Photo via TIME

TIME Trailblazers Put People First in Designing a Better World

Read the original at TIME ↗
Cite

Guzman, C. d. (2026, September 15). TIME Trailblazers Put People First in Designing a Better World. TIME. https://time.com/collection/time-trailblazers/2026/jason-ballard-aicha-evans-steve-blum-time-trailblazers-dinner-panel/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

TIME · collected 2026-09-15 · by Chad de Guzman

Quick Summary

At the TIME Trailblazers Dinner in Las Vegas on Monday, industry leaders discussed designing technology with human needs at the forefront. Aicha Evans from Zoox emphasized creating autonomous vehicles that prioritize rider comfort by eliminating thoughts of driving. Jason Ballard from ICON highlighted his work in 3D-printed housing aimed at making affordable and aesthetically pleasing homes accessible to everyone, arguing that technology can resolve conflicting values like affordability versus beauty or speed versus sustainability. Steve Blum from Autodesk underscored the role of AI in enhancing human capabilities rather than replacing them.
Written by AI on 2026-09-15, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 14, at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, professional climber Alex Honnold celebrated his achievements as a TIME Trailblazer alongside other notable figures. Though proud of his climbing career spanning nearly two decades, he emphasized that his work with The Honnold Foundation, which has committed over $11 million to 75 solar projects this year alone, holds significant impact for human lives. Honnold sees access to reliable energy as a fundamental necessity akin to food and shelter.

Meanwhile, at the same event, Aicha Evans, CEO of autonomous vehicle company Zoox, discussed how her firm prioritizes rider experience by eliminating any thought of driving within their vehicles, aiming to provide a sense of solitude in a positive context. Jason Ballard, another TIME Trailblazer, echoed the importance of focusing on people rather than just technology, highlighting the need for capacity and resources to pursue more projects globally. The event underscored the intersection between technological innovation and human-centric design in shaping a sustainable future.

Written for “TIME Trailblazers Honors Influencers” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 TIME Trailblazers Honors Influencers
Entertainment · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
TIME
Hedges 0 of 21 claims Outlet record 59/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
TIME's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-15 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

TIME · 770 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Chad de Guzman
28 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The announcement, posted on social media overnight, followed President Donald Trump’s call for Peltola’s prosecution and escalated Republican efforts to challenge her candidacy just days before an election that could help determine control of the Senate.
🔮 Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who visited the crash site, announced that his government would declare three days of mourning in response and vowed an investigation.
🔮 “We know what is at stake, and since I am not allowed to say things explicitly, I will say: Vote correctly.
🔮 The other amendment is an apparent roundabout way to preserve patrilineal succession: members of the royal family may adopt a male from former imperial branch families, and those adoptees’ future male offspring can be considered legitimate successors to the throne.
🔮 Edmundo González Urrutia, another key opposition figure, also posted on social media Sunday that Machado is “on Venezuelan soil” and that he would soon be with her “so that our country truly advances toward freedom.”
🔮 “We will make every resource they need available,” he added.
🔮 On Monday, the Philippines House of Representatives passed a bill banning children under 13 from social media platforms, while those between 13 and 17 would have limited access, with 287 members voting in favor and only three against the measure.
🔮 A senior U.S. official told the AP on Sunday that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and would likely assess future action after the Monday U.S. holiday.
🔮 New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants President Donald Trump to put an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s operations in the city after an agent-involved shooting injured one person on Thursday.
🔮 The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday proposed a rule that would charge schools $70,000 per international student seeking to work in the U.S. through a program known as Optional Practical Training.
Also by Chad de Guzman
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 28 articles by Chad de Guzman →

Topics

Las Vegas TIME TIME Studios Zoox the TIME Trailblazers Dinner

Subjects

Autodesk ORG · 2× Ballard PERSON · 2× Blum ORG · 2× Evans PERSON · 2× TIME ORG · 2× Zoox ORG · 2× Aicha Evans PERSON · 1× Kelly Conniff PERSON · 1× Las Vegas GPE · 1× TIME Studios ORG · 1×

Narrative

Blum said that at his company, “AI is here to augment the human, not replace the human,” adding that it gives people more time to do activities they love and to hone their expertise. “Everywhere around the world I travel, folks are saying they can’t go after all the projects they want to go after because they do not have the capacity and people,” Blum said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-15
🔮 While much talk about what the future could look like focuses on emerging and rapidly advancing technologies, speakers at the TIME Trailblazers Dinner in Las Vegas on Monday urged focusing on people.
2026-09-15 · TIME
TIME Trailblazers Put People First in Designing a Better World · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 1 hedged)

While much talk about what the future could look like focuses on emerging and rapidly advancing technologies, speakers at the TIME Trailblazers Dinner in Las Vegas on Monday urged focusing on people. uncertain
speakers → look → people
Aicha Evans, the chief executive officer of autonomous vehicle company Zoox and a 2026 TIME Trailblazers honoree, talked about how the design of her company’s robotaxis—or “toasters,” as she jokingly called them, in apparent reference to how boxy they look—prioritizes the rider experience and tries to eliminate the thought of driving altogether. asserted
they → talk → thought
“We have a very simple view: when you are in our purpose-built robotaxi, if you thought about driving, we actually failed,” Evans told moderator Kelly Conniff, TIME’s deputy editor and head of creative at TIME Studios. asserted
Evans → build → Studios
“We want you to be you. asserted
you → want → ?
To some people, that’s hanging out. … asserted
that → hang → people
To some people, like me, it’s probably the only time when I feel alone in a good way. asserted
I → ’ → way
Evans added that Zoox also takes its responsibility to keep riders safe seriously, given how there are nearly 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year related to motor vehicle crashes. asserted
Zoox → add → crashes
Fellow panelist and 2026 TIME Trailblazers honoree, entrepreneur Jason Ballard, whose construction-technology firm ICON specializes in 3D-printed housing, discussed how his own experiences with hurricanes in the Texas Gulf Coast made him think deeply about what decent human shelter looks like. asserted
shelter → specialize → what
He added that the way houses are built today is still “inhuman,” “sterile,” and “repetitive,” and that he envisions a world where housing can be both “affordable” and “beautiful.” asserted
housing → add → world
Ballard argued that technology can reconcile values that otherwise appear to conflict. asserted
that → argue → values
“What advanced technology is supposed to do is maybe bring our values out of conflict,” he says. asserted
he → suppose → conflict
“Right now you have to choose between affordability and beauty, or you have to choose between speed of construction and sustainability. asserted
you → have → construction
But wouldn’t the purpose of technology be that we can have all of our values?” asserted
we → have → values
Steve Blum, executive vice president and chief operating officer of software company Autodesk, which is a presenting partner for the event, also participated in the panel and touched on current concerns about artificial intelligence and automation replacing humans. asserted
intelligence → present → humans
Blum said that at his company, “AI is here to augment the human, not replace the human,” adding that it gives people more time to do activities they love and to hone their expertise. “Everywhere around the world I travel, folks are saying they can’t go after all the projects they want to go after because they do not have the capacity and people,” Blum said. asserted
Blum → say → capacity
“AI will help by getting more out of each of the humans and allow them to do more work.” asserted
them → help → work
Ballard wrapped up the panel discussion with a vision for this people-focused future, and presented an optimistic view of technology’s role in bringing dignity to people’s lives. asserted
Ballard → wrap → lives
“There’s a lot of maybe scary, fearful things in the air right now around advanced technologies and AI,” he said. asserted
he → ’ → technologies
“But I think when you look at the things that are actually being done with the tools today… it’s a very cool time to be alive.” asserted
it → think → tools
The TIME Trailblazers Dinner: Designing and Making the Future was presented by Autodesk. asserted
Dinner → design → Autodesk
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support