We are at an inflection point where innovation and design are converging — but public trust is eroding, and people are overwhelmed. As emerging technologies accelerate at an unprecedented pace, how do we ensure they create real, tangible change? How do we design tech that lands with purpose and persists through complexity? 

This talk offers five principles — not commandments, not a TED Talk in disguise, just a field guide — for designing innovation that lands. Tech that does something. That cuts through the noise and stays useful, long after the hype dies down. It’s about building systems that are thoughtful, resilient, and actually worth trusting.

Liya Safina is an award-winning digital designer and futurist working with Google’s XR team and previously with Toyota’s Woven City, Alibaba and Björk’s virtual reality music projects. Liya brings a design-for-impact lens grounded in spatial computing, AI, and mobility innovation. 

With over a decade of experience in digital innovation, her vision is to build a future where technology serves human needs, instead of humans serving revenue models.