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.