The Crazy One
The Crazy One is an award-winning podcast for creatives, leaders, and anyone who refuses to settle. Hosted by renowned designer and global design leader Stephen Gates, this show delivers unfiltered honesty, actionable insights, and hard-won wisdom to help you grow your creativity, lead with confidence, and build a meaningful career.
With over two decades leading world-class design teams at companies like InVision, Citi, Starwood Hotels, WW, and McCann Erickson, Stephen has built brands and digital experiences for clients including Disney, American Airlines, W Hotels, Verizon, Acura, and more — work that’s earned over 150 international awards and has been featured by Apple in 10 keynotes, 4 commercials, and the Human Interface Guidelines.
Now as the founder of CRZY, an independent strategy and design studio, he’s helping companies find bold new visions for their brands, experiences, and creative futures. Through The Crazy One, he shares everything he’s learned along the way — from integrating behavioral science with human-centered design to navigating imposter syndrome to building a career and creative life on your own terms.
With over 100 episodes and a loyal global audience, The Crazy One has been named:
• Webby Award Honoree for Best Technology Podcast
• #1 Podcast by Inside Design, HOW Design Live, and Springboard
• 5-star rated across every iTunes Store worldwide
This is more than a design podcast. It’s a wake-up call. A masterclass. A real-talk guide for finding your voice, owning your crazy, and changing the game.
No BS. No buzzwords. Just real insights from someone who’s been there.
The Crazy One
Latest Episodes
Ep 146 AI: Premortems, Because A.I. Won't Wait for a Retrospective
The "ship it, fix it later" playbook was already broken. AI just made it catastrophic. Post-mortems assume you have time to observe, adjust, and course correct. AI has collapsed those timelines, and the damage isn't waiting for a retrospective....
Ep 145 Creativity: Stop Asking AI to Agree With You
You've turned the most powerful thinking tool in history into a yes-machine — and it's making your ideas weaker without you even realizing it.This episode is about a fundamental shift in how you use AI. Not a new tool, not a better promp...
Ep 144 AI: Your Company Decided Your Value Before AI Existed
AI didn't build the case to replace you. It just gave companies the tool to finally act on a decision they'd already made.In this episode, Stephen Gates gets brutally honest about what's actually happening underneath the wave of creative...
Ep 143 AI: AI Isn't a Tool Problem. It's a Culture Problem.
Four years into running CRZY, Stephen has watched AI go from an interesting experiment to an organizational crisis that almost nobody is naming correctly. The problem isn't which model you're using. It's not your stack, your workflow, or whethe...
Ep 142 AI: The hidden cost of plausible, almost-right work
AI and cheap tools have given everyone the ability to produce work that looks professional, sounds credible, and feels like the real thing. The problem? It isn't. In this episode, Stephen introduces the term Plausible Noise — the growi...
