Still Human: Design in the Age of AI Everything (Social/Panel) | | Conduit Venture Labs

Everyone's talking about what AI replaces. We want to talk about what it can't. And how it serves to only amplify the design method.

Product design is having a strange moment. The tools got faster, the outputs got cheaper, and somehow the hard part (knowing what's actually good, and why) got more valuable, not less. Judgment, taste, the instinct for what a person actually needs. That's the human layer.

So we're getting Seattle's design community in one room to talk about it, and then to just be in a room together.

The night starts with a short panel on what the work looks like now: how designers are using these tools, where they're pushing back, and what stays yours no matter how good the models get.

Eric Lawrence, is the Design Director at Intentional Futures, where he oversees a mix of graphic and UX designers

Bailey Jones, is a Design Director at Tactile Inc., where she leads UX design, with past chapters at Salesforce and Ford shaping how she thinks about design at scale.

Ben Graham, is a Creative Director and co-founder of Turnstyle, a Seattle-based brand identity and web design firm.

Then we drop the format and turn it into a social. Drinks, real conversation, the people you've been meaning to reconnect with.

Who this is for:
Product designers first, but the door's wide. Researchers, design engineers, DesignOps, and founders who care about craft are all welcome. If you make decisions about how things should feel and work, you belong here.

The details:
📅 July 28th 2026
📍 Tactile Design Studio, Downtown Seattle
🎟️ Free, RSVP required, capacity 70
🎤 Panel starts at 6p sharp, social runs till 8:30p.

Come for the conversation. Stay for the community.