envision (someone or something) as (someone or something else)
To picture or fantasize about someone or something as being different than it currently is. I'm sorry, but Brian is so shy that I just can't envision him as a news anchor. Try to envision the office as a nursery.
envision someone as someone else
and envision something as something elseto imagine or fantasize someone as someone else; to imagine or fantasize something as something else. I envision her as the next company president. We envisioned this as larger than it turned out to be.