Figma CEO Dylan Field is optimistic about the future and AI

Decoder with Nilay Patel

English - March 18, 2024 09:00 - 53 minutes - ★★★★ - 2.4K ratings
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Previous Episode: Why Google Search feels like it’s gotten worse

Next Episode: How Europe’s Digital Markets Act is reshaping Big Tech

We’ve got a fun one today — I talked to Figma CEO Dylan Field in front of a live audience at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. And we got into it – we talked about everything from design, to software distribution, to the future of the web, and, of course, AI.
Figma is an fascinating company – the Figma design tool is used by designers at basically every company you can think of. And importantly, it runs on the web. It became such a big deal that Adobe tried to buy it out in 2022 for $20 billion dollars, a deal that only just recently fell through because of regulatory concerns.
So Dylan and I talked a lot about where Figma is now as an independent company, how Figma is structured, where it’s going, and how Dylan’s decisionmaking has changed since the last time he was on the show in 2022.

Links:

Why Figma is selling to Adobe for $20 billion, with CEO Dylan Field — Decoder

Adobe abandons $20 billion acquisition of Figma — The Verge

Adobe’s Dana Rao on AI, copyright, and the failed Figma deal — Decoder

Figma’s CEO on life after the company’s failed sale to Adobe — Command Line

Amazon restricts self-publishing due to AI concerns — The Guardian

Wix’s new AI chatbot builds websites in seconds based on prompts — The Verge

Apple is finally allowing full versions of Chrome and Firefox on the iPhone — The Verge

What Is Solarpunk? A Guide to the Environmental Art Movement. — Built In

Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23866201

Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

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Figma is an fascinating company – the Figma design tool is used by designers at basically every company you can think of. And importantly, it runs on the web. It became such a big deal that Adobe tried to buy it out in 2022 for $20 billion dollars, a deal that only just recently fell through because of regulatory concerns.

So Dylan and I talked a lot about where Figma is now as an independent company, how Figma is structured, where it’s going, and how Dylan’s decisionmaking has changed since the last time he was on the show in 2022.