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Schools Are Being Asked To Respond To AI Faster Than Systems Were Ever Designed To Change.
You’re navigating one of the most complex and fast-moving moments in the history of education. Your board, parents, and students are looking to you for answers about AI. But you don’t have answers…yet.
The pressure to do something is real. For most schools, the response to that pressure looks the same: find a tool, roll it out, and hope it sticks.
but
The App You Choose Is Actually The Least Important Part Of Your AI Strategy
A strong AI strategy doesn’t start with an app. It starts with the people who will use it - the challenges they’re trying to solve, the ideas they want to bring to life, and the thinking AI should support, not replace.
Once those priorities are clear, you have the criteria to choose technology that serves your people and your goals.
There's A Difference Between Adopting A Platform And Designing An Approach.
One is a procurement decision. The other is a leadership one. AI is already in your schools. Students are using it. Teachers are using it. Whether your district is creating its first guidance or strengthening an approach already underway, the deeper question is the same:
Are you simply helping people use AI, or redesigning work and learning to strengthen the judgment, creativity, integrity, and agency they’ll need as AI becomes more capable?
THE NUMBERS REVEAL THE GAP
College Board, 2025 | Walton Family Foundation + Gallup 2025
that's because
84%
Of U.S. high school students use generative AI for schoolWORK.
60%
Of teachers use AI for their work.
68%
Of teachers have not participated in AI training FROM THEIR SCHOOL or DISTRICT.
We Help School Leaders Create An Approach To AI That Makes Sense For Their District
At Designing Schools
We take you through our signature 5-Part “SPARK” Method to design an AI strategy that serves your unique parents, students, and educators.
By implementing design thinking, we’re able to build human-centered systems that support leaders in the boardroom, educators in the classroom, and ensures every student graduates future-ready.
Our SPARK Framework™
Here’s How It Works
P - Problem
What barrier is holding you back?
Every district has a different obstacle. For some it's staff resistance. For others it's board pressure, equity concerns, or simply not knowing where to start. We name it clearly before we try to solve it.
S - Situation
What is your current role and context?
Before anything else, we get clear on where you're starting from. Your district's size, culture, and existing relationship with technology all shape what's possible. There's no one-size-fits-all answer here.
A - Aspiration
What does success look like for your district?
This is where we get specific about the future you're building toward. Not a vague vision — a concrete picture of what your school looks like when AI is working for your people, not against them.
R - Results
What outcomes do you need to see?
We define what progress actually looks like — for your educators, your students, and your community. So you know when it's working.
K - Kismet
What strategies will get you there?
This is where it comes together. Five tailored strategies that fit your situation, your problem, and your aspiration. A real starting point, not a generic roadmap.
Most AI frameworks were built for technology teams. SPARK was built for school leaders. It's a five-part process that starts with your people (not the platform) and gives you a clear path from where you are now to a successful AI adoption.
Our SPARK Framework™
Here’s How It Works
Most AI frameworks were built for technology teams. SPARK was built for school leaders. It's a five-part process that starts with your people (not the platform) and gives you a clear path from where you are now to a successful AI adoption.
S - Situation
What is your current role and context?
Before anything else, we get clear on where you're starting from. Your district's size, culture, and existing relationship with technology all shape what's possible. There's no one-size-fits-all answer here.
P - Problem
What barrier is holding you back?
Every district has a different obstacle. For some it's staff resistance. For others it's board pressure, equity concerns, or simply not knowing where to start. We name it clearly before we try to solve it.
A - Aspiration
What does success look like for your district?
This is where we get specific about the future you're building toward. Not a vague vision — a concrete picture of what your school looks like when AI is working for your people, not against them.
R - Results
What outcomes do you need to see?
We define what progress actually looks like — for your educators, your students, and your community. So you know when it's working.
Hi! I’m Sabba Quidwai
Founder of Designing Schools
I spent years inside schools and school systems — as a teacher, as Director of Innovative Learning at USC, and as an Education Executive at Apple — watching what happens when technology gets handed to people without a strategy behind it.
That's what led me to design thinking. And it's why I built Designing Schools.
The question that's driven my career is a simple one: how do we build schools that prepare students for the world they're actually walking into?
AI makes that question more urgent. It doesn't make it harder to answer — if you start with the right framework.
Hi! I’m Sabba Quidwai
Founder of Designing Schools
I spent years inside schools and school systems — as a teacher, as Director of Innovative Learning at USC, and as an Education Executive at Apple — watching what happens when technology gets handed to people without a strategy behind it.
That's what led me to design thinking. And it's why I built Designing Schools.
The question that's driven my career is a simple one: how do we build schools that prepare students for the world they're actually walking into?
AI makes that question more urgent. It doesn't make it harder to answer — if you start with the right framework.
Looking For A Keynote Speaker Who Actually Understands What School Leaders Are Facing Right Now?
Artificial intelligence is forcing schools to make decisions they were never designed to make quickly.
I’ve spent the past decade studying what happens when systems are asked to change faster than the people inside them can keep up.
As a former educator, USC faculty member, and Education Executive at Apple, I've spent my career inside the systems school leaders are now being asked to redesign.
My keynotes are practical, engaging, and built around the challenges your audience is navigating. You’ll leave with frameworks you can use on Monday and confidence to navigate AI well.
“You knocked it out of the park and you gave us hope.”
Dr. Edward E. Greene · Executive Director, EARCOS
Your keynote was absolutely terrific. As someone said right after you left the podium, you ‘knocked it out of the park!’ Your insights into the rapidly changing world of AI and education were deeply appreciated by all. And you gave us hope.
“Sabba’s design thinking revolutionized how we approach arts education.”
Robyn · Arts Director, Santa Ana USD
Under Sabba’s guidance, the design thinking process has revolutionized the way we approach arts education. We’ve seen a noticeable increase in student engagement, creativity, and overall satisfaction. Her visionary approach has inspired us to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
“Hearing you speak was my spark.”
DEVIN VODICKA | AUTHOR
CEO LEARNER-CENTERED COLLABORATIVE
After 20 years of teaching, you ignited a passion in me for AI and design thinking — lightbulb moment after lightbulb moment. Hearing you speak at ISTE was my spark.
“The positivity I’ve heard around your presentation and energy has been amazing — people keep asking if you’ll come speak to their districts.”
Mark Smith · Executive Director, MACUL
Ready to Design Your School?
01.
AI Power Circle
Over 6 months, I’ll personally walk your leadership team through The Innovation Cycle in 45-day sprints, co-designing an approach to AI that's built around your unique students, educators, and community. You leave with a strategy your whole team helped build — including a Design Council, Innovation Cohorts running across your sites, and a clear roadmap for what comes next.
03.
Self-Paced Courses
Browse my library of online education for educators, parents, and students. The Human Centered AI Classroom gives teachers the tools and confidence to integrate AI starting with just one lesson. The Future Ready Student gives students a framework to use AI wisely and graduate with a portfolio that proves it.
Workshops
Professional Development days are a great jumping off point to get your school district thinking about AI. If you want to build your AI strategy consciously, but aren’t ready to work 1:1 just yet - workshops are an excellent place to start. I’ll meet with your leadership team beforehand to understand what you're navigating, then guide your staff through a design thinking process that produces concrete ideas and a shared plan.
02.
designing schools
Honest conversations about what it actually takes to lead schools through change.
The Designing Schools PODCAST
Every week, I sit down with educators, district leaders, and thinkers who are shaping the future of education with design thinking around the humans they serve — not just the tools that are available.
TRENDING PODCAST EPISODES
Frequently Asked Questions
GETTING STARTED
It's not. Most districts are in the same position. The pressure to respond to AI arrived before anyone had a clear framework for handling it. Starting thoughtful is better than having started fast.
With your people, not a platform. Before we recommend anything, we listen. We want to understand your district's reality — your educators, your students, your community — before we design anything. That's what makes the approach stick.
Every month you wait, individuals in your district are making decisions about AI anyway — without a shared framework or strategy behind them. The question isn't whether to act. It's whether to act intentionally.
That's worth weighing against the cost of getting it wrong. A district-wide tool rollout that nobody uses, educators who disengage, and a strategy you have to redo in 18 months — that's expensive too. We're happy to talk through what's possible at different investment levels.
AI TOOLS
That's usually the first question districts ask. It's also the wrong place to start. The right tool for your district depends entirely on your students, your educators, and your goals — and you can't answer that until you've designed the approach around your people first. That's what we help you do. The tool becomes obvious once the strategy is clear.
That's a legitimate position — and one worth taking seriously. Some of the most thoughtful school leaders we work with have pulled back on technology because they've seen what happens when it's introduced without intention. Designing Schools isn't about convincing you to adopt AI. It's about helping you make the decision that's right for your community — on purpose, with a framework, and with your people at the center. Sometimes that means leaning in. Sometimes it means pulling back. Both are valid outcomes when they're designed, not defaulted into.
DESIGN THINKING
Design thinking is a problem-solving framework that starts with the people you're trying to serve. Instead of asking "what tool should we use," it asks "what do our students, educators, and families actually need?" That shift changes everything about how an AI strategy gets built — and whether it actually works.
You can. Most districts do. Research shows individual AI adoption sits around 32% when it's done that way. When AI is designed at the organizational level — built around your people, your culture, your goals — that number rises to 67%. The tool matters less than the approach behind it.
That's exactly why we don't build around tools. Tools change. Human-centered systems don't. When your staff understand the why behind your approach, they can adapt as the technology evolves — without waiting for a new policy every time something changes.
WORKING WITH SABBA
Superintendents, cabinet members, executive principals, and district leaders who are responsible for setting direction for their whole community. Leaders who know they need a real answer to AI — not a shortcut.
It starts with listening. Before anything is built, we run discovery surveys and empathy interviews with your educators, students, and families to understand where your district actually is. Everything we design comes from that — not from a playbook we brought with us.
The AI Power Circle runs over six months in 30 to 45-day sprints. By the end, you don't just have a strategy on paper. You have a Design Council, Innovation Cohorts running across your sites, and a team that helped build the approach — which is exactly why they'll follow it.
A workshop is a starting point. It's a hands-on day built around your real challenges — not hypothetical ones. The Power Circle is the full engagement: six months of guided work through the Innovation Cycle, co-designed with your leadership from day one. Many districts start with a workshop and move into the Power Circle when they're ready to go deeper.
Yes. The Human Centered AI Classroom course is $99 per seat and gives teachers a practical, ongoing learning experience they can start immediately — beginning with just one lesson and one assessment. It's a year of meaningful professional development for the price of a single workshop day.
Yes. Sabba speaks at district leadership events, statewide conferences, and education summits. Her talks are built around shifting mindsets — from anxiety about AI to clarity and agency. They frequently serve as the starting point for longer partnerships.
You Can Either Let AI Happen To Your Schools, Or You Can Design It For Your Schools.
Every school is designing its relationship with AI right now — consciously or not. The question is whether you're doing it with intention.
We help schools thoughtfully design systems that reflect what’s best for their students, their educators, and their communities. Schedule a call today to see if this is the right approach for you.