Generative AI reshaping design work: Flipkart’s V-P at Ahmedabad Design Week

He also explains how the cost of creation dropping sharply plays a role. “To create an image using generative AI, it costs less than one rupee,” Mathur said. He described this change as “a huge disruption” to established creative workflows and production models.

Rather than positioning AI as a replacement for human designers, Mathur said the technology was changing how work is distributed. “What is happening today is that we are co-creating with machines,” he said. “There is human creativity and machine intelligence coming together.”

That shift is already visible inside large technology organisations from his perspective. Product development teams have traditionally been built around clearly defined roles. Designers, engineers, and product managers worked in coordination but within fixed boundaries. Generative AI is beginning to blur those lines according to Mathur. “A product manager can also design. A designer can also write code. An engineer can also design,” he said. While the outputs may not always be perfect, the direction of change was clear. “What is essentially happening is that the boundaries are changing,” he said.

As a result, future workplaces would rely less on rigid job titles. Rather, they’d rely more on individuals who can operate across disciplines. “You will have makers, essentially,” Mathur said. He used the term to describe people with strong depth in one area and working fluency in others, capable of moving ideas forward without repeated handovers.

At the same time, Mathur still acknowledged that automation would significantly reduce the amount of routine design work done by humans. “Creating layouts, creating icons, interfaces, GUI, prototypes — all of that creation activity is going to get automated,” he said.

The implications for employment, he said, lie in where human judgment remains necessary. AI systems will start generating multiple design options at speed. At that stage, designers will increasingly be responsible for selection, evaluation, and refinement. “How do you pick one? How do you spot flaws? How do you spot patterns?”

Those decisions, Mathur said, depend on skills that AI does not possess. He listed critical thinking, cultural sensitivity, empathy, and an understanding of human behaviour as areas where designers would continue to play a central role.

Mathur said technical fluency alone would not be enough for students looking to enter the design field. He asserts that designers must also understand how products are built, marketed, and sustained. “As designers, we don’t spend enough time understanding business,” he said. “If you want to build something ground up, you have to understand this.”

Ahmedabad Design Week is being organised at Karnavati University from January 30 to February 1, bringing together designers, industry leaders and academics to discuss the intersection of design and artificial intelligence across sectors.

(Nishant Bal is an intern at the Ahmedabad office of The Indian Express)