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Dennis Hambeukers

Design strategist and prolific design-leadership essayist; editor of the Design Leadership Notebook on Medium (Maastricht, Netherlands)

SeniorLeads from the backHybrid schoolContentOrgAI
A human-first voice reframing design thinking and the design practice for the AI era, though his impact is thought leadership rather than hands-on building or org transformation.

Signature win. Built a sustained body of design-leadership writing and original frameworks (Designer's Growth Model, a new model of the design process) that reaches and reskills a broad practitioner audience.

The case

editorial · CCBEI · with sources
CraftDeep conceptual craft in design thinking and process modeling (Designer's Growth Model, four layers of design, a new model of the design process), but evidence is essays and frameworks, not shipped artifacts or a held production bar.6
CommunicationHis defining strength: prolific essayist and editor of the Design Leadership Notebook and several Medium publications, consistently making design legible through original frameworks and a real following.9
BusinessWrites thoughtfully about design's role in organizations and agencies, but verifiable evidence of moving business outcomes or durable orgs is thin relative to the volume of theory.4
Education[Education recalibrated toward editorial baseline] Essentially a public educator: years of accessible frameworks and essays on growing designers and design leadership, explicitly framed around increasing human problem-solving capacity.6
InnovationPushes the discourse forward (critiquing design thinking, reimagining the agency in an age of AI/bots) with a human-first, elevate-leaning stance; conceptual rather than hands-on AI building.6

Endorsed by peers

illustrative · opens with verified accounts
OverallI'd work for them28
CraftRaised my craft bar28
CommunicationMade the case for design42
BusinessMade design matter to the business19
EducationTaught me something I still use28
InnovationShowed me a new way to work28

Verified peers only — one tap with LinkedIn. Names stay private; we show role and industry. Bars are illustrative until the participation backend is live.

Stories

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