Sean Carney is a distinguished global design executive and former Chief Design Officer and Executive Vice President at Royal Philips. With an international career spanning over 30 years, Carney has transformed design from a functional service into a core driver of corporate strategy. Under his leadership, the Philips Experience Design team—a global force of over 800 designers—helped evolve the company into a health technology leader. Crucially, he spearheaded the Philips Healthcare Transformation Services business group, leading a global team of consultants and designers to co-create innovative, patient-centric solutions and clinical workflow improvements with health systems worldwide.

Beyond his tenure at Philips, Carney has held senior leadership roles at Hewlett-Packard, Electrolux, iittala, and Assa Abloy. Recently, he has expanded his strategic influence as an Advisor and Chairman of the FutureLab Board at PASHA Holding, where he guides innovation and future-proofing strategies for the conglomerate. His work is defined by "humanity-centred" design, a philosophy that balances commercial viability with profound empathy for the user. His impact has been recognised with hundreds of prestigious accolades, including Red Dot, iF Design, and IDEA awards. Notably, his team was named Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2022.

In his recent work, Carney has focused on large-scale global impact. He is a co-founder and trustee of Design for Good, a non-profit alliance of multinational corporations dedicated to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. He also serves as a Design Partner with The Group of Humans and remains deeply committed to the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID), where he mentors the next generation of creative leaders.