Tom Kelley

Tom Kelley

Tom is IDEO’s general manager. With his brother, IDEO founder and chairman David Kelley, Tom helped manage the firm as it grew from 20 designers to a staff of more than 500 people. At various points in our history, this jack-of-nearly-all-trades has overseen business development, marketing, human resources, and operations. Tom shares IDEO’s human-centered design philosophy and methodology with the world through speaking engagements and two best-selling books, The Art of Innovation (2001) and The Ten Faces of Innovation (2005). When he’s not traveling the globe to talk about innovation, he can be found biking around Northern California — including to IDEO’s offices — or watching more than 100 movies per year.

Topics Tom speaks on:

  • Design Thinking
  • Organizational Transformation

Speaking engagements:

March 2008, Experience!Tech 2008, MaRS, keynote

October 2006, “Patient-Centered Care,” 2006 Planetree Annual Conference, keynote

May 2006, Manufacturing Matters! Conference

May 2006, The Front End of Innovation Conference

March 2006, AGILITY 2006, keynote

November 2005, “The Ten Faces of Innovation,” Commonwealth Club

October 2005, “The Ten Faces of Innovation, “ “Forum” radio show, KQED

April 2005, EPC Developers Conference, keynote

November 2003, Brand ManageCamp 2003

September 2003, 10th Annual Innovation Convergence Conference, keynote

June 2003, “Big Thinkers,” TechTV

May 2003, Design Matters: Poetry and Proof, AIA Convention and Expo

February 2003, Conference on Leadership

Published works:

January 2006, "A Galaxy Still Expanding," The New York Times

2005, The Ten Faces of Innovation, Doubleday Business

2001, The Art of Innovation, Doubleday Business