6th Sense Innovation started by accident in 2008.
Not exactly the five year plan — but turns out detours make great directions.
I'd been working for ?What If! Innovation for a few years — brilliant job, all design thinking and strategy, lots of travel, edging toward burnout. When the Sydney office closed, I was ready for a break. But one client had other plans. "We're paying for you, not ?What If!," they said. "Keep working with us."​
​
I agreed to one project. Just one.
​​
That turned into another... and another.
​​
This wasn’t just a stopgap, it was becoming something of its own. So I decided to name the baby. Turning the human-centred lens back on myself, I ran a mini version of the same process I’d use for clients and 6th Sense Innovation was born.
​
​
"You should look into biomimicry -
you'd love it."
Then in 2016, during a research interview, someone said exactly that.
She was right.
​
​
I completed an 18-month Graduate Certificate in Biomimicry at Arizona State University. I could have continued to the Masters, but I wanted to use it, not just study it. That's when I started integrating nature-centred design with human-centred design. The love affair had begun.
​
The challenge? In 2018, few in Australia knew what biomimicry was. Clients were curious but cautious. We knew it worked; we'd seen it unlock things that human-centred design couldn't. We were just early.
By then, I'd been practising design thinking for nearly two decades. When AI came knocking, I went back to school: Wharton for AI integration across business functions, now finishing certifications in agentic AI and AI-enhanced design thinking. I want to know when AI actually adds value versus when it's just noise.
​
That's when the pattern became clear:
​
Three intelligences. Each solving different problems.
​
Human intelligence shows what people need.
​
Nature's intelligence shows how nature's already solved it.
​
Artificial intelligence reveals patterns we might otherwise miss.
​
And the tension between them — that's where it gets interesting. Each keeps the others honest.
​
By 2024, everyone's doing human-centred design. I've trained thousands in it. Which is great — but it's no longer the edge. The convergence of these three intelligences? Still rare.
​​
Pia Williams
Founder, 6th Sense Innovation
Expertise
Formal credentials and practitioner-level experience in all three disciplines.
Design Thinking
Two decades developing human-centred innovation expertise across brand, product, and customer experience. This is our foundation.​
​
​
​
Biomimicry
Pia Williams (Founder), is one of the first certified business professionals in Australia to apply nature-inspired design commercially. Graduate-level certification from Arizona State University. Practising since 2016.​
AI Integration
Pia holds formal training from Wharton School in applying AI across business functions, and is currently completing advanced certifications in Agentic AI and AI-enhanced design thinking.​
70+ projects
Finance, FMCG, energy, health, and sustainability sectors globally
96% retention
Client return rate over the past 17 years
1000+ people
Trained professionals across APAC, EMEA, and USA
6+ years
Preferred supplier to 5 multinational organisations
Track Record
Our Team Model
We use a hub and spoke model. Pia Williams is the Founder and Principal Strategist, supported by a global pool of specialised practitioners we bring in as needed.
We are Sydney-based but run projects worldwide: Australia, UK, South Africa, Poland, Slovakia, Southeast Asia, USA, Colombia, South Korea, China, and India. Have bag, do travel.