HARDWARE IS THE NEW SALT brings together influential voices in product development to explore how AI is shifting processes, priorities, and possibilities in hardware.

HARDWARE IS THE NEW SALT brings together influential voices in product development to explore how AI is shifting processes, priorities, and possibilities in hardware.

New thought leaders, fresh insights, released weekly.

New thought leaders, fresh insights, released weekly.

Article

AI, Creativity, and the Human Edge

When I think about AI and product design, I often go back to a simple, illustrative example: when we first put a camera on a mobile phone. At the time, something like that required a fifty-page document to capture the requirements. Today, I could ask an AI, "We’re adding a camera to a phone—what are the technical considerations?" It would instantly generate a decent draft. That part of the process can be automated now. But what about the idea of putting a camera on a phone in the first place? That spark—that’s human. That’s the boundary I see with current AI. Maybe someday AI can propose those ideas too, but right now, that leap still comes from us.

That’s how I frame the role of AI today. It’s an accelerator. It’s there to help us move faster, especially in the iteration stage. It can help test ideas, refine requirements, and explore options—but it’s still up to the human to steer the direction. Creativity, at least for now, remains a human trait.

But "faster" doesn’t mean pumping out more products. It means compressing the cycle from idea to market. There are a lot of iterations in that path—technical constraints, challenges to solve, decisions to make. AI can help with those cycles. It can surface best practices across industries and suggest relevant solutions. You don’t need a hundred people to do that digging anymore—you can get insights quickly and start moving forward.

That time savings is powerful. You can bring products to market sooner. But you can also reinvest that time into creativity, stacking more meaningful features before launch. Often, the real inflection point in adoption happens not with a single new feature, but when five or ten come together and create something richer. AI helps us get to that threshold faster.

Featuring
Kouji Kodera

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at i8 Labs

Video

What is Hardware is the New Salt

With the developments in generative AI and potential impacts on how products are created, we sought the help of industry experts to help shape the narrative for the world. 

Biography

Kouji Kodera

A twenty-plus year veteran of the wireless industry, Kouji has held a succession of senior product-focused positions, first with Mitsubishi Electric, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, HTC, and most recently with Motorola Mobility. Kouji led various functions, including product planning & management and content & service, leading the efforts to deliver the overall product and user experience vision. Kouji was the creator of Moto Z with Motomods at Motorola, HTC One at HTC, Xperia, Walkman phones, and Cybershot phones at Sony Ericsson. Extensive experience in wireless and the consumer market. Specifically, creating breakthrough products, blending application service, software, and hardware into new categories of product, leading or turning around businesses for iconic brands, and leading start-ups. Industry-wide reputation for integrity, home run products, on-time delivery, and openness to new ideas and partners. People come 1st. They are central to product, experience, and how business is conducted. As a result of forming strong teams, they have led numerous landmark products, including 1st music phone (Walkman phone), 1st camera phone (Cyber-shot phone), 1st 4G smartphone, 1st modular phone (Moto Z with MotoMods), and HTC One series. Recently, Kouji has founded i8 Labs, where he utilizes existing smartphone technology & expertise into a new solution to create new innovative business models, as well as commercial activities. i8 Labs is created with an intent to capitalize on a fast-growing Smart Sensor market with a mission of transforming the world to a smarter and more sustainable living. As a co-founder and chief executive officer, Kouji is responsible for developing and driving the vision for i8 Labs and then turning those visions into reality. i8 Labs works to solve common City Performance Measurements in areas such as Transportation, Environment, and Safety by using real-time data and analytics.

Article

Foreword

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Video

What is Hardware is the New Salt

With the developments in generative AI and potential impacts on how products are created, we sought the help of industry experts to help shape the narrative for the world. 

Presented by

AI-Powered. Reimagining product creation.

AI-Powered. Reimagining product creation.

AI-Powered. Reimagining product creation.

Presented by

Presented by

Insights from Product Leaders

Insights from Product Leaders

Insights from Product Leaders

Vineet Thuvara

Chief Product Officer at Fluke Corporation

Vineet Thuvara

Chief Product Officer at Fluke Corporation

Maarten van der Heide

VP Product Development at Polaroid

Maarten van der Heide

VP Product Development at Polaroid

Nichole Rouillac

Founder & Creative Director at level

Nichole Rouillac

Founder & Creative Director at level

Liat Ben-Zur

ex-MSFT, Qualcomm, Philips

Liat Ben-Zur

ex-MSFT, Qualcomm, Philips

Scott Thielman

CTO at Product Creation Studio

Scott Thielman

CTO at Product Creation Studio

Prof. Mohamed Awwad, Ph.D.

Associate Professor at Cal Poly IME

Prof. Mohamed Awwad, Ph.D.

Associate Professor at Cal Poly IME

Kirk James

Principal, CEO at Cinco

Kirk James

Principal, CEO at Cinco

Kenny Tai 

Founder, CEO at Gizmospring

Kenny Tai 

Founder, CEO at Gizmospring

Kouji Kodera

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at i8 Labs

Kouji Kodera

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at i8 Labs

Chris Wlezien

External advisor at McKinsey

Chris Wlezien

External advisor at McKinsey

Drew Bamford

Citizen Designer, Studio Bamford, and Former VP HTC

Drew Bamford

Citizen Designer, Studio Bamford, and Former VP HTC

Amish Patel

Founder, Managing Director at Conduit Venture Labs

Amish Patel

Founder, Managing Director at Conduit Venture Labs

Vineet Thuvara

Chief Product Officer at Fluke Corporation

Scott Thielman

CTO at Product Creation Studio

Nichole Rouillac

Founder & Creative Director at level

Kirk James

Principal, CEO at Cinco

Maarten van der Heide

VP Product Development at Polaroid

Liat Ben-Zur

ex-MSFT, Qualcomm, Philips

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Prof. Mohamed Awwad, Ph.D.

Associate Professor at Cal Poly IME

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See Bio

Kenny Tai 

Founder, CEO at Gizmospring

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See Bio

Kouji Kodera

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at i8 Labs

Chris Wlezien

External advisor at McKinsey

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See Bio

Drew Bamford

Citizen Designer, Studio Bamford, and Former VP HTC

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See Bio

Amish Patel

Profession

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See Bio

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