We often sound crazy. And then we’re right. Why we’re always too early – and proud of it
By Tom Garcy · 2025-10-13
Back when most people doubted AI in design, we were giving talks about it. Years later, those bold ideas are becoming real.
For as long as I can remember, we haven’t just designed for what’s needed now. We’ve always looked ahead. We believe design and technology have to move together. What tech enables, we must make usable. And what’s well designed actually gets used.
We were thinking about AI long before “AI” became the hot talk. Back in 2018, I gave a speech titled “Will designers survive the rise of AI?” — a room of skeptics, lots of disbelief. 
Back then, it felt far-fetched. It was even mocked. People couldn’t imagine how this would affect design – or that it even mattered. But now, every single thing from that talk is a reality. You can still read it here.
That same year, 7 years ago, I spoke in NYC and San Francisco about the future of user interfaces — how we’d control complex systems using just a single input field. No dashboards, no clicking through endless screens. Just type what you need. Sound familiar? That’s exactly what GPT-5 now allows with apps like Figma and others.
We’ve been building towards this for years.
We even created our own AI UI Kit, and more than a year and a half ago, we published a acclaimed piece on how AI will reshape UX entirely.
Some of those predictions haven’t happened yet — but they will.
What is already real now:
• AI tools help designers speed up research, organizing moodboards, pulling reference visuals, summarizing client docs.
• AI-enabled interfaces are shifting how we think of navigation. The era of invisible UX is emerging: systems that understand user intent, not just tap/button flows.
• Interfaces that react to natural language, predictive interactions, and AI-driven local decisions are becoming less sci-fi and more everyday.
What’s still ahead – but likely inevitable:
• Fully consistent single-input interface systems across platforms (type something and the system flows you to the right screen).
• Seamless transitions between apps, as AI becomes the layer that links them together – less jumping, more context.
• UI components that adapt in real time, shaped by intent rather than static layout choices.
Yes – sometimes we sound too bold. Too early. Maybe “far-fetched.”
But that’s how innovation works. You sketch ideas before the world catches up. You believe in parts others don’t yet see.
We don’t do this for hype. We do it because we see patterns. We listen to tech, to human behavior, to what’s emerging. Even without spotlight or millions of followers, we’ve leaned into the future – predicting ideas that later become facts.
So if you want a partner who builds for what’s next – not just what’s popular – you already know where we are.