Salil Parekh is a designer, artist, and futurist. He currently working as a Senior Design Strategist at EY wavespace in New York, solving complex challenges and accelerating innovation.
Selected Work
EY wavespace / 2025
Partnered with Fortune 500 clients like Barclays, Morgan Stanley, New York Life, Visa, and others to tackle complex, enterprise-scale strategic problems and drive growth. Developed a quantum computing strategy simulation for business leaders and designed a GenAI-powered narrative exploration tool for transmedia initiatives.
Air Pollution Landscape of India / 2020
Investigating the state of air pollution in India, identifying consumer needs and preferences to shape product development and marketing strategies.
Accessible Financial Planning / 2020
Conducted user research and market analysis for a fintech startup to revamp their investment app, creating wireframes and design recommendations to enhance usability and accessibility for investors of all levels.
Love in the Time of Digital / 2019
Analyzed the digital ecosystem of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health programs, identifying key stakeholders, platforms, and pain points to create a framework to amplify program reach, engagement, and impact.
UNCDF FinLab Toolkit / 2019
Facilitated the creation of a HCD driven methodology to help fintech startups optimize their offerings for the B40 customer segment.
UNICEF UPSHIFT Social Innovation / 2018
Designed a curriculum for social innovation projects, empowering entrepreneurial adolescents in Tajikistan to drive positive change and create lasting social impact.
New Growth Platforms for Automotive Brands / 2022
Strategic plan for automotive brands to expand into new growth markets, using a futures thinking methodology.
My house is ill! / 2022
An speculative exhibit that explores how our homes beset in chronic air pollution could evolve and adapt in the near future. Immersive and engaging installations enable the home to ‘react’ to the air around it.
Heliotropic Horology / 2022
Imagining a world run by a radical new way of keeping time, dictated by sunflowers.
What Does Water Want? / 2021
A design fiction piece bringing to life a world inhabited by a people who ask “What does water want?”
The Speculative Design Workshop / 2019
Co-created a futures thinking workshop for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), introducing participants to frameworks, toolkits, and theories from the world of speculative design to challenge and reimagine their practice.
Haboob / 2022
A VR film which tells the story of a Sudanese girl’s experience of a haboob, or sandstorm, in Khartoum which leaves a profound and lingering memory.
Do Curtains Dream at Night? / 2022
Interactive installation handcrafted with bespoke e-textile components.
Responsive Muslin / 2022
Reactive textile created with electronics and e-textiles to explore interactive relationships between human and material.
Simulated Life / 2021
A artificial life ecosystem to explore how systems and models can be tweaked for various outcomes.
Goa Heritage Project / 2018
Documenting and disseminating various aspects of Goan heritage and culture using emerging technology
Bambaiyya VR / 2018
Interactive VR film engaging with different communities and cultures of Mumbai
EY wavespace / 2025
Partnered with S&P 500 clients like Barclays, Morgan Stanley, New York Life, Visa, and others to tackle complex, enterprise-scale strategic problems and drive growth. Developed a quantum computing strategy simulation for business leaders and designed a GenAI-powered narrative exploration tool for transmedia initiatives.
Haboob / 2022
A VR film which tells the story of a Sudanese girl’s experience of a haboob, or sandstorm, in Khartoum which leaves a profound and lingering memory.
New Growth Platforms for Automotive Brands / 2022
Strategic plan for automotive brands to expand into new growth markets, using a futures thinking methodology.
Do Curtains Dream at Night? / 2022
Interactive installation handcrafted with bespoke e-textile components.
My house is ill! / 2022
An speculative exhibit that explores how our homes beset in chronic air pollution could evolve and adapt in the near future. Immersive and engaging installations enable the home to ‘react’ to the air around it.
FIG, a GIF Festival / 2022
An online + offline exhibit celebrating the power of the GIF
Heliotropic Horology / 2022
Imagining a world run by a radical new way of keeping time, dictated by sunflowers.
Responsive Muslin / 2022
Reactive textile created with electronics and e-textiles to explore interactive relationships between human and material.
EMF Controller / 2021
Custom tool to detect EMF disturbances in the environment
Media Arts A11y / 2021
Accessible website template for media art educators
Simulated Life / 2021
A artificial life ecosystem to explore how systems and models can be tweaked for various outcomes.
What Does Water Want? / 2021
A design fiction piece bringing to life a world inhabited by a people who ask “What does water want?”
Pixelcryption / 2020
Encrypting messages within images using pixel-level cryptography
Air Pollution Landscape of India / 2020
Investigating the state of air pollution in India, identifying consumer needs and preferences to shape product development and marketing strategies.
Accessible Financial Planning / 2020
Conducted user research and market analysis for a fintech startup to revamp their investment app, creating wireframes and design recommendations to enhance usability and accessibility for investors of all levels.
Speculative Sunday / 2019
A day of hands on workshops at EyeMyth to visualise radical cultural futures for India
The Speculative Design Workshop / 2019
Co-created a futures thinking workshop for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), introducing participants to frameworks, toolkits, and theories from the world of speculative design to challenge and reimagine their practice.
Love in the Time of Digital / 2019
Analyzed the digital ecosystem of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health programs, identifying key stakeholders, platforms, and pain points to create a framework to amplify program reach, engagement, and impact.
UNCDF FinLab Toolkit / 2019
Facilitated the creation of a HCD driven methodology to help fintech startups optimize their offerings for the B40 customer segment.
UNICEF UPSHIFT Social Innovation / 2018
Designed a curriculum for social innovation projects, empowering entrepreneurial adolescents in Tajikistan to drive positive change and create lasting social impact.
Goa Heritage Project / 2018
Documenting and disseminating various aspects of Goan heritage and culture using emerging technology
Bambaiyya VR / 2018
Interactive VR film engaging with different communities and cultures of Mumbai
Honeywell Aerospace Design Challenge / 2017
Enhancing situational awareness for aerospace communications and surveillance
Holoplagiaristic Fatalism / 2016
Speculating on the future of art movements, and world it occupies
The NID Bamboo Story / 2016
Exhibition on the story of the growth of Bamboo crafts in India
Bubbles–Connecting Pols / 2016
Using creative technology to bring people together
Selected Writing
Economics of Video Games / 2021
Speedrunners and Economists have much more in common than you might think
I Have Nothing to Hide / 2021
Musings on India's soon to be operational Social Registry information System, originally published in Dark Data
Aesthetics/Politics of Republic TV and the Toyota AE86 Trueno / 2020
Thoughts on the weaponisation of aesthetics
Future of Generative Art / 2019
Making a case for generative art becoming the dominant art movement of the future
Rise of Indian Digital Heritage / 2018
Digital Heritage is an important component of cultural identity, here's why
Selected Teaching
Pune Futures / 2020 / Workshop
Speculating on the future of Pune in Fortnite
Digital Bunkers / 2020 / Workshop
Lockdown speculations within Fortnite
Humanitarian Futures / 2019 / Workshop
Humanitarian Futures conceptualised through digital spaces
Virtual Narratives / 2018 / Workshop
Storytelling through digital spaces