What if a building could act like a good host—aware of time, mood, and context—because its walls, ceilings, and fixtures are all speaking fluent light? That’s the world explored with immersive design veteran Brad Koerner, who connects dots from Disney show control and Harvard studios to Color Kinetics, microLED production, and today’s AI-powered workflows. The thesis is bold and practical: every light is a pixel, every pixel is a light, and the space you occupy is the best interface to the digital world.

We pull apart the myth that AI “replaces” creativity. Instead, Brad shows how tools like Midjourney, large language models, and rapid prototyping let designers stock the idea funnel in hours, not weeks, then do the real work—curation, de-risking, and shipping. We contrast spreadsheet lighting with theatre’s living vocabulary of time and motion, and we follow that thread into retail and healthcare: generative media that slashes content costs, luxury fitting rooms that earn the sale, and patient rooms that heal through spectrum, narrative, and calm. Along the way, we touch DC power, data-driven optimisation, and microLED walls that are nearly indistinguishable from reality, complete with extended channels for accurate skin tones and circadian-aware scenes.

If your toolbox stops at dimmers and presets, this conversation expands your map. We talk privacy as a spectrum—from anonymous reactions to check-in personalisation—and why designers should own that placement with clarity and care. We also tackle education and leadership, arguing for judgment over tool worship and for cross-silo fluency that merges lighting, AV, content, and IT into one coherent experience. The bottom line: technology is no longer the bottleneck; imagination, coordination, and courage are.

Enjoy the episode, share it with a colleague who still thinks AV is “not our spec,” and leave a review with the one space you’d transform first. Your feedback helps more curious listeners find the show.