Workplace VP Sean Devlin Helps Bring Duolingo’s Quirky Culture to Life

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When Duolingo’s Sean Devlin logs onto our Zoom call, he’s in a conference room called “Gaelic.” He clarifies that he’s in Pittsburgh where the educational tech company is headquartered, but each room is a nod to one of the many languages you can learn on its app. “Arabic’s right there, and Klingon’s over there,” Devlin says, gesturing.

These rooms are just one small example of how you can find Duolingo’s brand infused into its space. But still, Devlin sees room for improvement in terms of intuitive wayfinding. He points to the company’s other building across the street as an example; every room is named after food from a different cuisine. “They did it luckily in alphabetical order, so it aids as you’re walking through the space,” he explains. “You can matriculate from the As to the Ws or whatnot, and, you know, you’re actually moving east to west. It’s very easy.”

As the real estate team, headed by Devlin, prepares to consolidate the Pittsburgh headquarters into a single building next year, there will be myriad opportunities to identify what is and isn’t working and create a refined space.

Devlin joined Duolingo last May as its vice president and head of global workplace and real estate, bringing with him an experienced portfolio that features the likes of Disney, Google, and Netflix. He says he was attracted to his latest company because of two things: scale and culture.

Compared to the legendary “behemoths” Devlin had worked for previously, he says, “to go at a much smaller scale and have a much bigger impact across the board was appealing.”

And then there’s Duolingo’s undeniably quirky atmosphere, underscored by its animated characters known for interacting with users through personalized reminders, congratulations, and even meme-worthy, cheeky threats to encourage daily lessons. Duo, the owl mascot, has also become a viral social media sensation.

Devlin’s team is embarking on a particularly fun project by bringing the characters to life in the New York office this fall in the form of an art gallery with “living portraits” of each character to engage with, similar to the “changing portraits” in Disney’s Haunted Mansion. “We want our reception or greeting space to be something unexpected and different for people coming in, whether that’s investors, whether it’s new talent for recruiting, whether they’re just guests,” he explains.

“The culture and the mission of the company is somewhat unique,” Devlin says. “I don’t want to say completely unique, but there’s a lot of positive intent, a lot of great goals, and opportunity to benefit those around the world.” The widely popular app, launched in 2012, now boasts more than 500 million users and has expanded its offerings beyond language learning to include other areas of study, such as music and math.

And while Devlin’s team isn’t coding the platform or developing the curriculum, it has a direct impact on the day to day of the people who do. “If you can educate the world, you can make a lot of difference in people’s lives and opportunities,” he says. “And how can we help our Duos (employees) to be more effective? That’s kind of our goal in workplace and real estate: to ensure they have all the tools they need to focus on the core mission—not worry about friction and challenges in their surrounding workspace and team neighborhoods.”

To create a workplace catering to the diverse needs of Duos—both current and prospective—Devlin points to inclusivity as a major focus. One consideration is “neurodiversity and having spaces where anybody can be effective,” he explains. Roughly 15 to 20 percent of the overall population is estimated to be neurodiverse, and as members of  the younger generations enter Duolingo’s workforce, Devlin recognizes the need to have spaces that accommodate and respect a variety of work and communication styles.

“You want to give people those moments where you can be highly engaged and highly energetic, and then moments where you’re really introspective and heads down or focused,” he says. The former will appreciate “living room space” to connect, while the latter may flourish in the large library. That functions as a “quiet zone” with individualized carrels, perfect for Duos with academic backgrounds or anyone needing some isolation to finish a project.

“If you have effectively designed space, then it will allow teams to thrive, it will allow communication and collaboration to be successful,” Devlin says. Other lifestyle needs are covered, too: mother’s rooms, prayer and meditations room featuring a compass to orient users whose practices face a specific direction, and safe hubs for the many employee resource groups to gather.

Devlin’s partners are impressed by his vision and happy to contribute to its execution. “Working with Sean, it is immediately apparent that he sees the workplace as a powerful tool to support and foster the culture and wellbeing of Duolingo as a whole,” says David Galullo, CEO and chief creative officer at Rapt Studio, a design firm that specializes in the human connections within branding. “It is a pleasure to assist him and his team in this endeavor.”

Though his work is constantly evolving, Devlin’s design philosophy remains consistent, based on a quote by Walt Disney. “If you have really great space, if it’s designed well, if it looks good, and it’s maintained . . . people will love it, they’ll respect it, they won’t obviously damage it or do anything to disenfranchise it,” he says, his own pride palpable.

That was the motto for Devlin at Disney, and he’s applying it at Duolingo as well. “If you create a great ecosystem, people want to be part of that ecosystem,” he adds. “And even if they’re just guests transitioning through the space, they can embrace it in a way. And ideally, for our Duos, then they take ownership of it because it is like their work community, aside from their family community.”

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