Is it realistic to skip the BA?

Depends on the business.

ideo hires from a very broad background.

I have ID, chemistry, biology, engineering, business, nursing, physical therapy and computer science majors working for me. They are all encouraged to work outside of their specialty. But if they don’t want to, that is cool too. And there are places I won’t let them do. Some should never be in front of a customer. Others should never be allowed in the lab.