DEI is not going away!!! DEI can mean many things, so here’s what I mean: Bringing accessible, bold design everywhere.
I’m working on configuring Claude for accessibility, because accessible, beautiful design is better for everyone!
Most companies adopting AI right now are optimizing for headcount reduction. Almost none are thinking about what they'll lose in design quality and product intentionality. That's the real cost nobody's calculating.
Steve Jobs used to say the difference between the best and average engineer in software and “it used to be the case in hardware” is 100:1, maybe even 1000:1. This is becoming ever true in 2026.
As AI takes over the workforce, the best will be sought after by *hundreds* of companies. Learn to leverage AI effectively—for example by using the right Claude skills and orchestrating multiple agents—and you’ll bring 100X value than the average engineer.
The companies with this second approach are the ones who will succeed.
You can use AI in one of two ways:
1. Offload your reasoning to AI and have it build sh*t.
2. Carefully setup your system, creating a structure for the design patterns, files, and conventions. Make each prompt intentional as you would when handing it off to an engineer.
Hot take: If you don’t believe AI is the future of coding, then I want you to spit out a vague product requirement prompt to a level ii engineer. Repeat 5-10 times to “iterate”. If you complain that “AI doesn’t work” it’s ’cause you are doing it wrong!
You can ask Claude to brainstorm design, and it will show you its template recommendations. In the editor!!!
This one took several. Still think it is not *quite* level of polish I'm looking for, but we're getting there. Did this before the resume one.
Been experimenting with Claude Code. This was one prompt!
Can teams leverage agentic AI to ship faster?
We're about to find out! Join the livestream where I'll be building a product end-to-end with agentic AI, unfiltered.
This isn't vibe coding. It's using AI as a force multiplier to increase developer velocity sustainably without causing technical debt.
3. I'm convinced AI can drastically reduce time to ship, but features must be well defined; it's just a matter of adapting existing processes for AI workflows.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s wrap, where I’ll be testing this on more carefully defined features.
Here’s the scoop:
1. AGENTS.md might minimize LLM prompting, but it isn’t magic; LLMs are still indeterministic.
2. Codex isn’t a senior designer or a senior UX engineer. Not even close.
I’ve been experimenting using agentic AI to help platform teams ship more quickly, in a sustainable, scalable way. For some context, most of the images below were generated by GPT 5.2 Codex. My Figma is the source of truth and is the last image.
I’m exploring what’s next and looking for teams that share these values. If that sounds like your world, let's get in touch.
For me, it always comes back to three things:
• Caring about results, not optics.
• Being obsessed with the customer experience.
• Building teams where people actually enjoy showing up.
The best teams don't chase optics. They chase outcomes.
One day the industry will recognize the drawbacks of AI agents and nondeterministic automation, and rediscover the UNIX philosophy of chaining together small purpose built tools in a low cost and predictable way, otherwise known as shell scripts.
open source ≠no design.
#allthingsopen #techindustry#opensource #enddisposabledesign
Open source I believe is the cure to the cancerous bait-and-switch monetization model that pervades the tech industry, and I look forward to the opportunity to connect with like-minded people who put the CUSTOMER FIRST.
chris centrella chriscentrella.com @chriscentrella.com occentrella let's end disposable design. i'm saving a few spots to chat during all things open. no strings attached. https://calendly.com/ccentrella/chat starting 10.12.25 | raleigh, nc
Excited to announce I’ll be at All Things Open in Raleigh, NC this weekend from October 12-14 🎉!
If you’re passionate about building something that lasts, an antidote to disposable culture, then I’d love to connect with you.
Job market’s brutal, so I want to help where I can. Offering a small round of free resume reviews for folks in design/engineering as we start Q4.
Limited spots—reach out if you want in.
Sales tip: You might want to reconsider sending the same email every day. Your viewers are more likely to unsubscribe.
I have nothing against @calendly-official.bsky.social but I had to unsubscribe from all of your emails this morning because I've received the same email for 5+ days straight.
The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.
In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.
Excited to share my brand new portfolio! You’ll notice some of the sections are “coming soon” until I can write the extended content, but the look and feel of the site is in place.
Take a look and let me know your thoughts.
Tell me I’m not crazy: a brutalist appliance brand. 20+ years reliability, blocky retro design, no fluff.
Would you buy?