The Most Creative People in Business 2021

It’s common to hear people talk about “the creative fields” of business or “creative departments,” as if they’re something distinct. But we at Fast Company think that’s hogwash. There are mind-blowingly creative individuals working across all industries and divisions, in labs and boardrooms, fields and courtrooms. And thank goodness. What would we have done this past year without creative people finding innovative solutions in medicine, finance, and, yes, even government? Our Most Creative People in Business list features 72 individuals who’ve made strides this past year that no one has ever made before, people who are already having an impact on the world. Here’s how we selected them. We hope you’ll be inspired by them.

FOR

The Full List

For holding business accountable

[object Object]

For gathering strength in numbers

Megan Bent

Founder and managing partner, Harbinger Ventures

Janicza Bravo

Filmmaker

Joe Giddings

Cofounder and campaigns coordinator, Architects Climate Action Network

David Hughes

Founder, PlantVillage; chair, Global Food Security, Penn State

Evan Ross Katz

Writer, Netflix @Most

Chris Lintott

Principal investigator and cofounder, Zooniverse

Mitzi Okou

Cofounder, Where Are the Black Designers?

Lisa Sherman

President and CEO, Ad Council

Megan Bent

Founder and managing partner, Harbinger Ventures

For opening our eyes

Grace Hwang

General manager of design and UX research of mixed reality, Microsoft

Hadi Al Khatib

Cofounder, The Syrian Archive

Katie Paul

Director, Tech Transparency Project

Jonathan Rothberg

Cofounder, Hyperfine

Mabel O. Wilson

Director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies, Columbia University

Grace Hwang

General manager of design and UX research of mixed reality, Microsoft

For reaching a new generation

Ted Cannis

CEO, Ford Pro

Louise Dubé

Executive director, iCivics

Ariel Horn and Ben Kusin

Cofounders and co-CEOs, Video Game Entertainment and News Network

Shaka King

Writer and filmmaker

Kyle Miller

Head of Z Team, Tinder

Ted Cannis

CEO, Ford Pro

For delighting fans

Stephen Bell, Joel Clark, Sam Rosenthal

Game Designers, The Game Band

Phoebe Bridgers

Singer and songwriter; founder, Saddest Factory Records

Lisa Smith

Executive creative director, Jones Knowles Ritchie

Stephen Bell, Joel Clark, Sam Rosenthal

Game Designers, The Game Band

For challenging the status quo

Tim Chen

Founder and CEO, NerdWallet

Rob Curtis and Billie Simmons

Cofounder and CEO; cofounder and COO, Daylight

Stephanie Kelton

Economist

Loretta J. Ross

Associate professor of the Study of Women and Gender, Smith College

Vincent Schellings

Head of design and production for Haliade-X wind turbine, GE

Nsé Ufot

CEO, New Georgia Project and New Georgia Project Action Fund

Tim Chen

Founder and CEO, NerdWallet

For getting people their fair share

Ebro Darden

Global editorial head of hip-hop and R&B, Apple Music; cohost, Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning

Domm Holland

Founder and CEO, Fast

Destinee Ross-Sutton

Art adviser, curator, and gallerist

Chris Webb

Cofounder and CEO, ChowNow

Ebro Darden

Global editorial head of hip-hop and R&B, Apple Music; cohost, Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning

For finding a way

Jonathan Anderson

Founder and creative director, JW Anderson; creative director, Loewe

MiMi Aung

Project manager, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Lisa Baird

Commissioner, National Women’s Soccer League

Abigail Browde and Michael Silverstone

Creators, A Thousand Ways

John Jumper

Research scientist and AlphaFold lead, DeepMind

Christie Marchese

Founder and CEO, Kinema

Melissa Moore

Chief scientific officer, platform research, Moderna

Jonathan Anderson

Founder and creative director, JW Anderson; creative director, Loewe

For breaking it down

Hrishikesh Hirway

Creator and host, Song Exploder

Sriram Krishnan

Partner, Andreessen Horowitz; cohost, The Good Time Show on Clubhouse

Julie Rapoport

Manager, sustainability and environmental compliance, Google

Masha Sedova

Cofounder and president, Elevate Security

Hrishikesh Hirway

Creator and host, Song Exploder

For slingshotting the goliaths

Ayesha Barenblat

Founder, Remake

Cori Crider

Cofounder and director, Foxglove

Bryan Fogel

Producer/director, The Dissident

Parul Koul

Executive chair, Alphabet Workers Union

Mary Beth Laughton

CEO, Athleta

Ayesha Barenblat

Founder, Remake

For making things that aren’t meant to last

Sean Mills

Head of content, Snap

Brennal Pierre and Vandan Shah

Cofounder and CTO; cofounder, Ephemeral

Tim Silbermann

Head of product development, Paboco

Sean Mills

Head of content, Snap

For changing course

Antonio Nuño

Cofounder and CEO, Someone Somewhere

Heather Cox Richardson

Author; professor of history, Boston College

Stanley Tucci

Writer, executive producer, and star, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

Justin Williams

Pro cyclist and cofounder, L39ION of Los Angeles

Antonio Nuño

Cofounder and CEO, Someone Somewhere

For filtering out the bad stuff

Jadalia Britto

Senior experience and innovation global brand design manager for Hill’s, a Colgate brand

Kathryn Kosmides

Founder and CEO, Garbo

Tomás Méndez Echenagucia

Assistant professor, Department of Architecture, University of Washington

Rodney D. Priestley and Xiaohui Xu

Researchers at the Priestley Laboratory, Princeton University

Jadalia Britto

Senior experience and innovation global brand design manager for Hill’s, a Colgate brand

For bringing good things to more people

Sinéad Burke

Activist and founder, Tilting the Lens

Jing Gao

Founder and CEO, Fly by Jing

Uzoma Orchingwa and Gabe Saruhashi

Cofounders, Ameelio

Andi Owen

CEO, MillerKnoll

Fred Stokes

Senior vice president of pro sales and services, Lowe’s

Sinéad Burke

Activist and founder, Tilting the Lens

Homepage

Co.Design

Tech

Work Life

News

Impact

Podcasts

Video

Recommender

Innovation Festival 360

Subscribe

AWS

Deloitte

Dept

Elevate Prize

EY

IBM

Klarna

Visa

FastCo Works

Fast Government

Most Innovative Companies

Most Creative People

World Changing Ideas

Innovation By Design

Innovation Festival

For holding business accountable

For gathering strength in numbers

For opening our eyes

For reaching a new generation

For delighting fans

For challenging the status quo

For getting people their fair share

For finding a way

For breaking it down

For slingshotting the goliaths

For making things that aren’t meant to last

For changing course

For filtering out the bad stuff

For bringing good things to more people

Tech

This Dutch company is creating networks of connected sensors to combat poaching

This tech tool can actually help you read and learn more

Now that ‘Roe’ has been overturned, it’s up to the tech industry to protect our data

News

Report: Many large companies that vowed to leave Russia are still active there

This is how many rejections it takes before job seekers lose confidence

New data shows just how much investors have been contributing to the housing boom

Co.Design

This $150 massage wand is like a Theragun for babies

How home offices have evolved—and gotten cozier in the process

Inside the post-pandemic office: More stairs, better acoustics, and . . . WiggleRooms?

Work Life

This interpersonal technique will help you foster genuine connection

These management changes for neurodivergent employees make work more accessible for everyone

How to teach yourself to be more confident