John Maeda (born 1966) is a Vice President of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft. He is an American technologist and designer whose work explores where business, design, and technology merge to make space for the "humanist technologist." Previously, Maeda served as is Chief Technology Officer of Everbridge from October 2020 through October 2022. President of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) from June 2008 until December 2013. Before that he was a research professor at the MIT Media Lab leading advancements in computational design, low-code/no-code, and creative commerce. Early life and education John Maeda was born in 1966 in Seattle, Washington, where his father owned a tofu factory. Maeda studied Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he became fascinated with the work of Paul Rand and Muriel Cooper. Cooper was a director of MIT's Visible Language Workshop. After completing his bachelor's and master's degrees at MIT, Maeda completed his Ph.D. in design at Tsukuba University's Institute of Art and Design in Japan. He also has a M.B.A. from Arizona State University. Career As an artist, Maeda’s early work redefined the use of electronic media as a tool for expression by combining computer programming with traditional artistic technique, laying the groundwork for interactive motion graphics on the web. He has exhibited in one-man shows in London, New York and Paris. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Cartier Foundation in Paris. He is formerly Executive Vice President, Chief Experience Officer at Publicis Sapient where he developed the LEAD (Light, Ethical, Accessible, Dataful) doctrine for technology products and services. Prior to that he was Global Head, Computational Design and Inclusion at Automattic where he sought to address the diversity gap in tech by exploring how inclusion could be a key ingredient for success in the technology industry. Before that he was Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) where he advised startups on the business impact of design and continues as a Strategic Advisor. He also served on the Board of Directors of consumer electronics company Sonos and global advertising firm Wieden+Kennedy. He was a professor at the MIT Media Lab for 12 years where he fostered a community of designers who could code and engineers who could design called the Aesthetics + Computation Group, and then created the Physical Language