How The Creative Process Will Transform By 2030
While everyone debates whether AI will replace designers, something remarkable is happening behind the scenes at forward-thinking companies around the world. But it's not what you'd expect.
This book outlines the shift in the creative process that is happening now, with realistic scenarios that will unfold in the workplace in the near future.
I believe this information is so important that i'm posting the chapters free to read, (with free site registration) however, paid subscribers (check out my early bird special) have the ability to comment, download a PDF e-book once all chapters have been posted, and more. Additional online-only book content will be coming for paid subscribers in the near future.
Prologue
The Creative Renaissance, Surprisingly Powered by AI
We’re about to enter an era where our ability to help people is limited only by our empathy and imagination
Brad Thomas
Part I: The Great Transition
Chapter 1: The End of Traditional Design
This is the result of a fundamental shift in how creative work gets done when humans and artificial intelligence learn to work together as partners rather than competitors.
Brad Thomas
Chapter 2: The Five Pillars of AI-Native Design
To understand how design will transform by 2030, we need to examine the fundamental principles that will guide this change.
Brad Thomas
Chapter 3: The Transformation Timeline
Change rarely happens all at once. The shift to AI-native design will unfold in phases, each building on the last, each creating new opportunities and challenges. Understanding this timeline helps us prepare for what’s coming and recognize which phase we’re currently experiencing.
Brad Thomas
Part II: The New Roles
Chapter 4: Empathy, systems thinking, and strategic judgment can’t be automated. They can only be amplified.
The people who thrive will be those who best combine these human capabilities with the power of AI assistance.
Brad Thomas
Chapter 5: Orchestrating the creative dialogue between human imagination and AI execution
Understanding the deep structures of creativity and communication that allow humans and AI to collaborate effectively
Brad Thomas
Chapter 6: Overseeing a living design system that learns, evolves, and maintains itself with AI assistance
A fundamental shift in how we think about design consistency and scalability.
Brad Thomas
Chapter 7: Ensuring AI-generated solutions work reliably in the real world
The crucial human checkpoint that ensures artificial intelligence serves human needs safely and reliably
Brad Thomas
Chapter 8: cultivating an environment where human creativity and AI capability can work together
As products grow and evolve, they maintain the technical foundation necessary to serve users reliably for years to come
Brad Thomas
Chapter 9: Where human creativity and AI capability merge to figure out the best way forward
The beating heart of the AI-native design process, providing the emotional intelligence that keeps teams motivated and aligned
Brad Thomas
Part III: The AI-Native Revolution in Practice
Chapter 10: The AI-Native Design Process
The AI-native process delivers fast, good and cheap by fundamentally changing how work happens
Brad Thomas
Chapter 11: Forecasting Tools and Technology of 2030
AI can help us serve humans better, faster, and more personally than ever before, but it takes human wisdom to know what’s worth creating in the first place.
Brad Thomas
Chapter 12: Measuring Success in the AI Era
Is AI actually improving outcomes or just creating an illusion of productivity?
Brad Thomas
Chapter 13: Preparing Your Team For the AI Future
The future belongs to organizations that amplify human creativity with AI capability.
Brad Thomas
Chapter 14: The AI-Native Implementation Roadmap
The roadmap to AI-native design isn’t a straight path—it involves experimentation, learning, adjustment, and occasional setbacks.
Brad Thomas
Chapter 15: Excelling in the AI-Native World
We’re entering an era where the limiting factor isn’t our ability to create but our imagination of what to create.
Brad Thomas
Chapter 16: Developing Human Skills in the AI Era
The future belongs to those who can dance with AI most skillfully.
Brad Thomas
Epilogue
Reflection: Realizing The Possibilities For Your AI-Native Journey
The only choice is whether to lead, follow, or be left behind.
Brad Thomas
Online Only
The Other Side of the Story: When AI Does Replace Human Work
The path forward requires both individual adaptation and collective action. Neither alone is sufficient.
Brad Thomas
The Journey Between Demystifying Design and Future Work
When I wrote “Demystifying the Design Process,” I wanted to give people something practical they could follow. Design work often felt chaotic and unpredictable to people, with projects lurching from one crisis to another. I created a seventeen-step framework that showed exactly what needed to happen, in what order, and
Brad Thomas