Next ’25 Session 3

Every product competes on features, but the ones that break out compete on identity. People don’t just ask <em>what can this do for me?</em> - they ask <em>what does this say about me?</em> From iPhones to CrossFit memberships, we buy tools that double as badges, status signals, and shortcuts to belonging. This talk explores the difference between feature-driven products that fade into the noise and identity-driven products that command loyalty, culture, and evangelism.

In this thought-provoking session, Kevin Wilkins and Thomas Shillingford examine the evolution of design systems over the past decade and explore a critical question: Will AI and emerging methodologies like sentient design lead to the collapse of traditional design systems as we know them? Drawing from their combined experience as a design systems leads across multiple enterprises, they offer unique insights into how the relationship between design systems and AI is reshaping our approach to design thinking. What You'll Gain <ul> <li>Assessment tools for your design system's AI resilience</li> <li>Practical strategies for integrating AI while preserving core design principles</li> <li>Preparation tactics for human-AI collaborative workflows</li> <li>A decision framework for balancing traditional design systems with AI capabilities</li> <li>Actionable steps to evolve your design approach regardless of organisation size</li> </ul>

At Eucalyptus, traditional role boundaries are deliberately dissolving. With the support of AI and modern tooling, designers, product managers, and engineers are expanding beyond their conventional domains. Product managers are prototyping interfaces, developers are contributing to design decisions, and designers are shaping strategy and delivery. Rather than creating tension, these overlaps are fostering innovation. In this session, Oliver Ree explores how Eucalyptus is building a culture of "short toes"—where team members aren't overly protective of their domains, and cross-disciplinary collaboration flourishes. He'll demonstrate how AI serves as an enabler rather than a replacement, unlocking new ways of working that accelerate delivery and expand what teams can achieve collectively. The underlying goal isn't efficiency for its own sake, but raising the bar on what teams can imagine and deliver. Key Takeaways: <ul> <li>AI as catalyst – How artificial intelligence removes traditional barriers between roles and accelerates team velocity</li> <li>Cultural transformation – Building shared ownership models and cultivating flexibility across disciplines</li> <li>Hybrid roles emerge – Understanding new positions like "design engineer" and their implications for team structure</li> <li>Design as connector – How design functions as the organizational glue that bridges work across blurred role boundaries</li> </ul>

What happens when a product manager with zero software engineering experience decides to build a complete application? William Kirkwood did exactly that, using AI-powered tools like Cursor to create Luck—a fully production-ready application—within a single year. William will share his journey from product concept to deployed software, revealing which AI development tools actually deliver, how his product management background proved surprisingly valuable, and the practical techniques he used to navigate technical decisions without traditional engineering expertise. You'll learn: <ul> <li>Which AI tools live up to the hype (and which don't)</li> <li>How to leverage product thinking in hands-on development</li> <li>Real strategies for building and shipping production software</li> <li>What's realistically possible for non-technical builders today</li> </ul> Whether you're a product manager seeking more autonomy, a designer wanting to prototype beyond mockups, or simply curious if AI can really democratize software development, this talk shows what's possible and gives you a practical roadmap. Perfect for product managers, designers, and other non-engineers looking to expand their capabilities with AI-assisted development.

At Relevance AI, designers have been shipping PRs using Cursor workflows as part of an engineering-led experiment. Together, Freya and Nathan will share how your team can also build a culture that empowers non-engineers to contribute meaningfully to codebases, and practical ways teams can lower the barrier to shipping.