8.5% Designers citing "AI tools" as their top 2025 interest, ranking 3rd overall behind only Figma and Framer
AI ADOPTION / TRENDS
Leadership roles consistently adopt AI at higher rates than ICs. This pattern reveals both momentum and friction:
Leadership vision often exceeds implementation capacity
ICs are expected to operationalize AI without top-down enablement
By 2026, the AI leadership gap may reverse.
The top-down gap (e.g. 33.9% vs. 16.7% in Corporate) is difficult to sustain. As AI shifts toward practical, text-based workflows, ICs may surpass leaders in real usage.
This is a forward-looking hypothesis based on usage trends—not a direct survey result.
Summary: The AI Adoption Landscape
Three clear patterns emerge from our data:
1
Leadership-IC Divide
Leaders adopt AI at a higher rate (29.0%) than ICs (19.9%)
2
Text-first adoption
75.2% of AI usage focuses on writing, documentation, and content—not visuals
3
Client Influence
Client-facing designers show markedly higher AI adoption than internal-facing peers