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The conversation around AI in education is loud, fast, and mostly unhelpful. Your audience doesn't need more panic or more hype. They need clarity, a framework, and someone who actually understands what they're navigating.
Hi! I’m Sabba Quidwai
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.
Founder of Designing Schools
How Design Thinking Turns Uncertainty into Agency
Best For | School district leaders and superintendents
The latest research from Microsoft reveals the hard truth: individual AI adoption captures only 32% of the potential benefit. The other 67% is unlocked when leaders stop thinking about AI as a personal tool and start designing it as an organizational system. In this keynote, Sabba shows district leaders how shifting from individual training to organizational deployment doesn't just improve student outcomes — it elevates every individual inside the system. When you build AI structures tailored to your organization, human agency becomes your district's greatest competitive advantage.
Why playing it safe is the greatest risk you can take
Best For | School leaders, district leadership teams, and education conferences
In 2016, during the historic AlphaGo vs. Lee Sedol Go matches, an AI made a move nobody saw coming. But it was Lee Sedol's response — Move 78, later called "The Hand of God" — that changed everything. It was the move only a human could make. In this keynote, Sabba challenges school leaders to find their own Move 78. Because in a world where AI is already here, the leaders who play it safe aren't being cautious — they're taking the greatest risk of all. This talk is a call to action for leaders ready to move from managing change to designing it, armed with the frameworks and the conviction to make the move nobody else will.
How to Raise Thinkers in the Age of AI
Best For | Parents, community events, and parent-facing conferences
The old checklist (GPA, SAT scores, AP classes, college essays) was designed for a world that no longer exists. In this keynote, Sabba gives parents a new one. Built around the three pillars of Identity, Integrity, and Impact, White Space shows parents how to raise kids who know who they are, make intentional choices with AI, and can tell the story of what they've built. It's practical, research-backed, and leaves every parent with five things they can try at home before the week is out.
The SPARK Effect
How Design Thinking Turns Uncertainty into Agency
Best For | School district leaders and superintendents
The latest research from Microsoft reveals the hard truth: individual AI adoption captures only 32% of the potential benefit. The other 67% is unlocked when leaders stop thinking about AI as a personal tool and start designing it as an organizational system. In this keynote, Sabba shows district leaders how shifting from individual training to organizational deployment doesn't just improve student outcomes — it elevates every individual inside the system. When you build AI structures tailored to your organization, human agency becomes your district's greatest competitive advantage.
White Space
How to Raise Thinkers in the Age of AI
Best For | Parents, community events, and parent-facing conferences
The old checklist (GPA, SAT scores, AP classes, college essays) was designed for a world that no longer exists. In this keynote, Sabba gives parents a new one. Built around the three pillars of Identity, Integrity, and Impact, White Space shows parents how to raise kids who know who they are, make intentional choices with AI, and can tell the story of what they've built. It's practical, research-backed, and leaves every parent with five things they can try at home before the week is out.
The Collaboration Reset
Building Human and AI Teams
Best For | School leaders, district leadership teams, and education conferences
AI isn’t just changing what we can automate. It’s giving leaders an opportunity to redesign how people and AI work together.
In this keynote, we step back from the tools and look at the work itself. Using design thinking, teams uncover the friction, repetitive tasks, and missed opportunities across their day, then imagine what becomes possible when AI agents join the team. Participants redesign real workflows around a new question: What should AI take on so people have more capacity for the judgment, creativity, relationships, and leadership only they can bring?
School districts served across the country
150
Average AI adoption with design thinking frameworks
67%
Years inside education — as a teacher, at USC, and at Apple
15+
Signature frameworks built specifically for school leaders
3
Keynotes
Podcasts & Media
Workshops & Live Events
Ready To Book Sabba For Your Next Event?
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.