Artificial intelligence isn’t just changing how we work it’s changing who we are at work. According to Figma CEO Dylan Field, the rise of AI tools is beginning to blur traditional job boundaries in product development. Designers, engineers, and even marketers are all starting to look more alike, he says because AI is making it possible for anyone to build products.
The Big Idea: AI Is Flattening Job Roles
In a recent interview, Field explained that AI is collapsing long-standing silos within tech and creative industries.
“We’re seeing roles merge,” Field said. “The line between designer, developer, and product manager is fading everyone’s becoming a product builder.”
That’s a radical shift for Figma, a company known for building collaboration tools that already helped bridge gaps between design and engineering. With the integration of AI features like Figma’s new “Make Design” and “AI-powered workflows”, Field says these boundaries are dissolving even faster.
From Specialist to Generalist AI’s Impact on Teams
Traditionally, product teams were structured around specialized roles UI designers crafted visuals, developers coded functionality, and PMs managed timelines. Now, generative AI tools let each of them overlap tasks.
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Designers can generate layouts, code snippets, and prototypes instantly.
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Developers can use AI to test visual designs or even auto-generate UI elements.
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Product managers can spin up mockups or user stories without waiting on design teams.
That’s why Field says the title “product builder” fits the future better than anything else.
“AI isn’t replacing creativity,” he added. “It’s expanding who gets to create.”
Figma’s Role in the Shift
Figma itself is leaning hard into this new vision. The company’s platform, long seen as the “Google Docs for design,” now positions itself as a collaboration hub for multi-disciplinary teams one where boundaries between code, content, and design fade away.
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Its AI assistant can turn a text prompt into a working interface.
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Developers can directly edit design logic using Figma’s Dev Mode.
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Marketing teams can visualize user flows without touching a single line of code.
Figma’s goal, according to Field, is to “make building products as fluid and accessible as writing a document.”
Why It Matters for the Workforce
This merging of job titles isn’t just a semantic shift it’s reshaping how companies hire and how workers think about their careers.
For employers, AI integration means they’ll value adaptability and problem-solving over hyper-specialized technical skills.
For employees, it could mean more creative freedom but also more responsibility to learn continuously.
A junior designer today might soon be expected to tweak backend logic or run A/B tests. A developer might need to contribute to UX flows or brand messaging. The once-rigid job boundaries are now fluid.
Critics Caution: Blurring Roles Can Blur Accountability
Not everyone is celebrating the “everyone is a builder” idea. Some industry analysts warn that blurring roles too much can also blur accountability making it harder to assign ownership or maintain quality.
There’s also the risk of AI over-reliance: when anyone can generate design or code, teams must still decide what’s good, ethical, and usable.
Still, Field insists that AI’s role isn’t to erase experts but to give everyone the same creative canvas.
Dylan Field’s message reflects a broader truth about the AI era success now depends less on what your title is and more on what you can build. The age of “designers vs developers” is ending.
As AI continues to democratize creation, the most valuable skill may no longer be coding or designing but building products that matter, from concept to execution.
“In the future,” Field said, “if you have an idea, you’ll be able to build it. Titles won’t define who can create tools will.”
