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06/05/2026

DBA Member Forum | May Summary

By Design Business Association

At our May DBA Member Forum, we were joined by Jeremy Lindley, Global Design Director at Diageo, Jonny Westcar, Managing Partner at Phoenix Studios, Lucy Mann, Founder at Gunpowder Consulting, Warren Hutchinson, Founder at Else as we explored how AI is reshaping DBA Member businesses. 

This summary, prepared under Chatham House Rule, offers a snapshot of the discussion. As ever, the real value comes from joining these conversations live.

  • We know from last month’s ‘What Clients Think’ Report launch that 83% of clients want more tailored, relevant engagement. That could mean demonstrating a deeper understanding of their market, their challenges, and how competitor activity might shape their decisions. If you’re not already using generative AI to support client development, it’s worth exploring. Lucy Mann has some simple, practical prompts to get started. Get in touch with her directly. 
  • One of the biggest barriers to AI adoption is security. In many organisations, AI sits under the CTO, which might limit the use of tools like Slack. One member is shifting their approach and building solutions within a security approved Microsoft environment. While it might be less flexible, it’s more viable for large clients and has opened up opportunities. 
  • Enterprise AI setups like private, in-house GPTs allow teams to work securely with the added benefit that data isn’t used to train external models. 
  • Within these environments, AI can become a powerful productivity tool that supports better briefing, generating brand worlds, and accelerating early-stage exploration. 
  • There are 2 different ways to approach AI – retrofit thinking, where you use AI to do the same work faster or cheaper – or AI native thinking – where you are creating new ways of working that weren’t possible before. 
  • There can be real advantage in the AI native area – it has the potential to reshape team structures, workflows and even your leadership.
  • If everyone uses the same AI tools, outputs become generic – but if you add your ‘context layer’ – your company knowledge, values, experience and decision making style – you can really gain competitive advantage.
  • Don’t stop thinking – AI can help you think, but don’t let it think for you. There’s a difference between using it to extend your capabilities and becoming overly reliant on it.
  • Ask yourself, what’s your AI strategy? Because ultimately even if AI turns out to be less transformative than expected, using it will still improve your business. But if it is transformative and you fail to engage, you risk falling behind.

Check out our upcoming events – we’d love to see you at our Summer Party with the team at Podge. And if you’re looking for a good book, we’ve got a great list of recommended reads.

The next DBA Member Forum is on Monday 1 June, 1.30-2.30 BST.