Design of AI | Build Products that Customers & Businesses Value

• 45. Agentics: Rebuilding How We Think, Work, and Create with AI [Kwame Nyanning, Author of Agentic]

  The next revolution in AI isn’t another tool, it’s a reconstruction of how organizations think, act, and create meaning.Strategist and designer Kwame Nyanning (Partner & Chief Design Officer at EY Seren) argues that the companies who win the agentic era won’t be the fastest to automate — they’ll be the first to redesign their ontology: the invisible system of goals, relationships, and decisions that define value. His book Agentics, How to design AI agents for impact, growth & innovations reframes AI not as a tool, but as a design medium for intent, alignment, and emergence. What you’ll learn:➤ How agentic systems blur the line between user, product, and enterprise—and what it means to lead in that new reality.➤ Why design is shifting from pixel-perfect outputs to intent-perfect systems, where meaning and business-redefining ontology drives performance.➤ Why the real risk of automation isn’t lost jobs but lost meaning, and how friction, constraint, and emotion become the new luxury.➤ How agencies and teams can thrive by trading efficiency for proof of alignment and outcomes that matter.—-------This is episode 45 of the Design of AI Podcast. And please make sure to rate this podcast if you find it valuable. Your podcast ratings and comments are the best way to influence which topics we cover in future episodes. And if you want more AI strategy & research content, subscribe to our substack newsletter at ⁠https://designofai.substack.com/⁠ Our next AI Product Strategy workshop is happening on November 20.In this 3-hour online workshop you’ll leverage our framework for discovering and pressure-testing disruptive AI product ideas. Get more info at designof.ai/workshop —----------This episode was hosted by:Arpy Dragffy Guerrero ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/adragffy/⁠ Brittany Hobbs  ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanyhobbs/⁠This episode is brought to you by PH1 Research, a research & strategy consultancy specialized in mapping the future of your business & product. Get more info at ⁠PH1.ca⁠—--------Kwame Nyanning is a strategist, designer, and thought leader working at the intersection of AI, enterprise transformation, and human-centered design. Formerly with McKinsey, Frog, and Infosys, and now embedded in EY Saren, Kwame’s work explores how organizations must move beyond incremental automation and instead reimagine their very ontology — the foundational logic of how value and meaning are created.Follow him on Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kwamenyanning Buy his must-read book here Available in paperback or Kindle.Follow Design of AI podcast here:⁠⁠Spotify⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/3O11vQKPpKI5ZlJhdRGwnf⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-of-ai-product-strategy-innovation-career-growth/id1734499859⁠  ⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DesignofAI⁠

  --------  

  44:55

  --------

  44:55
• 44. AI Won’t Save Your Product—Discovery Will [Teresa Torres - Product Talk]

  Product teams are moving fast on AI—but speed without discovery is a trap. Teresa Torres—author of Continuous Discovery Habits and one of the most trusted voices in modern product thinking—reveals why teams that skip real customer contact are building faster and failing faster.In this episode, you’ll learn how to:Avoid the AI discovery trap: Don’t fall for synthetic users, fake insights, and “discovery theater.” Teresa shows how to ground AI-assisted research in real human context so your data actually leads to defensible products.Use AI to think deeper, not cheaper: Learn the high-leverage ways AI can supercharge synthesis, spot patterns across thousands of signals, and accelerate prototyping—without replacing the empathy and nuance only humans can see.Turn discovery into your moat: Discover why first-hand customer contact is still the ultimate competitive edge—and how teams using AI to augment discovery (not outsource it) are finding opportunities their competitors miss.—-------This is episode 44 of the Design of AI Podcast.If this conversation helps you build smarter, rate the podcast and leave a comment—your feedback shapes the next topics we explore.Want to go deeper? Subscribe to our Substack newsletter for AI strategy & research insights.Our next AI Product Strategy Workshop is on November 20. In this 3-hour online session, you’ll learn our framework for discovering and pressure-testing disruptive AI product ideas. Get details at https://designof.ai/workshop.—----------This episode was hosted by:Arpy Dragffy Guerrero (Founder & Principal Strategist PH1 Research) ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/adragffy/⁠ Brittany Hobbs https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanyhobbs/ And if you want more AI strategy & research content, subscribe to our substack newsletter at ⁠https://designofai.substack.com/⁠ This episode is brought to you by PH1 Research, a research & strategy consultancy specialized in mapping the future of your business & product. Get more info at ⁠PH1.ca⁠ Follow us here:⁠⁠Spotify⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/3O11vQKPpKI5ZlJhdRGwnf⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-of-ai-product-strategy-innovation-career-growth/id1734499859⁠  ⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DesignofAI⁠—------Teresa Torres is a globally recognized product discovery coach and author of Continuous Discovery Habits. Through her company, Product Talk, she’s helped thousands of teams build the habits that make products succeed: weekly customer conversations, continuous assumption testing, and opportunity mapping that ties directly to outcomes.She also hosts two podcasts—All Things Product (with Petra Wille) and Just Now Possible, where she interviews product teams building the next generation of AI-driven experiences.Links:Blog: ⁠ProductTalk.org⁠Community: ⁠Members.ProductTalk.org⁠Product Talk Academy: ⁠Learn.ProductTalk.org⁠Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/ttorres⁠Linkedin: ⁠http://linkedin.com/in/teresatorres/⁠YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/ProductTalkVideos⁠

  --------  

  43:47

  --------

  43:47
• 43. Play Unlocks the Next Billion‑Dollar AI Market [Michelle Lee, IDEO]

  Product teams and founders are under pressure, stuck in incremental roadmaps and burning out on short‑term wins. Michelle Lee—Partner & Executive Managing Director of IDEO’s Play Lab—shows why play is the hidden driver of markets that reshape industries. In this episode you’ll learn how to:Break the trap of incremental roadmaps: discover how playful divergence helps teams and founders uncover bolder product bets instead of chasing competitors.Spark breakthroughs your competitors miss: use playful tools like postcards from the future and sandboxing to unlock the next market‑shaping idea.Measure what drives loyalty and growth: move past vanity metrics to attitudinal loyalty and “time well spent” so your product earns deep, lasting adoption.—-------This is episode 43 of the Design of AI Podcast. And please make sure to rate this podcast if you find it valuable. Your podcast ratings and comments are the best way to influence which topics we cover in future episodes. And if you want more AI strategy & research content, subscribe to our substack newsletter at ⁠https://designofai.substack.com/⁠ Our next AI Product Strategy workshop is happening on October 30.In this 3-hour online workshop you’ll leverage our framework for discovering and pressure-testing disruptive AI product ideas. Get more info at https://designof.ai/workshop —----------This episode was hosted by:Arpy Dragffy Guerrero ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/adragffy/⁠ Brittany Hobbs  ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanyhobbs/⁠This episode is brought to you by PH1 Research, a research & strategy consultancy specialized in mapping the future of your business & product. Get more info at ⁠PH1.ca⁠ —------As a Partner and Executive Managing Director, Michelle leads IDEO's Play Lab, an interdisciplinary team of designers and researchers who build upon 30+ years of toy invention to bring engaging, interactive, and playful experiences to market. She believes that play is essential across all ages.Immersed in a globally recognized human-centered design firm, the Play Lab leverages play as a mindset and approach that enables organizations to engage diverse stakeholders, imagine new possibilities, and spark action to transform behaviors, environments and systems. They've brought play to address diverse challenges from enhancing workplace culture to championing responsible digital design, inspiring underrepresented students to pursue careers in STEM, supporting organizations as they've adopted practices in line with a circular economy, and designing impactful products and services across industries, including education, consumer products, health, finance and workplace culture. Michelle regularly speaks and writes about her passion for play, including presentations at SXSW, The Delight Conference, The Culture Summit, Circularity 23, and educational institutions and organizations around the world, inviting audiences to reimagine the power of play in shaping meaningful futures.Learn more about her work:https://ideoplaylab.comhttps://linkedin.com/in/michellesklee 

  --------  

  41:47

  --------

  41:47
• 42. HubSpot’s Head of AI on How AI Rewrites Customer Acquisition & Marketing

  Product and growth teams are under pressure: reps spend most of their time not selling, marketers juggle every stage of the funnel at once, and new products struggle to even be seen as LLMs start deciding who shows up.Nicholas Holland, SVP of Product & Head of AI at HubSpot, explains how AI-assisted teams are already changing that—and what happens to teams that don’t adapt.In this episode you’ll learn:➤ How AI is cutting wasted sales time and turning calls into structured insights.➤ Why “AI Engine Optimization” (AEO) matters more than SEO for visibility in an LLM-driven world.➤ How “vibe marketing” moves from messy brainstorm to campaign, asset, and one-to-one personalization.➤ Why every individual needs an AI assistant, and every team needs its first agent, within 12–18 months.➤ The risks of treating AI as optional instead of rethinking how your team works.If you’ve wondered how marketing, sales, and product roles will actually change in the next two years, this conversation makes it concrete.—-------This is episode 42 of the Design of AI Podcast. Follow us on Substack and LinkedIn to get even more AI product strategy content.And please make sure to rate this podcast if you find it valuable. Your podcast ratings and comments are the best way to influence which topics we cover in future episodes. —----------Remember that on September 18 we’re hosting an AI Product Strategy Workshop online.MIT recently published a study showing that 95% of AI projects are failing.They’re spending without a strategy and building before they know what customers actually want.Join this workshop on September 18th to build out a vision, strategy and plan that will succeed for your business.Register at https://designof.ai/workshop & https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ai-product-strategy-workshop-tickets-1560702245429 —-----This episode was hosted by:Arpy Dragffy Guerrero (Founder & Principal Strategist PH1 Research) ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/adragffy/⁠ And if you want more AI strategy & research content, subscribe to our substack newsletter at ⁠https://designofai.substack.com/⁠ This episode is brought to you by PH1 Research, a research & strategy consultancy specialized in mapping the future of your business & product. Get more info at ⁠PH1.ca⁠ Follow us here:⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠⁠About our guest:Nicholas Holland is Head of AI at HubSpot where he oversees product strategy, development, and adoption of Breeze, HubSpot's AI that powers the entire customer platform. Breeze combines a unified data foundation, AI-powered tools, digital workers (agents), and embedded workflows to help businesses become AI-first. Previously, Nicholas led HubSpot’s marketing products, growing them from ~$400M to $1.4B.HubSpot recently Launched ⁠Breeze⁠, their new AI Assistant

  --------  

  45:45

  --------

  45:45
• 41. Vibe Coding Will Disrupt Product — Base44’s Path to $80M Within 6 Months

  It took 30 years to build and design an easy-to-use internet. But it took Vibe Coding one year to challenge the foundations of the internet. We’re entering an era where you can build websites and apps by talking to an AI agent and they take care of the front end and back end. Today we’re speaking with Maor Shlomo, the Founder of Base44 – we’re discussing the disruptive potential and gaps of vibe coding.In this episode you’ll learn:➤ How Maor built Base44 by himself and why Wix acquired it for $80M within 6 months➤ Disruptions that will transform how we build and use software➤ Software teams will get much smaller and what this means for specialist rolesOur take on this conversation is that Vibe Coding is still in an early phase, offering very inconsistent results. But as Base44, Lovable, V0, Replit and others are proving, this category is innovating at an insanely fast pace and results are improving constantly. We need to take it seriously and believe that small teams will be able to deliver much more. This is bad news for head count and will mean many roles —like product managers and researchers— will merge. This is episode 41 of the Design of AI Podcast. We provide strategies to ensure your AI product succeeds.Follow us on Substack and LinkedIn to get even more AI product strategy content.And another important update.We’ve been getting a lot of messages from product teams. They’re getting pushed to build AI products without a clear strategy. They’re being asked to use AI as a secret weapon to gain a competitive advantage. Join us on Thursday September 18 for an online AI product strategy workshop led by my co-host,  Arpy Dragffy and Brittany Hobbs. You’ll learn the best steps to identify, ideate, and test AI products. This workshop will be small and extremely hands-on. We’ll focus on how to leverage AI to enhance an existing app or website, as well as how to pinpoint an industry-defining net-new product. This workshop will happen on September 18Register at https://designof.ai/workshop & https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ai-product-strategy-workshop-tickets-1560702245429 And please make sure to rate this podcast if you find it valuable. Your podcast ratings and comments are the best way to influence which topics we cover in future episodes. This episode was hosted by:Arpy Dragffy Guerrero (Founder & Principal Strategist PH1 Research) ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/adragffy/⁠ And if you want more AI strategy & research content, subscribe to our substack newsletter at ⁠https://designofai.substack.com/⁠ Join the conversation on LinkedIn in our group.This episode is brought to you by PH1 Research, a research & strategy consultancy specialized in mapping the future of your business & product. Get more info at ⁠PH1.ca⁠ Follow us here:⁠⁠Spotify⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/3O11vQKPpKI5ZlJhdRGwnf⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-of-ai-product-strategy-innovation-career-growth/id1734499859⁠  ⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DesignofAI⁠

  --------  

  41:27

  --------

  41:27

More Technology podcasts

Trending Technology podcasts

About Design of AI | Build Products that Customers & Businesses Value