Nike Creates New Innovation Engine to Power Athletes Faster

The mission of NIKE, Inc. is simple: bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.

It’s in that spirit that the company is announcing a new chapter in its legacy of innovation for athletes and sport, uniting the Innovation, Design and Product teams across Nike, Jordan Brand and Converse into a single, athlete-focused creation engine.

The move is designed to accelerate athlete-centered innovation and drive growth as part of the new NIKE, Inc. Sport Offense, helping teams share insights, technology and methods of make to drive the creation of more game-changing products for athletes everywhere.

“Our north star is a homage to our co-founder, Bill Bowerman, and a challenge Kobe Bryant put to all of us: ‘Create epic s--- and make athletes better,’” says Phil McCartney, Chief Innovation, Design and Product Officer, NIKE, Inc. “Everything begins and ends with the athlete’s voice — their goals, their struggles, their drive. By uniting our creation organization across Nike, Jordan and Converse, we’re accelerating progress and fully leveraging our strengths to deliver epic products that make athletes better. It’s a new day in Innovation, Design and Product at Nike.”

NIKE, Inc. is announcing the new structure as the company unveils four innovation platforms that reflect an unmatched commitment to solving problems for athletes, improving their experience and powering the future of sport.

• Aero-FIT is Nike’s pinnacle expression of cooling technology, capable of channeling more than double the airflow of legacy Nike athletic apparel to help enable peak performance in extreme conditions.
• Nike Mind is a new platform, over 10 years in the making, that comes to life in Nike’s first neuroscience-based footwear, the Mind 001 mule and Mind 002 sneaker — a new type of shoe designed to help athletes lock in their mindset pre- and post-competition.
• Project Amplify is the world’s first powered footwear system for running and walking, designed to help everyday athletes go a little bit faster and farther, all with less effort.
• Therma-FIT Air Milano leverages Nike Air technology to offer an entirely new sensation in performance outerwear — allowing athletes to regulate their temperature without changing layers, offering warmth levels that range from a hoodie to a mid-weight puffer.

These innovations represent the depth, breadth and impact of Nike’s commitment to athlete-centered innovation, which is now stronger than ever with the unification of the company’s Innovation, Design and Product teams.

“Our curious, talented teammates who come together to serve athletes every day, combined with our advantaged resources like the Nike Sport Research Lab, will enable us to deliver future decades of disruptive products and performance breakthroughs,” says McCartney. “What comes out of our creation teams isn’t just innovative — it’s the kind of work that stops people in their tracks. It wows. It resonates. It makes people feel something. And that’s the magic.”

That magic is the product of nearly 1,000 designers, many working inside the 1-million-square foot Serena Williams Building on Nike’s Philip H. Knight Campus; a dedicated team of bioengineers, neuroscientists and creators in the LeBron James Innovation Center, home to the Nike Sport Research Lab; industry-leading footwear and apparel-creation capabilities in the Bowerman Footwear Lab; and best-in-class manufacturing partners around the world.

“We are a team of dreamers, designers and creators with a responsibility to make athlete dreams real,” says McCartney. “We focus on the athlete’s unique relationship with their sport, creating solutions they never knew they needed and can’t live without. We imagine and innovate — always starting with athletes, staying grounded in sport, and pushing what’s possible in innovation, design and product.”

*If you have a body, you are an athlete.