How designers are evolving their tools, craft, and teams with AI

AI in Design Report 2026

By Designer Fund in partnership with Foundation Capital

Scroll to read

How designers are evolving their tools, craft, and teams with AI

AI in Design Report 2026

By Designer Fund in partnership with Foundation Capital

Scroll to read

How designers are evolving their tools, craft, and teams with AI

AI in Design Report 2026

By Designer Fund in partnership with Foundation Capital

Scroll to read

Our partners

Our partners

An Inflection Point

In 2025, designers were experimenting with AI. In 2026, they’re rebuilding around it.

An Inflection Point

In 2025, designers were experimenting with AI. In 2026, they’re rebuilding around it.

An Inflection Point

In 2025, designers were experimenting with AI. In 2026, they’re rebuilding around it.

An Inflection Point

In 2025, designers were experimenting with AI. In 2026, they’re rebuilding around it.

900+

Designers surveyed in 60+ countries.

25+

Interviews with practitioners and leaders

900+

Designers surveyed in 60+ countries.

25+

Interviews with practitioners and leaders

900+

Designers surveyed in 60+ countries

25+

Interviews with practitioners and leaders

AI in Design 2026 aims to capture how AI is transforming tech design across designers’ desks and within their teams.

We ran our first AI in Design survey in early 2025 because we consistently heard designers and leaders ask, “How are others doing this, and what’s working?” A year later, we’re attempting to get a sense for what’s changed and share firsthand perspectives.

The answers come from over 900 designers at startups, enterprises, and agencies who work across disciplines like product design, brand design, research, and design engineering. We also conducted over 20 interviews with leaders at companies actively navigating this shift.

Given how quickly practices are evolving, we’ll continue to release new findings throughout the year, including case studies about design at companies like Anthropic, Sierra, Stripe, Notion, Shopify, Linear, and Framer. Sign up for new releases.

AI in Design 2026 aims to capture how AI is transforming tech design across designers’ desks and within their teams.

We ran our first AI in Design survey in early 2025 because we consistently heard designers and leaders ask, “How are others doing this, and what’s working?” A year later, we’re attempting to get a sense for what’s changed and share firsthand perspectives.

The answers come from over 900 designers at startups, enterprises, and agencies who work across disciplines like product design, brand design, research, and design engineering. We also conducted over 20 interviews with leaders at companies actively navigating this shift.

Given how quickly practices are evolving, we’ll continue to release new findings throughout the year, including case studies about design at companies like Anthropic, Sierra, Stripe, Notion, Shopify, Linear, and Framer. Sign up for new releases.

AI in Design 2026 aims to capture how AI is transforming tech design across designers’ desks and within their teams.

We ran our first AI in Design survey in early 2025 because we consistently heard designers and leaders ask, “How are others doing this, and what’s working?” A year later, we’re attempting to get a sense for what’s changed and share firsthand perspectives.

The answers come from over 900 designers at startups, enterprises, and agencies who work across disciplines like product design, brand design, research, and design engineering. We also conducted over 20 interviews with leaders at companies actively navigating this shift.

Given how quickly practices are evolving, we’ll continue to release new findings throughout the year, including case studies about design at companies like Anthropic, Sierra, Stripe, Notion, Shopify, Linear, and Framer. Sign up for new releases.

AI in Design 2026 aims to capture how AI is transforming tech design across designers’ desks and within their teams.

We ran our first AI in Design survey in early 2025 because we consistently heard designers and leaders ask, “How are others doing this, and what’s working?” A year later, we’re attempting to get a sense for what’s changed and share firsthand perspectives.

The answers come from over 900 designers at startups, enterprises, and agencies who work across disciplines like product design, brand design, research, and design engineering. We also conducted over 20 interviews with leaders at companies actively navigating this shift.

Given how quickly practices are evolving, we’ll continue to release new findings throughout the year, including case studies about design at companies like Anthropic, Sierra, Stripe, Notion, Shopify, Linear, and Framer. Sign up for new releases.

Katie Dill

Head of Design, STRIPE

AI is sparking a creative renaissance in design. With new instruments, it’s our chance to compose wholly new music.

Katie Dill

Head of Design, STRIPE

AI is sparking a creative renaissance in design. With new instruments, it’s our chance to compose wholly new music.

Katie Dill

Head of Design, STRIPE

AI is sparking a creative renaissance in design. With new instruments, it’s our chance to compose wholly new music.

01

Tools

The great toolstack shakeup

AI usage has surged, but the toolstack is still in flux. Designers are using double the number of off-the-shelf tools than they did in 2025, and they’re building custom software with AI that matches how they like to work. As everyone rushes to keep up with new releases, reliable output quality remains the largest area for improvement.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

The most-used AI design tools

How the average tool stack has more than doubled

What makes tools stick (and why many still don’t)

Designers as builders of their own tools

Tool fatigue and the pressure to always be learning

Read the Tools Chapter

01

Tools

The great toolstack shakeup

AI usage has surged, but the toolstack is still in flux. Designers are using double the number of off-the-shelf tools than they did in 2025, and they’re building custom software with AI that matches how they like to work. As everyone rushes to keep up with new releases, reliable output quality remains the largest area for improvement.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

The most-used AI design tools

How the average tool stack has more than doubled

What makes tools stick (and why many still don’t)

Designers as builders of their own tools

Tool fatigue and the pressure to always be learning

Read the Tools Chapter

01

Tools

The great toolstack shakeup

AI usage has surged, but the toolstack is still in flux. Designers are using double the number of off-the-shelf tools than they did in 2025, and they’re building custom software with AI that matches how they like to work. As everyone rushes to keep up with new releases, reliable output quality remains the largest area for improvement.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

The most-used AI design tools

How the average tool stack has more than doubled

What makes tools stick (and why many still don’t)

Designers as builders of their own tools

Tool fatigue and the pressure to always be learning

Read the Tools Chapter

01

Tools

The great toolstack shakeup

AI usage has surged, but the toolstack is still in flux. Designers are using double the number of off-the-shelf tools than they did in 2025, and they’re building custom software with AI that matches how they like to work. As everyone rushes to keep up with new releases, reliable output quality remains the largest area for improvement.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

The most-used AI design tools

How the average tool stack has more than doubled

What makes tools stick (and why many still don’t)

Designers as builders of their own tools

Tool fatigue and the pressure to always be learning

Read the Tools Chapter

02

Craft

Craft in the age of infinite output

Everyone is shipping faster. But is speed good for craft? AI has unlocked a new gear for designers: they’re ideating faster, prototyping more, and learning to code. Half of respondents have pushed AI-generated code to production. At the same time, we hear concerns about craft atrophy and the loneliness of designing alongside AI instead of teammates.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

Coding as a core design skill

Prototyping as a default output

The tension between speed and quality

Preserving judgment, taste, and skill development

The confidence that comes from being a builder

Read the Craft Chapter

02

Craft

Craft in the age of infinite output

Everyone is shipping faster. But is speed good for craft? AI has unlocked a new gear for designers: they’re ideating faster, prototyping more, and learning to code. Half of respondents have pushed AI-generated code to production. At the same time, we hear concerns about craft atrophy and the loneliness of designing alongside AI instead of teammates.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

Coding as a core design skill

Prototyping as a default output

The tension between speed and quality

Preserving judgment, taste, and skill development

The confidence that comes from being a builder

Read the Craft Chapter

02

Craft

Craft in the age of infinite output

Everyone is shipping faster. But is speed good for craft? AI has unlocked a new gear for designers: they’re ideating faster, prototyping more, and learning to code. Half of respondents have pushed AI-generated code to production. At the same time, we hear concerns about craft atrophy and the loneliness of designing alongside AI instead of teammates.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

Coding as a core design skill

Prototyping as a default output

The tension between speed and quality

Preserving judgment, taste, and skill development

The confidence that comes from being a builder

Read the Craft Chapter

02

Craft

Craft in the age of infinite output

Everyone is shipping faster. But is speed good for craft? AI has unlocked a new gear for designers: they’re ideating faster, prototyping more, and learning to code. Half of respondents have pushed AI-generated code to production. At the same time, we hear concerns about craft atrophy and the loneliness of designing alongside AI instead of teammates.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

Coding as a core design skill

Prototyping as a default output

The tension between speed and quality

Preserving judgment, taste, and skill development

The confidence that comes from being a builder

Read the Craft Chapter

03

Teams

Redesigning the design org

AI gave designers new powers. Now organizations need to adapt. Roles are blurring as designers take on PM and engineering work, and vice versa. Hiring managers want AI fluency alongside a high bar for craft, vision, and storytelling. But few companies have updated performance reviews, team structures, or hiring practices to match how the work has changed.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

How companies support AI adoption

Role blur between design, PM, and engineering

The messy nature of collaboration

Changing expectations and company policy

What hiring managers are now looking for

Read the Teams Chapter

03

Teams

Redesigning the design org

AI gave designers new powers. Now organizations need to adapt. Roles are blurring as designers take on PM and engineering work, and vice versa. Hiring managers want AI fluency alongside a high bar for craft, vision, and storytelling. But few companies have updated performance reviews, team structures, or hiring practices to match how the work has changed.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

How companies support AI adoption

Role blur between design, PM, and engineering

The messy nature of collaboration

Changing expectations and company policy

What hiring managers are now looking for

Read the Teams Chapter

03

Teams

Redesigning the design org

Companies have stepped up their support for AI adoption, but most of the learning is still happening between peers. The organizations seeing the most momentum are creating the conditions for tinkering. They’re also rethinking collaboration rituals for a world where anyone can spin up a prototype, but the AI tools they’re using haven’t yet been designed for multiplayer work.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

How companies support AI adoption

Role blur between design, PM, and engineering

The messy nature of collaboration

Changing expectations and company policy

What hiring managers are now looking for

Read the Teams Chapter

03

Teams

Redesigning the design org

AI gave designers new powers. Now organizations need to adapt. Roles are blurring as designers take on PM and engineering work, and vice versa. Hiring managers want AI fluency alongside a high bar for craft, vision, and storytelling. But few companies have updated performance reviews, team structures, or hiring practices to match how the work has changed.

In this chapter, we’ll cover:

How companies support AI adoption

Role blur between design, PM, and engineering

The messy nature of collaboration

Changing expectations and company policy

What hiring managers are now looking for

Read the Teams Chapter

Coming soon

Inside AI-native design teams

Seven video case studies with the design teams at Anthropic, Framer, Linear, Notion, Shopify, Sierra, and Stripe. Go inside the workflows they've rebuilt, the tradeoffs they're navigating, and how they’re operating differently as a team.

Get notified when they’re released

Coming soon

Inside AI-native design teams

Seven video case studies with the design teams at Anthropic, Framer, Linear, Notion, Shopify, Sierra, and Stripe. Go inside the workflows they've rebuilt, the tradeoffs they're navigating, and how they’re operating differently as a team.

Get notified when they’re released

Coming soon

Inside AI-native design teams

Seven video case studies with the design teams at Anthropic, Framer, Linear, Notion, Shopify, Sierra, and Stripe. Go inside the workflows they've rebuilt, the tradeoffs they're navigating, and how they’re operating differently as a team.

Get notified when they’re released

Coming soon

Inside AI-native design teams

Seven video case studies with the design teams at Anthropic, Framer, Linear, Notion, Shopify, Sierra, and Stripe. Go inside the workflows they've rebuilt, the tradeoffs they're navigating, and how they’re operating differently as a team.

Get notified when they’re released

Get new case studies & report markdown

Download the markdown version of the report, ready to drop into any tool. Get notified as new case studies go live.

By subscribing, you agree to receive communications from Designer Fund and Foundation Capital in accordance with their privacy policies.

Methodology

This report draws from

906

Survey responses

25+

Interviews

50+

Public sources

Report Partners

Anthropic

Framer

Stripe

Sierra

Notion

Shopify

Linear

Report

Read the Report

About

Case Studies

©2026 Designer Fund, Foundation Capital. All rights reserved

Made in Framer by ++hellohello

Get new case studies & report markdown

Download the markdown version of the report, ready to drop into any tool. Get notified as new case studies go live.

By subscribing, you agree to receive communications from Designer Fund and Foundation Capital in accordance with their privacy policies.

Methodology

This report draws from

906

Survey responses

25+

Interviews

50+

Public sources

Report Partners

Anthropic

Framer

Stripe

Sierra

Notion

Shopify

Linear

Report

Read the Report

About

Case Studies

©2026 Designer Fund, Foundation Capital. All rights reserved

Made in Framer by ++hellohello

Get new case studies & report markdown

Download the markdown version of the report, ready to drop into any tool. Get notified as new case studies go live.

By subscribing, you agree to receive communications from Designer Fund and Foundation Capital in accordance with their privacy policies.

Methodology

This report draws from

906

Survey responses

25+

Interviews

50+

Public sources

Report Partners

Anthropic

Framer

Stripe

Sierra

Notion

Shopify

Linear

Report

Read the Report

About

Case Studies

©2026 Designer Fund, Foundation Capital. All rights reserved

Made in Framer by ++hellohello