Will Mcdermott Email & Phone Number

Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States

In my role as an Innovation Experience Designer and AI leader at Crowe, I collaborate with business leaders to uncover valuable, transformative use cases for AI. My mission is to bridge the gap between innovative ideas and cutting-edge AI solutions that drive impactful change across industries.Key Responsibilities:Collaborate with business leaders: I partner with executives and teams to ideate and identify high-value AI use cases, transforming initial concepts into actionable AI-powered solutions.Lead innovation workshops: I design and facilitate workshops that inspire creativity, fostering a culture of innovation and use case ideation, helping organizations see the vast potential of AI in their strategies.AI solution development: From ideation to execution, I oversee the process of evaluating, validating, and building proof of concepts for AI solutions, ensuring their Desirability, Feasibility, Viability, and Strategic fit.State of AI presentations: I give keynotes and presentations on the evolving AI landscape, keeping leadership teams informed on the latest trends, opportunities, and threats in AI innovation.Lab process design: I architected the lab’s process for use case evaluation, validation, and proof of concept development, creating a streamlined approach that accelerates innovation and proof-of-concept testing.Proof of concept (PoC) builds: I lead the design and development of AI proof of concepts, providing a testing ground for business-critical AI applications and ensuring they are ready for real-world deployment.Agentic systems design: I design custom agentic prototype systems tailored for specific business needs and future-focused strategies, including the design of forward-thinking agent that anticipate emerging challenges and opportunities.

As the principal at an AI transformation consultancy, we work to empower businesses in applying the benefits to artificial intelligence while mitigating the harms. The AI world is changing every day and I aim to be a trusted guide for leaders trying to navigate the complex AI landscape. I work with experts to identify opportunities for the application of generative AI to workflows, selection of the right tools, and develop a tailored integration strategy. If you are a leader looking to get an understanding of what is going on and how to apply it or teams who are looking to transform their workflows for what is coming, then I am here to help. DM me and let's connect and start your journey today.

My focus is on developing winning strategies for our future as a team that brings behavioral insights to its customers. This includes helping to plan where we are going as a brand and how we'll get there.- Streamlined processes and identified automation opportunities to enhance efficiency and scalability.- Played a pivotal role in the conceptualization of a self-service AI tool, broadening market accessibility to AI solutions.

As Chief Strategy Officer at a rapidly growing marketing firm, I steer strategic direction alongside the CEO. I lead efforts in innovating marketing plans, integrating a newly acquired market research firm to expand our services, and guiding key client relationships. Drawing from my founding experience, I aim to blend analytical rigor with creative problem-solving to drive transformative growth for our company and our clients. Recently I have dived deep into generative AI and working through the implications to our business. In that effort I have helped operationalize AI into our organization and develop custom AI tools to level up our team. - Spearheaded strategic planning and secured stakeholder buy-in for acquiring a market research firm valued at $8 million. - Led the strategic and operational integration of a Marketing AI startup, overseeing its management.- Revolutionized service offerings by pioneering the use of Generative AI tools, significantly boosting firm revenue.- Launched strategic workshops that generated over $100K in revenue in the first year.- Reorganized the company structure to a flat hierarchy, enhancing agility and collaboration, which fueled innovation and increased creative output.- Crafted and implemented a marketing strategy that reduced customer acquisition costs by 44% and increased signed clients by 19%.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States

In my role as a creative director and strategist, I've spearheaded the development of systems and processes that are human-centered, research-based, and strategically focused. This approach has successfully transformed a service line into a profitable center, boosting demand for branding services. I've been deeply involved in crafting marketing strategies that serve both our firm and a diverse range of other companies. Our team is committed to continuous learning and rigorous testing to ensure our insights stay sharp and relevant, which helps us meet and exceed our clients' goals. My leadership has fostered a culture of collaboration and innovation within the team, enabling us to drive significant growth, enhance client engagements, and achieve remarkable results in our marketing campaigns.- Enhanced a key account's engagement by 25% to $1.5 million annually through strategic relationship building and value-driven design thinking.- Initiated strategic engagements with a key account, introducing a modular content strategy for RFPs and piloting the use of large language models (LLMs) to enhance cross-business unit offerings.- Achieved a 15% growth to $597k post-rebranding, surpassing expectations and attracting higher-value clients.- Served as the creative director for a team of 22 across five client groups, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment.- Developed a human-centered, data-driven design process that transformed a service line into a profit center and significantly increased demand for branding services.- Led marketing strategies firm-wide, utilizing continuous testing for insights; directed a Gold Addy-winning campaign that resulted in a 10% increase in signed cases and a substantial revenue boost.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

As a Senior Art Director, I led the design initiatives for our main client, Steelcase, as well as other diverse clients like Primera Plastics, AvaSure, Emmanuel Hospice, and ADAC Automotive. My responsibilities encompassed overseeing a wide range of projects, from rebranding and graphic design to UX/UI, motion design, and the art direction of illustration and photography. I played a key role in directing our design team and freelancers, developing new processes to enhance our digital and SEO capabilities, and ensuring that all designs maintained a high standard of quality. This role required me to manage various aspects of design work, including brand strategy, web design, digital advertising, and the creation of marketing materials, ensuring cohesive and impactful visual communications across multiple platforms.

As the owner of a creative strategy agency, I lead our efforts to merge design research, human-centered design, and creative strategies to form meaningful connections between businesses and their customers. Our agency assisted companies in developing innovative strategies across digital, print, and physical mediums to meet their strategic goals. My role encompassed managing all aspects of the business, from client acquisition and strategy development to creative direction and overseeing both our in-house design team and freelance partners. We've partnered with prominent clients like Audible, Humana Insurance, Diesel, Godiva, and Deloitte, driving successful brand strategies and marketing initiatives that not only meet but exceed client expectations through impactful design thinking and refined digital product strategies.- Spearheaded brand strategy and marketing initiatives alongside CEOs and leadership teams.- Responsible for developing over $400,000 in client billing.- Innovated and led design thinking workshops, delivering groundbreaking solutions by integrating deep qualitative and quantitative audience insights, enhancing client engagement and satisfaction.

New York, Ny

This New York City based agency focused on brand building and helping companies transition to digital. I joined as a partner after several successful years working in corporate design. Our work focused on applying responsive design and SEO to website rebuilds. In this work projects often included many other design tactics, including; brand development, advertising campaigns, events and promotions, marketing collateral, and even magazines. We worked with a variety of clients including projects for Hampton Inn, Levi's, Readers' Digest, and BluePrintCleanse. As any partner in a small business, my duties encompassed a range, including client acquisition, project management, budget management, art direction, and design. By the time I left the partnership, the agency was 12+ people, with billing over one million dollars annually.

Initial work focused on the launch of a new catalog initiative for Bath & Body Works. Our small team was in charge of all aspects of this catalog, including creative conceptualization, working with merchandising on pagination, art directing photo shoots with top photographers, designing catalogs, budget management, and managing production. This three million book mailing initiative lasted two issues before it was discontinued due to shifting business priorities.I then worked with Victoria’s Secret concept group. There, I managed the concept team’s design of the “Core” catalog series, which resulted in eight catalogs with an estimated circulation of seven million book mailings. This work included the development of photo concepts, layout grids, section openers, cover designs, and the management of their execution. I was also the team point person for the rebranding work done with Mucca Design and the senior leadership team. Additionally, I worked on several new initiatives, including the concept and creation of an exclusive luxury holiday catalog distributed to only the top ten percent customer base. The success of this mailing led to a permanent place in the holiday schedule. Lastly, I worked on several logo and brand exploration projects for new product lines.

I was part of a new team brought in to refresh the look and feel of this popular 100-year-old magazine. My experience in digital and efficiency that I acquired while working at a weekly allowed me to work on both the redesign of the magazine and web platform. In addition to the redesign, my regular duties included designing features and the front of the book “Bullet Points” section. Additionally, I was charged with selecting, negotiating with, and art directing illustrators. I also worked with the photo department to art direct various photo shoots with award-winning photographers.

As a Designer on the editorial staff, I was responsible for working on the fast-paced weekly and many other projects. These included the launch of People Magazine’s special country issue, the award-winning Daily series for the Oscars, and several year-end books. While there, I worked on features, packages, and the popular Scoop section, among others. Daily work included engaging with editors and the photo department on art selection and layout planning, designing page layouts, and directing the production department on adjustments. Additionally, I was responsible for training and art directing the intern program.