🌁✍🏼 Design notes from the Bay Area
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the chance to spend time with designers inside the world’s leading AI companies. A few patterns from those conversations –
✨ Founding designers are joining earlier than ever. They’re often one of the first three hires, defining direction before a PM exists. Their compensation now matches engineering, and so does their influence.
✨ Designers who code are default. It’s no longer up for debate. Many companies now hire only those who can push code and prototype ideas that scale. Design that ships has become the benchmark.
✨ The way design is reviewed has flipped. Build > prototype > deck. Code is the clearest form of design. The closer you are to production, the greater your leverage.
✨ Interfaces are converging, and tools are scrambling to keep up. Voice, text, haptics and canvas are being designed as one continuous system. If you’re not designing across modes, you’re designing in the past.
✨ Adaptability is the hottest signal. The people rising fastest can switch tools, rethink systems, and rewrite workflows in no time. Every few months, the process resets. Each reset rewards agility over tenure.
✨ The hiring landscape is recalibrating. Pedigree, output, and velocity have become the new trifecta. Top teams are filtering for people shaped by high-pressure, high-taste environments. Rigor matters again.
✨ The Bay Area still faces a shortage of exceptional design talent. Studios and startups are assembling remote design teams, pulling in builders from everywhere. It’s a charged moment to be creating.
It’s surreal to see how in small pockets, the next few years of experiences are already taking shape. Work meant to be out in 2028 is being tested today, and designers are at the center of it.