Joe Gebbia: Designer-in-Chief
From First of Kind by @soleio
February 12, 2026 · 38 min · Season 2 · Episode 1
About this episode
Joe Gebbia discusses his role as America's first Chief Design Officer and the integration of design into the U.S. federal government.
Why did Joe Gebbia go to Washington? I spoke with America’s first-ever Chief Design Officer last fall to find out. We met on the White House grounds to discuss his newly created role, the formation of @ndstudio, and how Joe plans to weave design into the frabic of U.S. federal government. 00:00 - Intro / Eisenhower Exec Office Bldg 01:34 - From Airbnb to Washington 04:39 - The Federal Retirement Problem 06:31 - The Mine in the Mountain 08:29 - Do Things That Don’t Scale 11:35 - The Julie Prototype 14:20 - Down to 60 Seconds 16:33 - Consumer-Grade Government 18:31 - Nixon’s Federal Beautification 20:22 - The National Design Studio 24:24 - Trust Through Design 27:43 - Building the Dream Team 31:22 - The Silicon Valley Coalition 35:33 - A Golden Age of Design Special thanks to Joe Gebbia and his team for making this conversation possible. S2:E1 Joe Gebbia, Designer-in-Chief Hosted by Soleio: x.com/soleio Produced by Room 3: room3nyc.com First of Kind is powered by our sponsors: Framer: framer.com Cursor: cursor.com Vercel: vercel.com Profound: tryprofound.com Website: www.firstofkind.com Threads: threads.com/firstofkind_ Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_ X: x.com/firstofkind_…
People in this episode
Host: Soleio
Guest: Joe Gebbia
Topics covered
- design in government
- Joe Gebbia
- federal design
- Airbnb
- innovation
- public service
- design thinking
Keywords
- Chief Design Officer
- government design
- Airbnb
- design studio
- public sector
- innovation
- trust through design
Sponsors
Framer, Cursor, Vercel, Profound
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Airbnb, @ndstudio, Eisenhower Exec Office Bldg, Silicon Valley Coalition, National Design Studio, Room 3
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