Meet Kevin Popović | The Idea Guy®

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kevin Popović and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind my recent success as The Idea Guy® is the philosophy of amplifying human intelligence with artificial intelligence. Most people think AI is about automation. I think it’s about augmentation. My goal has always been to help people think better, not just faster—and that’s where my work lives.

This approach evolved from my time at UC San Diego’s Design Lab, where I helped launch the Junior Designers Program. We needed to increase our capacity without increasing our overhead, so I explored how generative AI could support ideation, problem identification, and iteration. The outcome wasn’t just better ideas—it was better thinkers.

That work inspired new workshops—like Problem Statements + Generative AI and Design Thinking + Generative AI—which I’ve taught at the University of Southern Mississippi and will now teach at UC San Diego as a course this fall. It’s this real-world application of creativity, strategy, and emerging technology that defines my success and differentiates my brand.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Idea Guy® is a consultancy built around one big idea: helping people create new ideas to solve real problems. I work with individuals, teams, and organizations who need to innovate but don’t always know where or how to begin. I offer keynote talks, workshops, strategic advisory, and a suite of programs that empower creativity and drive measurable results.

What sets me apart is my process—it’s not just creative thinking for the sake of creativity. It’s structured, intentional, and proven. Whether I’m helping a nonprofit develop a 3-year strategic plan or working with C-suite leaders to reimagine their business model, I bring frameworks like the Innovation Funnel and methodologies like Design Thinking enhanced with Gen AI to the table.

Running your own business isn’t easy. There have been challenges—financial, emotional, strategic—but each one has sharpened my ability to teach others how to face uncertainty and still make progress. I want people to know: if you’re committed to solving the right problem, you’re already halfway to the right solution.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When I need to come up with new ideas, I look for places that help me think differently—spaces that shift my perspective or reconnect me to wonder.

The University Club atop Symphony Towers is one of my go-to spots. With a panoramic view of San Diego, it’s a place where I can zoom out—literally and figuratively—and see the bigger picture. I’ve outlined workshops, refined problem statements, and envisioned entire programs from that vantage point.

For creative input that’s more instinctual, I head to the San Diego Zoo. There’s something about watching mammals, birds, and reptiles from every continent that sparks new metaphors and reminds me how much we can learn from nature’s systems.

And when I want to reconnect with raw creativity, I visit The New Children’s Museum. It’s full of color, motion, and joy—exactly the kind of energy that helps me break out of linear thinking. If you want to know how people think before they’re taught how to think, watch a child with a blank canvas.

Design lives everywhere in San Diego—you just have to know how to look for it.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give my shoutout to the UC San Diego Design Lab and the incredible community that surrounds it. It was there that I was challenged to think differently, to collaborate boldly, and to truly understand how design can serve society. The Lab was more than a workplace—it was a proving ground for my new ideas.

Thanks to Director Mai Nguyen for the opportunity, and to Associate Director Michelle Morris for being “the sand to my oyster.” A special thanks to Don Norman, whose vision for human-centered design—and for developing designers, not just students—shaped much of how I approach my work today. His leadership inspired the Junior Designers Program, which I had the honor of helping launch. Working alongside these students—some of the brightest, most passionate thinkers I’ve met—reminded me that the future of innovation isn’t just in technology. It’s in people.

The broader UC San Diego community provided me with the platform to test ideas, share what I’ve learned, and evolve professionally in ways I never could have predicted. I’m grateful for the mentorship, collaboration, and trust that helped turn my ideas into more than concepts.

Website: http://theideaguy.us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theideaguyr/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinpopovic/

Twitter: https://x.com/TheIdeaGuyR

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIdeaGuyR

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theideaguy

Other: https://www.sdbj.com/author/kptheideaguy-us/

Image Credits
Richard Tiland, Mo Qabbani, Derek Fountain, Hector Arrieta