Oklahoma Innovation Series

In 2012, Phil was asked to rejuvenate the legendary IBM design program, spearheading a broader transformation of how the company’s teams understand and solve complex problems. The program has established a modern standard for the role of the arts in business — adding formally-trained designers into IBM at an unprecedented scale, and reskilling its global workforce in design thinking and agile practices. This transformation has been documented in the New York Times, Fortune and in the documentary film "The Loop", produced by InVision as a part of its Design Disruptors series.

For this work, in 2018 Phil was inducted into the New York Foundation for the Arts' Hall of Fame. He is also co-chair of IBM's Global Women's Executive Committee, advocating for greater gender diversity and inclusion. Prior to IBM, Phil’s spent 30 years as a start-up entrepreneur, and he speaks regularly on topics of corporate culture and large scale transformation.

Phil grew up in Oklahoma City, threw newspapers for the Daily Oklahoman and Oklahoma City Times starting in the fifth grade, attended John Marshall High School and graduated as a Pe-et (top ten) senior from the University of Oklahoma in 1978. He now lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Lisa, and Basset Hounds Duke and Ella. He has four children, and six grandchildren.