Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
You probably know Intercom… but did you know they recently incubated a new startup called Fin (fin.ai/) that has already surpassed the core business?
They’ve pulled off a massive transition to an AI-native product and design org so today we’re going behind-the-scenes with their VP of Design Emmet Connolly (linkedin.com/in/emmetconnolly/).
Some highlights:
- Why Emmet believes designers will own the frontend
- The opportunity for design systems in an AI-first world
- What Emmet looks for when hiring designers in the AI era
- Why liquid glass represents the wrong direction for design
- How Intercom’s AI product Fin overtook their core business
- Why the start of an S-curve is the best time to be a designer
- How AI is flipping the traditional product development process
- + a *lot* more
- Plato’s cave analogy (https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/seyer/files/plato_republic_514b-518d_allegory-of-the-cave.pdf)
- OpenAI’s forward deployed engineer role (openai.com/careers/forward-deployed-engineer-nyc/)
- Apple’s liquid glass design (apple.com/newsroom/2025/06/apple-introduces-a-delightful-and-elegant-new-software-design/)
- Fons Mans helped on the design of Fin (https://x.com/fin_ai)
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:29 The backstory of Fin
8:05 AI Design challenges
12:32 Figuring out the right guardrails for AI
15:02 Will we have winner take all products?
19:12 How the practice of design has evolved at Intercom
23:24 Product design's goal to ship to production
27:49 Designers owning the frontend
34:43 Comparing to the shift from print to web design
39:08 The value of being optimistic about the future
46:24 How the product development process changes
51:09 How the role of research evolves
53:01 Why Emmett is looking for in design candidates
55:14 Why design systems designers become more important
57:05 Agentic by design, CRUD under the hood
Dive is where the best designers never stop learning 🤿
🌐 dive.club
🐦 twitter.com/joindiveclub
Now you can join advanced courses taught by the top designers to help you take a huge leap forward in your career 💪
You probably know Intercom… but did you know they recently incubated a new startup called Fin (fin.ai/) that has already surpassed the core business?
They’ve pulled off a massive transition to an AI-native product and design org so today we’re going behind-the-scenes with their VP of Design Emmet Connolly (linkedin.com/in/emmetconnolly/).
Some highlights:
- Why Emmet believes designers will own the frontend
- The opportunity for design systems in an AI-first world
- What Emmet looks for when hiring designers in the AI era
- Why liquid glass represents the wrong direction for design
- How Intercom’s AI product Fin overtook their core business
- Why the start of an S-curve is the best time to be a designer
- How AI is flipping the traditional product development process
- + a *lot* more
- Plato’s cave analogy (https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/seyer/files/plato_republic_514b-518d_allegory-of-the-cave.pdf)
- OpenAI’s forward deployed engineer role (openai.com/careers/forward-deployed-engineer-nyc/)
- Apple’s liquid glass design (apple.com/newsroom/2025/06/apple-introduces-a-delightful-and-elegant-new-software-design/)
- Fons Mans helped on the design of Fin (https://x.com/fin_ai)
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:29 The backstory of Fin
8:05 AI Design challenges
12:32 Figuring out the right guardrails for AI
15:02 Will we have winner take all products?
19:12 How the practice of design has evolved at Intercom
23:24 Product design's goal to ship to production
27:49 Designers owning the frontend
34:43 Comparing to the shift from print to web design
39:08 The value of being optimistic about the future
46:24 How the product development process changes
51:09 How the role of research evolves
53:01 Why Emmett is looking for in design candidates
55:14 Why design systems designers become more important
57:05 Agentic by design, CRUD under the hood
Dive is where the best designers never stop learning 🤿
🌐 dive.club
🐦 twitter.com/joindiveclub
Now you can join advanced courses taught by the top designers to help you take a huge leap forward in your career 💪
