2026
/
Masterclass
As the context around design keeps shifting, the pressure on leaders continues to rise. Teams are asked to do more in less time, roles evolve and AI promises faster progress than reality often allows. Leaders feel pushed to react quickly and keep things moving. This masterclass explores pace as a core leadership skill and strategic clarity as an enabler. Drawing from experience scaling a design team from 7 to 70, the session helps leaders set direction, prioritize with intention and reduce the need for constant intervention. Participants will learn how to balance team appetite and organizational capacity for change to find a sustainable “sweet spot” of progress. You will leave with a concrete way to assess initiatives and keep teams aligned - with confidence, not urgency.
Who is it for?
Design Managers, DesignOps professionals, agency and consultancy leaders, and senior design leaders responsible for maturing teams and design organizations.
Top 3 Outcomes
#1
Understand how strategic clarity creates organic alignment and progress.
#2
A practical governance framework to assess team appetite, organizational change capacity and delivery constraints when prioritizing initiatives.
#3
Learn to prioritize with intention and reduce the need for constant intervention.
Facilitating this session:
António Cancela de Abreu is a Partner and leads Strategy and Design at Bliss Applications, where he guides a team of 70+ product strategists, researchers, and designers through periods of rapid growth and organizational change.
With nearly 20 years of experience across design, strategy, marketing, and digital product development, he has worked with organizations including JP Morgan, TD Bank, Santander, Audi, EDP and SonaeMC. António holds a Master’s in Digital Management from Hyper Island, is a fellow at OnDeck, DesignOps Assembly lead in Portugal and teaches Strategy at Lisbon Digital School.
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