One of my previous employers, Deluxe, is hosting its annual customer conference right now. The posts from old colleagues have made me smile as I remember one of the most incredible moments of my career: the Innovation Lab at Deluxe Exchange 2020.

At that event, right before COVID shut the world down, some crazy co-conspirators and I built a prototype of a new product in 36 hours, in real-time, under a dome in the middle of the exhibitor hall. We interviewed attendees, quickly created design concepts, tested those concepts with other attendees, and iterated at light-speed, demonstrating that Deluxe is an innovative technology company with human-centered design at its core.

We didn’t sleep much, we drank egregiously expensive Biltmore coffee, and we enjoyed very little of the beautiful Arizona landscape. But at the closing keynote, I was privileged to stand on stage and present the work of that incredible team—a functional prototype of an AI assistant that guided people through the confusing process of establishing a small business. It was surreal and wonderful (and not just because Michael Phelps—yes, that Michael Phelps—was my opening act).