Q&A with AI & Design Podcast Hosts

February 2, 2026

For professional designers and product managers in 2026, keeping pace with the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and design feels less like a career requirement and more like a full-time survival exercise.

However, two Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) faculty are taking up the microphone to help the rest of us try to keep up with the rapid changes in the field. HCII’s Assistant Professor of the Practice Dan Saffer and Assistant Professor Nikolas Martelaro launched a new weekly podcast, “AI & Design” this year.  

As industry veterans and academics, hosts Saffer and Martelaro bring well-rounded perspectives to the conversation. Each week, they explore how AI is reshaping the world of design, break down the latest AI developments, and talk about topics that matter to designers and others at the intersection of these fields.

Let’s check in with the hosts to learn more about their new podcast. 

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Hi Dan and Nik. What inspired you two to collaborate on this podcast this year? Was there one particular conversation about AI and design that you were waiting for someone else to have?  

Dan Saffer (DS): It wasn’t that there weren't conversations about AI and Design happening. There’s a ton! Just there wasn’t a good podcast where you could catch up on the news and topics that were specifically about the intersection of both. And it’s really hard to keep up with everything that is happening.

Nikolas Martelaro (NM): There is so much news and so many new tools that could impact design and designers. I was excited to discuss these with Dan and to hopefully share some ideas with professionals so that they can learn and think about what might make sense to try in their work. Also, this is a great way for me to stay up to date and to really think about what we are seeing and what it could mean for the present and future of design.

Yes, everything is evolving quickly. Our vocabulary around it is changing rapidly, too. How can you keep up with the rapid pace of AI and design developments right now? What topics are you looking forward to discussing each week?

DS: I think I get something like 8 different newsletters every day. I just vibe coded myself an app that turns those into a daily podcast for me so I could stay up to date, but it’s really hard! That’s one of the reasons I wanted to do the podcast, so that designers and PMs and anyone interested in design and AI can catch up on the big stories. Part of our job as educators is to stay on top of everything happening so we can inform students and change our curriculum to stay current. But that’s not everyone’s job. Hopefully, listening [to the podcast] will help people stay informed.

NM: I am always interested in trying to find new tools and techniques, especially ones that haven’t entirely made their way to designer yet or are just getting there. I’m tracking general AI news as well as new research coming out. I hope we can inform our listeners with new ideas and can cut through some of the noise around AI to get them things they can apply.

What are your individual roles in the podcast conversation? What strengths and expertise do you each bring to the topics you’ll discuss?

DS: Nik is definitely the more technical of the two of us. I’m always like, “Can you explain this technical thing to me?” I’m more the old skool designer trying to reconcile what’s happening in AI with “traditional” design practice.

You two are also faculty at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute. What are you teaching this semester? Should we, as podcast listeners, expect homework?

DS: I’m teaching Design of AI Products and Services, Advanced Interaction Design, and an independent study called UI for AI. There’s an idea that AI will make UI [user interfaces] obsolete. UI for AI has the opposite take – AI makes UI even more essential.

NM: I’m teaching the AI Augmented Designer, a class where students learn to integrate AI into their design practice while also developing their ability to monitor if they are still creating good design. We won’t be assigning homework on the podcast, but I do hope designers try out some of the tools and techniques that come up on the show.

Do you remember having an "Aha!" moment when you realized AI wasn't just a tool for designers, but this might be a fundamental shift in the industry? Please explain.

DS: In 2014, I saw Autodesk demo a tool called Dreamcatcher. It used machine learning to generate tons of different physical designs. As soon as I saw it, I thought, “Uh oh” and wrote an essay called “The End of Design of Design As We Know It.” I knew right then this technology was going to be transformative. I thought it would take at least 20 years. I was off by 10 years.

NM: Funny, I also think about the same Autodesk demo. This was back when I was primarily a mechanical designer. I realized then that someday computers would do more generation and we would be specifying and setting goals. I’m still waiting for generative mechanical design, but very excited about generative code today.

Who is your AI and Design podcast for (or not for)? Who do you hope to reach?

DS: If you’re looking for general AI news and deals, that’s not our podcast. We’re pretty narrowly focused on AI news that specifically affects designers, product managers, user researchers, design engineers… really anyone interested in the intersection of those two topics.

Where can listeners find you? Can they suggest topics and/or guests?

DS: We’re on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. There’s also an RSS feed to put us into your favorite Podcast app, like Overcast. All of the links are on our website: AIandDesignPod.com

Thanks for your time, Dan and Nik.