You equal UX designers with UI designers, strategists and art directors, which makes it hard to follow and agree.
UX requires no innovation, the other aspects in design do.
It’s also a people thing - some excel at producing great aesthetics while being really bad at structured UX methods and the other way around.
One thing that’s objectively happening is the web app industry maturing, and every maturity process comes with lesser quantum leaps. Being against that would be nostalgia, don’t you think?
It’s like with cars in 2023 - every car looks the same and boring despite being able to have a unique design. That’s probably what we’re looking to reverse here…? The car industry can give an example why: Derisking on management level. Hard to believe its because designers don’t want to invent new car shapes with soul. A battle would have to be upwards on the hierarchy level, but good luck with specialists winning such war - one has to acquire a more holistic understanding of the business one’s in, first.
My suggestion: Cofound the company of the product you so perfectly know, then you can impact the culture of thinking in the way to benefit your perspective on how the world should be.