Episode Details

At Fin (formerly Intercom), agents write around 90% of the code and every one of the 35 designers ships to production. John Moriarty shows us how they decide what to prototype and what to build for real.

🎓 Turn this episode into something you make → https://daicampus.com

This is the first episode of the d.AI podcast. John, Head of Product Design at Fin, takes us behind the curtain on one decision his team makes constantly: does an idea get prototyped in a sandbox, or built straight into production? We cover the tools they use by name, where real data is and isn’t allowed, and the judgement behind the call.

Plus jigs. In woodworking, a jig is a guide you build to help you make the real thing. John’s designers do the same with AI: instead of guessing the answer to a design question, they build a little throwaway tool to find it.

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WHAT IS d.AI?

d.AI is the new programme from d.MBA for designers who’ve decided to engage with AI and are excited for the opportunity it unlocks.

Every month, a designer from a team doing great work with AI shows us how they really do one thing. We turn it into a brief, and you build it in your own context, with your own work, in a private community with other designers. The guest is in there for their month too.

John’s brief drops Monday 26 October 2026, and he’s in the community all month to see what people make.

The first 77 members get the founding price, locked in for as long as they’re a member.

👉 Join d.AI: https://daicampus.com

00:17 Meet John Moriarty and Fin
02:03 Blurring roles and how Fin designs today
05:57 How agents broke the old handoff process
08:54 How design craft has changed
10:57 Building to learn what to build
12:42 Surge Intelligence: the rails agents run on
14:57 Sandbox or production? Choosing the right tool
19:47 About d.AI
20:24 Operator and Charlotte’s HTML prototype
27:30 Daria’s messenger design playground
30:42 Who can ship to production at Fin
31:39 The culture shift: no more UI bug reports
33:21 Shrek and automated PR checks
35:33 A designer’s production workflow: Eric’s Help Center
38:45 UI is going away
41:21 Why designers shouldn’t be precious

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