When I started Design Shift, it was never my intention to focus on AI and technology shaping design as a discipline. Rather, my initial goal with this newsletter — which is largely the same today as it was almost exactly a year ago — was/is to empower designers of all stripes to lead with clarity, influence change, and shape what’s next.

To me, leading, influencing, and shaping are skills and traits that are hyper-relevant, whether you’re working in a giant organization or a 1-person firm.

And…the future has a way of waving back at us (or maybe winking at us). When it does, I do not think we should ignore it or write it off as yet another hypecycle. As designers, I think we must understand the shifts that are afoot in order to employ the tools of our trade effectively, for the companies we work for as well as for us.

This is one of the myriad reasons I started writing about AI and design. I do not see AI as “just another tool” to learn. It’s shaping up as an entirely new economy (maybe even an entirely new world) that we all have access to.

So…for the next couple of weeks, I will be writing about how to grasp AI for your own business and ideas. As part of that, I have also created a short survey to understand what you need most when it comes to starting AI-enabled businesses. Your responses will help shape future guides, tools, and workshops on building design-led ventures in the AI era.

For more about this, follow along below…

— Justin Lokitz

In my last article, I argued that if you don’t design the future, you’ll get the default.

For many designers, that idea is becoming practical rather than philosophical. If work is being reshaped by AI anyway, why not design your own role in what comes next?

As I dive deeper (and deeper x10) into this subject, the signals are becoming clear: that shift is already underway…and I am part of it.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, entrepreneurship is surging. In January alone, more than 532,000 new business applications were filed in the United States, roughly 37% more than the previous year. Even professional identities are shifting. The number of people listing themselves as founders on LinkedIn has jumped by 69% compared with a year ago. What’s more, most of the people I am seeing launch new companies are doing so as solopreneurs, which is in itself super interesting.

Certainly, some of this movement is driven by uncertainty (see what I did there). Concerns about automation and layoffs are pushing many professionals toward self-reliance. But another force is just as important. AI is lowering the barrier to entrepreneurship (and solopreneurship).

One founder supported by AI can now handle tasks that once required a small team. Website creation, research, market analysis, coding assistance, content production, and data analysis can now be accelerated with AI systems.

For designers, this creates a new operating model. Instead of hiring employees immediately, founders (YOU) can begin by working alongside AI as collaborators. These systems function less like software tools and more like co-workers that expand what one person can accomplish in a minute/hour/day/week/month.

Two of the most interesting technologies driving this shift are OpenClaw and Claude Cowork…both of which I am actively testing (for me…and you).

Claude CoWork is an AI collaboration system developed by Anthropic that allows users to work alongside AI as a coordinated teammate rather than a simple prompt-response tool. It can assist with tasks such as research, writing, analysis, coding, planning, and decision support across complex workflows.

Similarly, OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger that can automate all kinds of tasks, from organizing email, booking travel, to coordinating workflows across apps autonomously…and in some cases, with the right setup, acting as an engineer, CMO, or even COO!

In practice, systems like this allow “a single individual to do the work of several people,” helping spawn fully staffed solopreneurs (which almost seems like an oxymoron). 

And…this isn’t just a Silicon Valley thing!

In China, cities like Shenzhen, Wuxi, Hefei, and Suzhou are actively building ecosystems around OpenClaw-based startups. Local governments are offering subsidies, computing resources, and office space to entrepreneurs building businesses on top of AI agents. Some initiatives offer financing and incentives of up to 10 million yuan (about $1.4 million) to companies creating notable OpenClaw applications. 

The goal is clear: accelerate the rise of AI-enabled entrepreneurship.

In my mind, this should get designers thinking about what they we want to create in the future.

Where traditional studios and old-school startups required teams of researchers, designers, marketers, and developers, a modern founder can now coordinate AI systems to perform many of those functions. Research agents gather insights. Writing agents produce content. Automation tools handle scheduling, outreach, and operations.

In this way, the founder becomes the orchestrator. And…this doesn’t eliminate the need for the human expertise we bring, like empathy, problem framing, creativity, systems thinking, and the ability to translate complexity into experiences people actually want. AI and solopreneurship amplify this need.

AI handles the operational load, while designers focus on insight, relationships, and strategy.

Starting a design-related business in this environment requires a shift in mindset.

The combination of design thinking and AI leverage may create the most fertile environment designers have ever had to become founders! Instead of large hierarchical studios, we may see networks of small, highly capable design businesses powered by AI infrastructure.

If that future is coming, the question is simple: will you participate in building it?

I’m exploring how to support designers who want to become modern, AI-enabled entrepreneurs.

If that idea interests you, I’ve put together a short survey to understand what designers need most when starting AI-enabled businesses. Your responses will help shape future guides, tools, and workshops on building design-led ventures in the AI era.

If you’re curious about designing your own work instead of waiting for the default, take two minutes and share your thoughts.

The next generation of design businesses may start with a single founder.

And a team of AI co-workers.

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