachelor바카라™s in Product Design from NIFT, New Delhi. Before Amazon, Anushree held roles at BCG Digital Ventures, Kohler, S.C. Johnson, and several startups, led by the principle: design must serve a purpose.
We spoke with Anushree as the GEN AI Summit 2025 festivities concluded, to learn more about her journey, design approach, and the role design plays in guiding purpose-driven technological innovation.
Q. Tell us how your design journey began
Anushree: My journey started with a love for the arts and building things, which led me to study product design. Early in my career at Kohler, I led a project designing kitchen products for individuals with physical disabilities, an experience that shifted my perspective. It taught me that good design isn바카라™t just about crafting beautiful, functional products, but about inclusion, purpose, and human impact. That insight led me to pursue a Master바카라™s in Design and Innovation Strategy, where I connected the dots between user needs, data, business goals, emerging tech, and systems thinking, shaping the holistic approach I bring to design today.
Since then, I바카라™ve worked with organizations like Memorial Sloan Kettering, BCG Digital Ventures, and now Amazon, helping shape everything from inclusive healthcare platforms to AI-driven businesses. These experiences have widened my horizon, from designing physical products to building full user experiences and new businesses leveraging emerging technologies.
Q. What role can design play in guiding emerging technologies?
Anushree: Design and innovation have become more critical than ever as we navigate the rise of technologies like AI, ML and IoT. The real challenge isn바카라™t just building products with cutting-edge technology, it바카라™s making sure they address meaningful problems in thoughtful ways. That바카라™s where human-centred design plays a vital role. It ensures we start with the problem we바카라™re trying to solve, rather than forcing technology as a solution in search of a problem.
Q. Can you talk about the evolution of your approach to life-centered design and how it builds on human-centered design?
Anushree: Human-centred design focuses on solving problems for end users, which is essential, but life-centred design takes it a step further. It applies a more holistic lens, considering not only diverse users, including marginalised or less-abled communities, but also the broader ecosystem. It asks: How might this solution contribute to algorithmic bias or automation-driven displacement? How might it affect not just the user, but their community or the environment over time? With emerging technologies, the ripple effects are enormous, so our design lens needs to widen accordingly.
As industries evolve with each wave of technological innovation, professionals like Anushree Jain contribute to more thoughtful and inclusive approaches. Her work highlights how design can guide considerations of responsibility, empathy, and long-term impact.
