We spoke with Antonio Díaz Cueto about how AI is transforming design, which skills will make the difference, and how to prepare for this new era.
We had the opportunity to speak with Antonio Díaz Cueto, Product Designer, mentor for designers navigating the transition into the age of artificial intelligence, and founder of Design Shapers, one of the most promising design and AI communities in Spanish. Antonio has spent a considerable time helping design professionals rethink their role, update their capabilities, and understand what it means to design in a context where AI is no longer a promise — it is part of the present.
In this conversation we explore a topic that touches every Product Designer, Product Manager, UX Lead, and Innovation Lead today: how design is genuinely changing with AI in UX and Product Design. Not from the perspective of hype, but from practice. We talk about value, skills, portfolios, real adoption, vibe coding, agents, and the kind of designer that companies are going to need from here on.
Execution is no longer enough: designers must return to delivering real value
One of the most powerful ideas in the conversation was this: AI did not create change from scratch, but it has accelerated a transformation that was already taking shape.
Antonio explains it clearly when he says: "what has happened with AI is that it has accelerated what was already happening". He adds a reflection that is uncomfortable, but very necessary: "if your profession starts to become as simple as reproducing methodologies that work, systems that work, processes that work, you are already substituting yourself".
The conversation leads us to a central idea: the designer who only executes screens, follows instructions, and operates within a fully systematised process has far less room to differentiate themselves today. In response to this, Antonio proposes returning to the origins of design: understanding people, creating meaningful solutions, building memorable experiences, and bringing judgement. He also puts it very directly: "it is time to justify your value, because if you are not clear about it yourself and simply wait to receive instructions, the entity that is very good at following instructions is AI".
What we take away
AI does not eliminate the need for design; it eliminates, above all, the value of design when it becomes purely mechanical. What gains weight now is judgement, sensibility, strategic capacity, and a deep understanding of context.
The new differentiator: taste, strategy, and the ability to build
Antonio argues that the designer's new value no longer lies solely in mastering tools, but in developing a combination that is harder to replicate: taste, strategic vision, and the ability to build.
One of his most revealing phrases was: "we are going to recover taste, we are going to recover being a person who understands well — perhaps the product strategy of the company". And he follows with another very powerful idea: "we are going to be someone who knows how to build, not someone who knows how to take design further".
There is an important alert here for those working in product: if a PM or a developer feels that a feature is already sufficiently resolved with existing patterns and that the designer's output does not add an additional layer of value, the role weakens. On the other hand, when the designer helps identify non-obvious problems, create a differential experience, and align the solution with strategy, their role becomes more relevant than ever.
What we take away
In this new phase, designing well no longer simply means "making correct interfaces". It means bringing a perspective that connects business, experience, and execution.
From using AI occasionally to thinking in workflows, agents, and automation
Another very interesting section covered the framework of the 7 levels of AI adoption in design that Antonio has shared with his community. According to him, a few months ago most designers were at a more exploratory level, but the pace of change has accelerated significantly. Today, in his view, a large proportion of professionals are already operating at a more integrated level, where AI is beginning to form a natural part of the process.
Antonio comments: "I think that today most people are starting to be at level 4 as a standard", referring to the designer who has already integrated AI into their regular process. But the most interesting part comes when he describes where he believes we are heading: "the next level is the orchestrator designer who is already starting to think in workflows… how do I systematise things, how do I automate this, what workflow do I have and how can I create agents".
He also grounds it as a concrete skill: "it would start to become increasingly essential that you think about which parts of your process you can automate".
What we take away
The future is not just about using AI tools. It is about learning to redesign the way we work: fewer repetitive tasks, more thinking about processes, automation, and higher-value decision-making.
Is the design process dead? No, but it has accelerated
During the conversation, one of those questions that hangs in the air came up: whether the traditional design process has died or is ceasing to make sense in the age of AI.
Antonio was very nuanced here. He does not buy into the narratives that say we no longer need to understand people or conduct rigorous research. But he does acknowledge something very important: the pace of design has changed.
He put it this way: "if we understand that the design process allows you to understand or define a problem and then propose solutions, validate them, and keep iterating, it is true that this iteration loop has accelerated". And he adds: "the fundamentals of understanding a problem, proposing solutions, and validating them — I think that does not change; we just move faster".
This distinction is key. It is not about abandoning the fundamentals. It is about recognising that we can now explore, prototype, test, and learn at a far greater speed.
What we take away
We are not witnessing the death of design, but a radical compression of its cycles. The question is no longer whether to do research or validate, but how to do it better and faster without losing depth.
What designers are saying: widespread adoption, lots of FOMO, and concerns about employment
One of the most valuable moments of the interview was when Antonio shared findings from his annual report on AI in design, conducted with 248 designers from 19 countries.
As he explains, one thing already seems quite settled: "there is no longer that debate of AI yes or AI no". The conversation is no longer about whether to use it, but about how to integrate it meaningfully. He also speaks of a feeling that is very present in the community: a mixture of fascination and pressure. In his words, many people are experiencing this moment with a blend of "FOMO", curiosity, and a sense of vertigo at everything they feel they should be learning.
One of the findings that surprised him most was that very few people are yet coding or using environments like Cursor, Claude Code, or similar tools. He describes it this way: "there were very few — an absolute minority — who were already using AI to code".
And the second major finding was even more revealing: "the majority of designers believed there would be less design work".
Antonio does not offer a definitive answer about what will happen, but he does open up two possible scenarios: a defensive one, where companies try to do more with less; and an offensive one, where the additional productivity drives the creation of more products, more features, and new design needs.
What we take away
The industry is not calm: it is in the middle of a full reconfiguration. And when there is this much uncertainty, the best strategy is not to wait, but to move ahead of the average.
Vibe Coding: why it is starting to matter so much to designers
One of the most practical sections of the conversation revolved around Vibe Coding and working in development environments. Antonio defines it very simply: "vibe coding is nothing more than generating products that work without knowing how to code".
What is interesting is not just the definition, but what this unlocks. For Antonio, working in this way makes it possible to validate ideas, communicate solutions more effectively to business stakeholders and developers, and — most importantly — step outside the comfort zone of Figma. Because when the designer works on something functional, they encounter real constraints, states, technical limits, edge cases, and more complete product decisions.
There is a phrase that captures this shift very well: "it helps you grow a little as a designer because you step out of your comfort zone". And another, even more direct: "we cannot refuse to acknowledge and turn a blind eye to this new reality".
He also clarifies something important: not all contexts are the same. In a large corporation, vibe coding may be more useful for exploring, prototyping, and communicating. In a startup, as a freelancer, or in a more entrepreneurial context, it can become a genuine route for shipping product.
What we take away
Not every designer will need to become a developer. But an increasing number of designers will benefit from understanding how a product is really built and from approaching code without fear.
How to move forward when your company still will not let you experiment
A particularly useful part of the interview addressed a very common problem: what to do if you work in a rigid corporate environment, with restrictions, without access to certain tools, or with a low tolerance for experimentation.
Antonio outlines two paths. The first is to make the most of whatever margin is available within the company itself. The second — perhaps the most honest — is to dedicate personal time to building real judgement and practice.
His advice was very clear: "think of a problem that motivates you a little, a project that excites you, and use it to learn AI". And he closes with a powerful idea: "that project we have always thought 'there really should be an app for this'… well, now you can build that app yourself".
Here a message emerges that resonates with many designers: we cannot always wait for the company to create the ideal context. Sometimes, professional development begins with a side project, a personal experiment, or a small initiative of your own.
What we take away
The best way to understand this new phase is not just to read about it. It is to build something, even something small. Practice is no longer optional: it is part of the learning.
The 2026 portfolio can no longer look like the one before
The portfolio that worked a few years ago is no longer enough. Antonio connects this idea to everything discussed previously: if the new value lies in building, validating, and demonstrating real judgement, then the portfolio must also evolve in that direction.
The logic he presents is very compelling: moving away from portfolios full of generic exercises or overly academic case studies, and starting to show more real projects, with more context, more decision-making, and a stronger connection to concrete problems. Earlier in the conversation, Antonio had already insisted that today's designer needs to justify their value more clearly, think in terms of real products, and move closer to building.
What we take away
A strong portfolio today does not just show beautiful screens. It shows judgement, focus, context, decisions, and — increasingly — the ability to take ideas towards something tangible.
Three insights from the interview
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The designer who will add the most value will not be the one who best executes repeatable tasks, but the one who best combines judgement, strategy, and the ability to build.
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AI does not eliminate the fundamentals of design, but it does radically compress the timelines for exploration, validation, and iteration.
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Waiting for the ideal context to arrive can be costly. Anyone who wants to keep growing needs to experiment, learn, and build — starting now.
If you want to watch the full conversation and hear all of Antonio Díaz Cueto's reflections in his own words, you can find it on our YouTube channel or on his.
