There's also design centric firms like Airbnb where it does have a seat at the business table. But largely design doesn't get a seat at the table is because the

There's also design centric firms like Airbnb where it does have a seat at the business table. But largely design doesn't get a seat at the table is because the practice hasn't embraced experimentation and science to quantify business outcomes on an ongoing basis. E.g. what is the cost of reducing user complexity in a large system if it's human assisted and you can train individuals to a workflow - some of these have long term business impact e.g. opens up ways for a younger competitor with a better designed product. Also given that design is largely exposed via the interface it becomes that what works can be easily copied over by a competitor - think Threads vs X. If we can bring in design to think through on business problems through the consumer adoption and behaviour change lens - it sure will have a much bigger impact than it does today. Also see some other meta aspects at play - e.g. design is very subjective at the moment and everyone has a choice to what "works for them is good design" .