The a16z Show Ryo Lu (Cursor): AI Turns Designers to Developers
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Dec 16, 2025 
Ryo Lu, Head of Design at Cursor and former designer at Notion and Asana, dives into the future of design and development. He shares how Cursor's tools are revolutionizing the way designers ship code, collapsing product feedback loops from years to mere minutes. Ryo argues that ‘taste’ isn't the right lens for AI, emphasizing that designers can reclaim their building roles while AI manages routine tasks. He contrasts user-centric apps with universal interfaces, advocating for simplicity as a key to unleashing creativity. Join Ryo as he redefines design in the age of AI!
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Design Iteration Collapses With AI
- AI collapses long feedback loops so designers can ship working products in minutes instead of months.
- Ryo Lu says agents know the codebase and connect mocks, docs, and tools into a single truth to speed iteration.
Unify Artifacts Around Code As Truth
- Software creation became fragmented into role-specific tools and artifacts over 15 years.
- Ryo Lu argues agents let one unified tool absorb those artifacts and present different views per role while keeping code as the single truth.
Give The Agent Clear Opinions
- Specify your opinion to the agent or it will produce generic, poor outputs.
- Use plan modes or add constraints so the agent builds a spec you can iterate on instead of giving vague prompts.
