Fast Company Winter 2024/2025

WHEN YOU COVER INNOVATION, THE PRESSURE IS ON TO innovate. This involves more than just constantly scanning the worlds of business and culture for signs of the next big thing— and reporting on it before (and better than) our competitors do. It means being innovative in how we present that coverage to you— on digital platforms, at our live events, and right here in the print magazine. This brings me to the work of Andrew Thompson. Thompson is a data journalist. But that term, an increasingly common one in newsrooms these days, doesn’t quite capture what he does. In the summer of 2023, Thompson told editorial director Jill Bernstein that he wanted to expand upon reporting he had done on the indie-music platform Bandcamp. Specifically, he wanted to make the…

BUFFALO BILLS QUARterback Josh Allen appeared on the podcast Green Light in August to discuss his routine during the offseason, which was soon coming to an end. When host and NFL veteran Chris Long mentioned that the Bills star looked “slim,” Allen jumped in to explain. “I was eating better. I took care of myself more than I ever have in our little month-and-a-half break,” he said. “I don’t know if I should say this, but there’s a secret trick—I don’t know if it’s true or not— but I’m just throwing in a few Zyns.” Zyn, a nicotine product derived from tobacco that looks like a doll-size tea bag and comes in a range of strengths and flavors, had been appearing discreetly along the gumlines of a growing number of…

WHEN LIBBY WADLE became CEO of J.Crew Group in November 2020, conditions were not ideal. It had been six months since the company—which tripled annual revenue to $2.2 billion between 2003 and 2013—had declared bankruptcy after six years of spiraling sales. For longtime J.Crew fans, it was an unthinkable low. Launched in 1983 as a less starched, and affordable, alternative to Ralph Lauren, J.Crew upended the apparel industry by selling its Hamptons-preppy clothing directly to young shoppers via a sumptuously photographed catalog that sometimes featured celebrities, was pored over in college dorms, and helped shape the ’90s reigning casual aesthetic. In the early aughts, under CEO Mickey Drexler and executive creative director Jenna Lyons, the brand evolved, championing a colorful, pattern-filled vibe (memorably embraced by former First Lady Michelle Obama)—surviving…

With unlimited content sources to sift and choose from, we can easily get distracted. That’s why today’s most successful brands embrace engaging, creative marketing experiences powered by advanced technology, dynamic personalization, and innovative design. In a new kind of brand engagement, Qatar Airways’ latest AI Adventure campaign uses the classic love-at-first-sight plot in a three-minute video to connect with its audience. Viewers can immerse themselves in the story using face-scanning software and AI to join the emotive scenes, in which a man meets a beautiful actress, but she’s quickly separated from him by her friend and, while leaving, loses one of her earrings. The story then follows the man embarking on a journey, traveling on Qatar Air ways flights, and unexpectedly—but delightedly—running into the actress again. STARRING IN THEIR OWN…

THE QUAIL PARFAIT glistens on my plate, smeared across a disc of fried heirloom masa. At first glance, it looks like the kind of fine-dining fare you’ll find at many high-end restaurants: a rich, rosy paste topped with pickled pepper, an edible flower, and a dusting of cotija. But its conventional presentation masks a deeper truth. This meal is unorthodox, even radical. In some ways, it’s unlike anything the world has ever seen. The parfait on my plate wasn’t made in the traditional way of pâté and foie gras, from liver. It was grown from the connective tissue cells of a Japanese quail embryo harvested years ago and genetically induced to multiply forever in the lab. And it’s being served to me at a Climate Week event in New York…

In 2009, Ryan Simonetti cofounded Convene, a global hospitality company that operates a growing portfolio of premium meeting, event, and flexible office locations in the U.S. and U.K., after asking “ What if you ran an office building like a hotel?” He thought that by offering premium hospitality, world-class amenities, beautifully designed spaces, and chef-driven food, you could create a better experience for building tenants and organizations hosting events. Here, Simonetti reveals why infusing hospitality into the workplace is key to business strategy, employee engagement, and creating meaningful moments. How does hospitality change the workplace, meeting, or conference experience? Hospitality is the emotional delivery of a service experience and what differentiates Convene from our competition. We excel at creating best-in-class experiences for our clients because we hire amazing people—often from…