nnovation Partner
Center for Innovation Leadership

Andy Switky is an Innovation Partner in the Global Partnerships Group at SRI International.  He has been on the forefront of innovation in Silicon Valley since the late 1980s. First as a mechanical and manufacturing engineer, then as a designer and associate partner at IDEO, where he practiced, taught, and coached Design Thinking to clients of all sizes in a wide variety of industries for more than 16 years.   At IDEO he led their manufacturing group for more than ten years, was the founder of IDEO Shanghai, and was the Managing Director for Healthcare.

Besides Design Thinking and human centered design, Switky stays close to the realities of building products, services, and organizations as a lecturer in materials and manufacturing systems at Stanford University.  Connecting his Design Thinking consulting practice with his deep experience in implementation, he brings a unique operational perspective to the art of innovation:  the best strategies and most innovative designs need organizations designed for launch and impact.

Switky has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.  He is the holder of 16 patents and has 16 patents pending. Switky is on the advisory board of several startup companies and serves on the executive committee of NOVA, the workforce board for Silicon Valley.