Jan Schminke is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Kaiser X Labs, the User Experience Design Company of Allianz. Over the past decade, he has scaled Kaiser X Labs into a thriving, multi-city organization of more than 180 Designers, Researchers, Strategists, Developers, and Data Analysts across Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Hannover. His leadership focuses on building high-performing teams, shaping a diverse innovation portfolio, and fostering a creative culture that drives impact across businesses.

Before co-founding Kaiser X Labs, Jan spent over 10 years in the United States, working for leading design consultancies including IDEO, Teague, Ziba and Essential Design. During this time, he led projects from consumer electronics to healthcare, insurance and aviation, earning international recognition through awards such as Red Dot, iF, and IDSA. These experiences shaped his conviction that meaningful innovation happens at the intersection of empathy, systems thinking, and creative collaboration—an approach he continues to apply at scale today.

Passionate about creating environments where creativity thrives, Jan sees design not just as a tool for usability, but as a driver of business value and human connection—and a catalyst for business transformation.