What Figma's VP Design and VP Product think about the future of designers

What is AI actually doing to the job of designers? And what does Figma see coming next? To answer these questions, we spent one week at Config 2026, Figma's yearly gathering in San Francisco (full documentary here : https://youtu.be/TvZgFytW-UE?si=io0t-SRgVyI6bzR0) On top of the documentary we already released, we sat down for two full interviews with the two people best placed to answer these questions. David interviewed Noah Levin, VP of Design at Figma. Noah has been at Figma for almost 9 years and is a key voice on what it means to build tools for millions of designers today. I interviewed Paige Costello, VP of Product at Figma. Paige gave one of the sharpest takes we've heard on where the designer's job is going. Both interviews happened right after Figma's Code Layers keynote, one of the biggest product launches of the event. If you're a designer, PM, tech founder or design leader, this episode is for you. A few things we cover: - What AI is really changing in the designer's job in 2026 - Why Figma's differentiator is collaboration, not AI itself - What Figma announced with Code Layers, and why it matters - What makes a great designer today - Why AI-native companies keep hiring designers and PMs Enjoy. - Wondering where your Product & Engineering organization stands on AI? Take our AI Maturity Check here (3 min) : https://www.wearestellar.io/ai-maturity-check?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=evergreen-maturity-check&utm_content= Get the in-depth analysis from every episode by subscribing to the Clef de voûte newsletter : https://timfrin.substack.com/ - I’m Timothé Frin, Co-Founder of Stellar. In this podcast, I meet founders, builders, and product leaders — across Europe and the US. I dive into how they think, how they build… and how they make decisions. We talk product strategy, design, artificial intelligence, team culture, and execution. Concrete conversations, action-oriented, no fluff. - TIMELINE 00:00 – Intro 01:39 – David interviews Noah Levin, VP Design at Figma 03:34 – Config 2026's two themes: new materials, tools for building tools 06:19 – Figma's true differentiator: collaboration 09:33 – The before and after AI at Figma 11:06 – Why European tech founders should invest in design 12:39 – What makes a great designer today 15:04 – Tim interviews Paige Costello, VP Product at Figma 16:19 – Code Layers explained 18:21 – Figma's positioning: not just for designers 20:45 – The future of the designer's job 22:30 – Advice to a 22-year-old who wants to be a designer