Talk: Design to Entrepreneurship

Sally shares insights from her Seoul talk on design, AI, and entrepreneurship, exploring how designers can adapt, build startups, and stay competitive in an AI-driven future.

During my one-week trip to Seoul, one of the sweetest moments was giving a talk at @svanyc @sva_seoul_gallery on “Design to Entrepreneurship.” It was a snowy day(not like slushy but romantic). The new gallery was a gorgeous traditional Han Ok style, and it also happened to be located next to the historic Gyeongbok Palace.

It was my first time public speaking in Korea; felt great speaking in Korean! Being surrounded by curious Korean alumni and designers, I shared various topics, including working in NYC, AI design and future, Designpreneurs, etc. At the end of the presentation, there was an open Q&A — one of the designers came with her daughter(senior in HS) and asked, “My kid wants to be a designer; why should she choose that path, especially with AI taking design jobs?” … I told her daughter that more than 50% of designers change their career into something else anyway, and without clear strategy, purpose AND talent, you’ll never last unless you want a fancy degree. Was I too blunt? but that’s the reality, especially in NYC. The design industry is super competitive, especially now with AI; it’s transforming even more. Be a generalist with wearing ten different hats + extra specialty that no AI can replace you now or ever. And start now.