Omari Hitson is a VP Lead Product Designer for Emerging Technologies at JPMorgan Chase and Chapter President of the VR/AR Association Ohio — someone who has spent his career doing what few designers are positioned to do: move emerging technology from concept to validated reality inside some of the world's most complex, regulated environments.

With a foundation in industrial and product design from Georgia Institute of Technology and international design experience spanning the US and Scandinavia, Omari has developed a rare fluency in both the craft of design and the constraints of enterprise. He doesn't just prototype ideas — he builds the strategic case for them, navigating the organizational complexity that causes most innovation initiatives to stall before they ever reach a user.

His OhioXR initiative reflects that same instinct: identify a gap, build the infrastructure around it, and bring the right people into the room. From mapping the Midwest's immersive technology ecosystem to judging at MIT Reality Hack and representing Ohio's XR community on an international stage, Omari consistently operates where early-stage thinking meets large-scale impact.

His work sits at the convergence of product design, immersive technology, and enterprise innovation — and for teams navigating the distance between a bold idea and a validated product, that combination is exactly what moves the needle.