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Figma’s 2026 AI Report: Can AI Help Us Collaborate Better? | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

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AI is shifting from a tool for individual productivity into a driver of team collaboration. Figma’s research shows that 41% of respondents believe AI is already changing how teams work together, up from 7% two years ago. The report concludes that shared workspaces, stronger design judgment, and coordinated adoption matter more than simply making individuals faster.

AI Is Moving Work from Solo to Collaborative

  • Figma’s report draws on 8,403 survey responses and 639 interviews across ten markets.
  • Designers and developers are increasingly crossing into each other’s work:
    • Designers participating in development rose from 21% to 41%.
    • Developers doing design work increased from 44% to 60%.
  • Seventy-six percent of product builders say at least half their work happens on the canvas, while six in ten spend most of their time there.
  • Unlike terminals or prompts, a shared canvas lets teams explore ideas, compare designs, give feedback, and solve problems together.

Design and Judgment Matter More in the AI Era

  • AI can generate products, copy, and assets quickly, but it cannot decide what is worth building.
  • As creation becomes cheaper and faster, teams must focus more on product choices, differentiation, user experience, and trade-offs.
  • Ninety percent of respondents say design is at least as important as before AI; nearly 60% consider it more important.
  • Developers increasingly share this view, with 65% saying design has become more important.
  • Collaborative decision-making helps teams develop sharper judgment instead of optimizing only for individual output.

Four Patterns of AI Adoption

  • The report identifies four organizational approaches:
    • Unified: Individuals and leadership advance AI adoption together (36%).
    • Directive: Adoption is driven from the top down (27%).
    • Grassroots: Practitioners lead adoption from the bottom up (20%).
    • Nascent: AI adoption remains at an early stage (18%).
  • Directive and grassroots organizations both experience friction when teams lack shared practices and communication.
  • The main challenge is organizational alignment, not simply access to AI tools.

Building Shared AI Practices

  • Grassroots adopters should make successful workflows visible, create structure, and promote shared spaces.
  • Leaders introducing AI should close the gap between strategy and everyday practice.
  • The goal is not for one person to move faster, but for the whole organization to make better decisions and move quickly together.

Teams should treat AI adoption as a collaborative design and organizational challenge: establish shared workflows, keep work visible, and use AI to improve collective judgment rather than only individual productivity.