Baruk Jacob

Co-founder, CounterFactual | PhD Candidate, AUT (Hautū Waka) | Former Capability Lead, Auckland Co-Design Lab | Relational Designer | Behaviour Change Practitioner

Baruk Jacob has built his career on a question most organisations haven't learned to ask: what is the hidden architecture of how we actually work? Not the org chart, not the stated processes, but the relational dynamics, behaviour patterns, and informal systems that quietly determine whether innovation happens or stalls. That question led him from design practice into behaviour change, and from behaviour change into the PhD research he's completing at AUT.

His PhD explores how Māori wayfinding concepts can unlock innovation capability in teams, drawing on Indigenous navigation frameworks to understand how groups orient themselves under uncertainty. As co-founder of CounterFactual, a behaviour design studio working across civic engagement, sustainability, and community resilience, he applies that thinking to real organisations facing real problems.

His former role as Capability Lead at the Auckland Co-Design Lab gave him a deep understanding of what participatory design looks like at the system level. The contribution he brings to any room: the problem you thought you had is usually a much more interesting one.