Meet the Gensler Leaders Charting a Course For The Future

On the occasion of Gensler’s 60th anniversary—a milestone that speaks to its enduring influence—the firm has even more to celebrate than longevity alone. The multidisciplinary global powerhouse once again claims the top spot in the Giants of Design rankings, a position it’s held for decades as the industry’s most profitable practice. Such sustained dominance reflects Gensler’s continued geographic expansion and diversification across new practice areas—not to mention its commitment to nurturing creative leadership from within.

Speaking of which, today Gensler celebrates another pivotal moment: one year into the tenure of new co-CEOs Elizabeth Brink and Jordan Goldstein. This marks only the second leadership change in the company’s history. The duo assumed their roles from Andy Cohen and Diane Hoskins, who, after two decades at the helm, have transitioned to serve as global cochairs of the 6,000-person, 57-office practice.

Brink and Goldstein bring substantial institutional knowledge to their positions, boasting 21 and 29 years at Gensler, respectively. “That kind of experience gives us an understanding of the history of the leadership that’s come before us—and from whom we’ve learned and who continue to be incredible mentors,” Brink explains. While deeply respectful of the firm’s heritage and the legacy of industry icon Art Gensler, the co-CEOs maintain a decidedly forward-looking perspective.

In their first year, Brink and Goldstein have already established their own C-suite style, characterized by accessibility and authenticity—qualities they believe are essential for drawing out the best ideas from teams tackling complex global challenges. “We’re serious about the work, but we want to have fun doing it, and we’re comfortable in our informality,” Goldstein notes. Interior Design sits down with the pair to hear about the transition—and their vision.

Gensler’s New Co-CEOs Share What’s Next

Interior Design: Gensler has long embraced a co-leadership model. What’s your take on it?

Elizabeth Brink: We model strong collaboration through the entire organization, from projects to studios to offices to practice areas—all the way up to the executive-level leadership.

Jordan Goldstein: It reflects Gensler’s belief that design is not a solo art. So, how do we make sure that all voices resonate? As leaders, we see ourselves in the role of conductors—of a symphony of different voices around the table.

EB: Creativity at a firm of this scale requires such a diversity of viewpoints, perspectives, and talent. Something we want to push forward is developing the next generation of creative leaders across the firm. Helping people become the best designer, strategist, or leader they can be is about meeting each individual where they are. We’re investing in that at the ground level by teaching our leaders to be better mentors and our young people how to find and communicate their voice—and how to engage with clients in ways that allow deep conversations.

ID: Your career trajectories and backgrounds are quite different. Elizabeth, you actually started out in communications?

EB: Yes, and then urbanism—which is really thinking about how people move through space—followed by workplace strategy. All those threads came together in design, which uses all my interests.

JG: I’ve been a commercial designer since the beginning, with a focus on digital design, which Gensler has been very proactive about.

ID: What new digital tools are impacting the practice today?

JG: Something we’re excited about is a new AI-driven storytelling technology we’re using for presentations. We can now do full character development, with spatial effects, to take clients on an immersive journey through a proposed design. For a new workplace pitch, for instance, we created the character of a prospective client of the company and demonstrated what their experience would be like coming to and navigating the space. When we shared it with the client, there were tears, because they really engaged with the story. That’s very different than the design presentations of old!

ID: That technology must have some interesting applications beyond just client presentations.

JG: Another example is a sports arena we are currently repositioning. Those types of projects can take years to build, but the client wants the fans to understand what’s happening—and they need to sell seats. Using this new technology, we were able to quickly build an immersive experience center that walks fans through the venue so they can sample what the future will be like. It’s super effective.

ID: What regions are you eyeing for expansion?

EB: There’s incredible growth happening in Latin America. Our Costa Rica office is tremendous, with lots of young creatives driving innovation. We talk a lot about investing in our growth regions, putting our research resources into those communities.

JG: The launch of our Kansas City office last summer has allowed us to get closer to great talent there, which is especially important in light of our growing sports and entertainment practice. We’re also excited about India. We already have locations in Bangalore and Mumbai and are looking to open one more this year. The project opportunities there span the spectrum, from retail and hotels to new education buildings and great workplaces.

ID: What do you hope people see in you as leaders?

EB: That we are people focused, future focused, and collaborative. That we want to jump in and experiment, explore, and empower. That we are real people! As leaders, it’s important we’re accessible and making time to connect with people and provide a platform for them to convey their ideas, so that we are growing the future together. Every time we visit an office, we conduct open-mic fireside chats so people can ask us about anything—the direction of the firm, projects, our own experience.

JG: Taking a page from academia, we’ve also started Zoom office hour sessions. We’ve found these informal forums set up a really interesting leadership dialogue. People reach out to us beyond their everyday work situation—to give their thoughts on how they can help with the next decades of the firm, to talk about life journeys.

ID: Do any recurring themes come up in those conversations?

JG: We hear a lot about people wanting to express creativity and bold visions, not just on everyday projects—which, obviously, we encourage!—but also by solving broader societal pain points like mental health or the water crisis in a certain region.

EB: Everything comes up, from multigenerational living to challenges in our cities. There’s a lot of interest right now in mixed-use districts, creating opportunities for people to connect with one another in different ways. There’s so many challenges for design to solve—and so many exciting opportunities. We’re beyond optimistic for the future.

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Gensler’s Global Co-Chairs Reflect on Leadership

Meanwhile, Diane Hoskins and Andy Cohen helped grow Gensler to a nearly $2 billion behemoth during their two decades as co-CEOs. We get the scoop about what they’re focused on next in their new positions as firm global cochairs.

Interior Design: Tell us about your new roles.

Diane Hoskins: Being global cochairs is a lot about leading the board, which has become a more prominent part of Gensler’s governance over the last 10 years due to our scale and the magnitude of decisions needing to get made. Our time is divided between stewarding the firm’s strive toward excellence every day and visioning and planning for the way-out future: Where are we headed, and what decisions and investments do we need to make today to unlock that future? We have to be realistic about what it takes to get there and the level of change required. Our current scale is the result of a lot of smarts about how change occurs, listening to our people, and a ton of market intelligence.

Andy Cohen: A big part of our growth strategy has been diversification of our practice areas, many of which have experienced tremendous expansion.

ID: Care to name names?

AC: Healthcare is fascinating right now. So much has changed in the last seven years. We were already on a path to more wellness, higher design—and then the pandemic pushed the sector into an innovation hotbed. We are working with the a clinic now on a predictive medicine facility, a vertically integrated model that’s completely changing how we are designing health environments.

In sports, technology is allowing us to create much more immersive, interactive experiences for fans, who can now have at their fingertips all the information happening real time at that event. Technology is also radically changing aviation—not only in terms of security but also the ability to cater to unique needs and preferences. The future of travel is much more individualized, the passenger experience more intuitive. Our designs impact millions and millions of people around the world—how they live, work, play, their health—but then we’re all our individual selves with individual needs, so it’s an interesting balance.

DH: Also, workplace is back! A lot of what we’ve been talking about regarding the destination workplace—as a cultural center and a place of innovation—has really caught on. Attendance has steadily grown to the point where now we’re hearing from a lot of companies in a lot of markets that they undersized and are out of space.

ID: I want to ask about AI, since I’m both psyched about and scared of it.

AC: I just go to where it helps create a better world. As a design tool it’s allowing us to quickly iterate and show clients the future of their industry. It’s the biggest breakthrough tool I’ve seen in my career—really abetting the human creativity behind it, allowing us to quickly and efficiently go from blueprints and models to this almost cinematic work, where we’re like filmmakers.

ID: Are you hiring new types of talent these days?

DH: We’re talking about growing the number of data scientists at the firm because we want to make that available to every single project team at a whole different level. We see advanced technologies and applied research as an important part of design in the future. Our clients are looking for ideas, trends, proof, evidence, analytical models. That’s different than 20 years ago, where clients basically knew what they wanted, and you as the designer were the person who helped them realize that.

ID: What is taking up your headspace?

AC: I spend a lot of time thinking about strategies around climate change—the business and moral imperative of our time—and shaping the future of cities. Some 75 percent of the world’s population lives in cities; 80 percent of the global GDP is from cities. Our research institute surveyed 65 cities around the world to understand them on a granular level—everything that goes into making them dynamic.

ID: What’s your elevator pitch for co-leadership?

DH: I don’t know how firms do it any other way! If you believe in collaboration, you have to model from the top. People cannot be creative in an environment where they’re nervous. When you have top-down leaders, that plays out all the way through the ranks: Everybody in a leadership role acts like they’re the general in charge. That hierarchical way of operating does not create a sense of safety and the trial and error and serendipity that great design comes from. Building people’s confidence requires letting them have room to experiment. We believe in a more servant leadership that supports others.

Co-leadership also grows you. Because solo leaders don’t always get the feedback; you don’t have those demands to prove what you’re saying or argue your points. As coleaders, that’s what we do. And it’s to the benefit of the firm. Sometimes the bigger a firm gets, the less creative it gets. At Gensler, we’ve gotten more creative.