Jason Whitlow
Applied Humanity
I help humans help humans.
I work with founders, leaders, and organizations to create things worthy of the people they serve.
Everything we design, build, write, and share is an offering — something given for the good of another. The quality of that offering depends on knowing what we have to give and what others genuinely need. That understanding is a discipline, and I’ve spent my life cultivating it:
Training in cognitive science, computer science, and design at Harvard;
Deep study and practice of the Tibetan sciences of mind and medicine, which offer rigorous methods for understanding what people experience and what truly benefits them; and
Three decades of work as an advisor, consultant, designer, educator, and health practitioner, which taught me how to translate that understanding into work that actually serves people.
For 30 years, I’ve helped people and organizations discover, articulate, and give form to what they uniquely have to offer. My work spans AI, robotics, assistive technology, fintech, healthcare, public service, and the arts — advising on strategy, building brands and experiences, designing products used by hundreds of thousands, cultivating communities, and building international organizations.
How I Work
Guide
Strategic counsel for leaders, boards, and organizations navigating complex terrain — from vision and positioning to ethics, governance, and growth
Build
Identities, experiences, products, programs, curricula, communities, and institutions — giving form to what an organization exists to offer
Teach
Talks, workshops, and trainings on humane design, applied ethics, and the discipline of understanding and serving the human condition
Partner
Embedded, long-term collaboration with organizations whose work demands both strategic clarity and human depth
What is human has never mattered more. Synthetic intelligence is reshaping how we create, communicate, and relate. The tools are extraordinary — but only people know what truly matters. The defining question of our time is not what technology can do, but how we ensure it serves what people truly need. That is the practice of Applied Humanity.
Select Engagements
Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence →
Brand identity for UC Berkeley's pioneering AI safety research center, founded by Turing Award-winner Stuart Russell
The Blindsight Corporation →
Brand, product design, and grant development for AI-powered assistive technology serving 200,000+ blind and low-vision users; acquired by Amazon
Anybots →
Brand and positioning for iconic Silicon Valley robotics firm co-founded by Trevor Blackwell of Y Combinator; featured in HBO’s Silicon Valley
Viaweb →
Customer research and experience design for the first web application, founded by Paul Graham and Robert Morris; acquired by Yahoo for $49M
Smartleaf →
Branding, positioning, and experience design for fintech platform managing $50B+ in assets, making personalized wealth management accessible to all
Creativity Explored →
A decade of strategic partnership — experience design, program development, and community building — for an internationally recognized champion of creative expression and disability rights
Sorig Khang →
Founded, built, and directed a Tibetan Medicine nonprofit serving a global community of students, practitioners, and patients
If you’re building something that matters — and you want it to be right for the people it’s meant to serve — I’d welcome a conversation: hello a·t jasonwhitlow d·o·t net
With my best wishes,
Jason
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.”
— Martha Graham