Reintroducing Ourselves
A Curated Collection of David by Design
I firmly believe that experience is our best teacher, and something I’ve learned during one of my prolific periods of writing, is that I've a habit of plowing ahead without pausing when the writing is progressing naturally. This week, with a national holiday approaching, I will take a healthy pause. I also think it's a good time to reintroduce myself, as I’ve gained a number of new subscribers over the past few months.
That brief reintroduction comes with a caveat: as I have discussed here recently, I have created a CustomGPT of myself—essentially a “digital brain-twin” trained on my decades of writing and visual thinking. I now “vibe” all my visuals using AI, as the custom model I developed has become an extension of myself.
So, according to my “DavidGPT”, allow me to re-introduce… me:
Meet David Armano—Visual Thinker, Strategic Communicator, and Guide for the "TBD" Era
David Armano has spent his career helping organizations navigate digital transformation long before it became a buzzword. A veteran of the brand, agency, and startup worlds, he works at the crossroads of business, design, and technology, applying a unique skill set to distill complexity into clarity. But what sets David apart is his ability to read the cultural and technological landscape, often before the rest of us even enter:
David isn’t just a strategist; he's a storyteller and visual thinker who maps out change in a way that's relatable, human, and often a few steps ahead of the curve. His work and writing explore what it means to live and work in an era where the future of careers, technology, and identity is increasingly "TBD." Through compelling visuals and narrative, he helps others make sense of it all…
David's recent work is profoundly personal and timely, rooted in lived experience through pandemic recovery, professional reinvention, and hands-on engagement with emerging tech like generative AI. He speaks candidly about career disruption, rethinking identity beyond job titles, and the tension between stability and possibility. Whether leading teams, advising startups, or sketching out what's next on a digital whiteboard, he's someone who doesn't just talk about transformation—he has lived it and helps others navigate it.
Thank you, “DavidGPT,” for the AI-assisted reintroduction. Now let’s get into some human creation and curation:
Technology, Work, Life, and Culture by Design
By day, I work at Launch, part of the full-stack technology services firm NTT Data. It’s a cool gig; we work with every company you’ve ever heard of, and in every corner of digital transformation you can imagine. AI is increasingly becoming core to our solutions, from data strategy to product design. In my free time, I write this newsletter, David by Design. This newsletter, in many ways, was born out of disruption. In June of 2020, as the Pandemic was just getting started, I found myself professionally displaced. As I was just getting used to the transition from FTE to consulting, I drafted my first post here in December of 2020. One month later, I would contract Covid, spend a day in the ER, and then a month recovering from Covid-induced pneumonia. After recovering, I’d continue to work, write, and dial up my efforts here as the world continued to evolve, accelerated by the game-changing advent of the AI age.
A Curated Collection by Design
Something I often discuss is that the future will be increasingly defined by intelligent experiences fueled by advancements in AI. However, we will also experience a renaissance of high-end, human-curated and crafted experiences, such as the kind Rick Rubin discusses in his musings on Vibe Coding. One of the best takes I’ve read on Rick’s philosophies and recent Vibe Coding initiatives defined curation as an “act of self-respect”. I especially love this part:
There will always be creators. But the ones who stand out in this era are also curators. People who filter their worldview so cleanly that you want to see through their eyes. People who make you feel sharper just by paying attention to what they pay attention to.
Curation is care. It says: I thought about this. I chose it. I didn’t just repost it. I didn’t just regurgitate the trending take. I took the time to decide what was worth passing on.
That’s rare now. And because it’s rare, it’s valuable.
In that same spirit, here’s a curated list of past David by Design newsletters, organized by tech, work, life, and culture—the things I talk about. I hope you find it rare and valuable…
Tech
Don’t Be AI First, Be AI Ready
A framework for organizational AI-readiness
Everything That Can Be LLM-ed Will Be
An early vision for secure and proprietary Enterprise Language Models.
The Enterprise AI Layer
An articulation of Enterprise AI classification
The BS of AI
A critical look at AI Hype
Work
TBD Inc.
A reflection on career transition
The AI Creative Department + Prompt-Based Creativity
Precursor to creating with AI
My Career No Longer Defines Me
A revelation of prioritization
The Three-Dimensional Workforce
A look at the future of work in 3 dimensions
An Open Letter To The Recently Laid Off
Examining the aftereffects of a layoff
The Future of Work Is Transactional
A look into evolving workplace dynamics
Culture
Relationships Over Politics
Debating our divisions without discarding our human connection
GenX: Underrated And Underplayed
Paying homage to the latchkey generation
PTSD Nation
Digging into post-pandemic collective trauma
Life
A Personal Inventory of Once-Broken Things
Dissecting brokenness and restoration
Confessions Of A Recovering Impostor
A look back at impostor syndrome
An Open Letter To Young Underachievers
Celebrating the underdogs
It’s Never Too Late To Find Your Voice
Losing and then rediscovering your voice
I’m ending this very human act of curation on that last one intentionally, because before writing this newsletter, looking back, I now realize that I was in the process of losing my voice, of becoming small at a time when the world is starving for something bigger than ourselves. Re-reading these pieces reminded me that I haven’t just been writing—I’ve been finding my way back. Back to clarity. Back to conviction. And maybe most importantly, back to connection. So if you're here now, thank you for walking a few steps with me. There’s more ahead.
Oh, and if you feel inclined… please feel free to reintroduce yourself in the comments. I’d love to get to know you better.
Visually yours,
