Commercial Leaders At NeoCon Tout The Power Of Mentorship, And More

Great design minds are focused on fostering growth for the change-makers of tomorrow—that’s clear from Interior Design‘s Commercial Leaders roundtable discussion at NeoCon held on June 9, 2025. Joined by nearly 20 commercial design leaders, Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen kicked off the discussion in a quiet corner of SANDOW Design Group’s DesignScene lounge at The Mart in Chicago. “This is our moment together where we can really talk as a group, behind-the-scenes,” she said, noting the importance of community.

After warming up the room with a quick introduction, which included a poll of everyone’s favorite colors—hint: designers took this seriously, selecting hues ranging from marigold to oxblood—Allen turned to the topic of Artificial Intelligence. While designers expressed varying degrees of comfort and use around AI, they agreed that technology is rapidly changing the way they work.

Designers Examine AI, Team Retention, And Sustainability

“We refuse to believe that things we do that are data driven can be done more effectively by another source of brain,” admitted one attendee. “Entry level jobs are the first ones replaced by AI, so we’re also afraid of the inability to train new people,” he added.

At the same time, many firms are exploring the possibilities of AI as a design asset and time saver. “You can use it as a brainstorming tool, but you have to still have a design eye to be able to edit it,” shared one attendee. “We’ve just started looking at using AI, but we’re still struggling with where else to leverage it,” offered another.

As for clients, one designer shared that her firm received their first RFP that forbids the use of AI, even for note-taking. “That’s the first time I was seeing that,” she said. Another, however, said they use AI in RFPs intentionally to offer clients quick iterations of a project while being transparent about their process—even going so far as to create their own AI platform to enhance trust. What’s certain is that AI is no longer coming, it’s already here and so are evolving challenges around client expectations, communication and design processes.

Shaping Future Design Leaders Through Mentorship

Still, the group agreed people will always be at the heart of design decisions, and designed spaces, which means the transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next is a priority. “People don’t want to be managed, but they want to be mentored,” offered one attendee. “We have to unlock their potential”

As design leaders shared their challenges around team retention, admitting younger designers are not expressing interest in management, most said they try to lead by example. “We have to show the joy in managing for them [younger designers] to fall in love with it,” said one attendee. Another attendee pointed out that people are “looking for meaning, not just money,” and they will likely keep job hopping until they find it.

From sharing more personal experiences to ways cultural nuances shape communication—talking about budgets in the South and Midwest often requires a softer approach due regional norms around money-based conversations, said one designer—connection is key. “We have two parts of our jobs: We interact with each other but we also talk to our clients,” said a designer. “The fundamental difference in people who become successful is, can you really see their value?”

Shifting Mindsets Around Sustainability 

Next, Allen pivoted the conversation toward sustainable design, asking the group if and how their approach around specifying eco-friendly products is changing. To that, designers agreed that certifications are not as popular, in part because of the price to achieve them, which some described as “massively expensive.”

“Our focus is more about regeneration,” said one attendee. “As an interiors architecture firm, we are horrible about throwing things away and a huge contributor to what’s going into landfills… so we are asking: How do we council clients to get quality products? How does [a product] go with them and stay with them?”

The group agreed that as an industry, environmental impact should be front of mind throughout the product pipeline and specification process, similar to shopping at a farmer’s market where there is a variety of produce grown from local, ethically sourced farms. “If we are not making sustainable choices, we have to keep improving,” asserted one attendee. “We can’t be putting PVC products in all these projects,” he added, to which the group whole-heartedly agreed.

Closing the discussion, Allen expressed her appreciation to all in the room. “What you do is complicated and we respect it; that’s why we do what we do with a lot of care,” she shared. “It’s a real privilege to do what we do.”

A very special thank you to our Commercial Leaders event partners: Artistic Tile, Calyx, Garden on the Wall, Material Bank, Parador.

Editor’s note: See our latest news and coverage from NeoCon 2025 here.