Tech Connects

Is Your Design Career AI-Ready?

Kicking off a new season of Tech Connects, our new host Paul Farnsworth sits down with Amy Thibodeau, Chief Design Officer at Gusto, a platform that helps over 400,000 small businesses manage payroll, benefits, and HR functions. Amy leads product design, user research, content design, and brand design teams, giving her a comprehensive view of how AI is reshaping creative work across organizations. We explore how AI is transforming design and creative roles—not by replacing human designers, but by accelerating workflows and blurring traditional job boundaries. Amy explains how AI serves as a "sidekick" that handles time-consuming tasks like research transcription and theme analysis, while enabling designers to focus on higher-value creative work. She discusses the emergence of "design engineers" and why traditional career swim lanes are disappearing as collaboration becomes more fluid. Here are some quick takeaways from this discussion for tech professionals navigating AI's impact on creative and collaborative work: Embrace AI as a Workflow Accelerator, Not a Replacement: AI excels at handling tedious, non-creative tasks like transcribing user research, analyzing themes, and creating rapid prototypes. This frees up human creative energy for problem-solving, customer empathy, and strategic thinking. Focus on identifying which parts of your workflow can be automated versus which require human insight and creativity. Develop Cross-Functional Skills to Stay Relevant: Traditional role boundaries are dissolving as AI tools make it easier for designers to code, product managers to prototype, and teams to collaborate more fluidly. Invest in learning complementary skills outside your primary discipline—whether that's basic coding, research methods, or business strategy—to increase your versatility and value. Prioritize Curiosity and Adaptability Over Credentials: When hiring or developing your career, demonstrate active engagement with new tools and approaches rather than relying solely on traditional qualifications. The pace of change means that specific tool expertise becomes obsolete quickly, but curiosity, learning agility, and willingness to experiment remain valuable across technological shifts. Cultivate "Taste" and Customer-Centric Judgment: As AI democratizes creation, the ability to distinguish good work from mediocre output becomes increasingly valuable. Develop deep empathy for end users, understand business context, and build the judgment to evaluate whether AI-generated work truly solves customer problems. This human discernment represents a sustainable competitive advantage in an AI-abundant world. There was a lot more in this episode, of course, so listen in. Thank you for joining us—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find and hire the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for tech pros, the best place to grow your tech career. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode 64: Scott Brighton, CEO of Bonterra

Our guest on 'Tech Connects' is Scott Brighton, CEO of Bonterra, a software company focused on social good that helps nonprofits raise money, manage donor relationships, and report on impact outcomes while connecting them with funders looking to give money away. We explore how AI is transforming the nonprofit sector—an area where efficiency demands are actually more intense than in for-profit companies. Scott explains how nonprofits operate under extreme constraints and why agentic AI represents a crucial breakthrough for organizations that can't afford additional staff but desperately need expanded capacity. Here are some quick takeaways from this discussion for tech professionals working with AI or considering nonprofit sector applications: Recognize Efficiency Imperatives in Mission-Driven Organizations: Nonprofits typically operate with just 20% overhead—equivalent to an 80% profit margin in for-profit terms. This creates urgent need for AI solutions that amplify human capacity rather than simply optimizing existing processes. Understanding these extreme efficiency requirements can inform how you design and implement AI systems for resource-constrained organizations. Focus on Agentic AI for Capacity Amplification: The future lies in agentic AI systems that handle complete workflows independently, like researching and writing grant applications or managing donor relationships across multiple channels. These systems essentially create "new team members" for organizations that can't hire additional staff, representing a shift from task automation to organizational capacity expansion. Address Data Challenges Through Strategic Partnerships: Smaller organizations often lack robust datasets needed for effective AI implementation. Rather than building from scratch, partnering with platforms that aggregate data across many similar organizations can provide immediate value while allowing entities to build their own datasets over time. Consider collaborative approaches to unlock AI benefits for traditionally underserved sectors. Champion Transparent and Ethical AI Implementation: Organizations focused on social good are particularly concerned about AI transparency and bias removal due to their mission-driven nature and lower technical sophistication. Developing AI solutions that prioritize explainability and ethical considerations from the ground up will become increasingly valuable as AI adoption spreads to sectors where trust and transparency are paramount. There was a lot more in this episode, of course, so listen in. Thank you for joining us—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find and hire the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for tech pros, the best place to grow your tech career. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode 63: Dr. Rebecca Swift, SVP, Creative, at Getty Images

Our guest on 'Tech Connects' is Dr. Rebecca Swift, Senior Vice President of Creative at Getty Images, which provides licensed visual content to businesses worldwide. Rebecca oversees Getty's creative team that works with photographers, filmmakers, and visual researchers to understand market trends and guide their community of over half a billion creators. We explore how AI-generated imagery is reshaping visual content and what this means for tech professionals and creative businesses. Rebecca shares insights about the rapid shift in public perception of AI content, legal challenges, and how the creative industry is adapting. Here are some quick takeaways from this discussion for tech professionals working with visual content or AI tools: Understand the Trust Factor in AI Content: Consumer excitement about AI imagery has shifted to widespread distrust due to deepfakes and misleading content. Trust is fundamental to brand relationships, so factor consumer sentiment into AI content decisions. Many consumers now prefer verified authentic imagery over AI-generated alternatives. Navigate the Legal Complexities: AI-generated images can't be copyrighted, only prompts can be protected. Many AI tools use web-scraped content without proper licensing, creating IP infringement risks. Work with services that provide legal safeguards rather than open-source tools that may expose your organization to liability. Use AI for Modification, Not Pure Generation: AI excels at modifying existing content and creating iterations for marketing campaigns rather than generating entirely new authentic imagery. Becoming skilled at AI prompting requires significant time investment and is a distinct skill from traditional creative work. Leverage Authenticity as Competitive Advantage: As AI content becomes common, there's growing demand for authentic, locally-sourced content that captures current realities missing from AI training datasets. Areas like remote work culture and sustainability present opportunities for genuine human creativity. There was a lot more in this episode, of course, so listen in. Thank you for joining us—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find and hire the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for tech pros, the best place to grow your tech career. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode 62: Harry Wang, Chief Growth Officer at Sonar

Our next guest on 'Tech Connects' is Harry Wang, Chief Growth Officer at Sonar, a Geneva-headquartered company that's been helping developers build better, safer software faster for 16 years. Sonar serves over 7 million developers worldwide by providing insights on code quality, vulnerabilities, and security directly in developers' workflows. With AI-driven coding becoming increasingly prevalent across organizations, I wanted to talk with Harry about how companies can effectively integrate these powerful tools while maintaining security and governance standards. At the same time, I was curious to explore how AI is reshaping the very nature of software development roles and what that means for engineers at every level. Here are some quick takeaways from this discussion for any tech professionals navigating AI integration in their organizations: Start with Pilot Projects and Gather Comprehensive Feedback: Don't roll out AI tools to everyone at once. Instead, test different AI coding tools with small groups first. Get feedback from developers about what helps them work better, and ask your security team about potential risks. Run these tests for a few months to really understand what works and what doesn't before making bigger decisions about which tools to use company-wide. Cultivate AI Champions from Multiple Organizational Levels: AI adoption happens in different ways across your organization. Some developers will experiment with tools on their own, while management might run formal tests, and executives might push for company-wide AI strategies. Recognize that AI advocates come from all levels and backgrounds, so work with whoever is enthusiastic about these tools to help spread adoption throughout your company. Invest in Tailored Training and Prompt Engineering Skills: Help your team get better at using AI tools effectively. This means learning how to ask AI the right questions to get useful answers, sharing successful approaches with teammates, and providing formal training through online courses or internal workshops. Think of it as building up your team's ability to work well with AI, just like any other skill. Embrace AI as Career Augmentation, Not Replacement: Instead of worrying that AI will take your job, use it to do more interesting work. AI can handle boring coding tasks, write tests, and complete routine functions, which frees you up to focus on bigger picture problems like system design and architecture. This is actually an opportunity to level up your role and work on the strategic challenges you've always wanted to tackle. Implement Robust Governance and Security Oversight: As more people in your company use AI coding tools—including non-technical staff—you need clear rules and safety checks. AI can make mistakes, suggest risky code, or import dangerous third-party libraries. Make sure you have tools and processes in place to catch these problems, and keep humans involved in reviewing and approving AI-generated code. There was a lot more in that chat, of course, so give it another listen if you feel so inclined. Thank you for joining us—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for tech pros, the best place to grow your tech career. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Episode 61: Eric Wang, VP of AI at Turnitin

Our next guest on 'Tech Connects' is Eric Wang, VP of AI at Turnitin, which provides tools to academic institutions for everything from course assessment to academic integrity. For example, they have a platform that detects the use of AI in students' papers. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are having a huge impact right now on how students learn and educators teach, and I wanted to talk with Eric about how the education industry is navigating these changes. At the same time, I also wanted to dig a bit into how AI is changing the very nature of education, training, and ultimately work itself. Here are some quick takeaways from this discussion for any tech professionals interested in how AI will impact training, education, and work both in the near- and long-term. Embrace AI as a Tool, Understand Its Nuances: As a tech professional, recognize that AI is a powerful and transformative tool, not an inherent threat. Understand its capabilities and limitations, particularly the distinction between AI's human-like abilities and uniquely human traits like creativity and genuine connection. Focus on how AI can augment your work and learning, but also identify areas where human ingenuity and critical thinking remain paramount. Be prepared to navigate the evolving landscape of AI integration in your field and advocate for ethical and productive use. Acknowledge and Address User Anxiety Around AI: Be aware that the adoption of AI can generate significant anxiety, even among those who stand to benefit. This is particularly true for individuals early in their careers or those facing substantial shifts in established workflows. As a tech professional, you have a role in fostering understanding and trust around AI. This involves clear communication about its purpose and limitations, establishing guidelines for its ethical use, and supporting those who may feel uncertain about its impact on their roles and future prospects. Cultivate "Human-Centric" Skills in an AI-Driven World: Recognize that the increasing capabilities of AI in handling routine and even complex tasks will elevate the importance of uniquely human skills. Focus on developing your creative intuition, problem-solving abilities, and capacity for collaboration and communication. The future of tech will likely favor those who can define problems, envision innovative solutions, and lead teams (which may include AI agents) effectively. Prioritize continuous learning in areas that complement AI's strengths. Contribute to the Development of Responsible AI Integration: As a tech professional, your expertise is crucial in shaping the responsible integration of AI. This includes building tools that promote transparency and understanding of AI's role in various processes, such as learning and assessment. Consider how AI can be used to augment human capabilities, automate tedious tasks, and provide valuable insights without replacing human judgment entirely. Advocate for and contribute to the development of frameworks and best practices that ensure AI is used ethically, effectively, and in a way that fosters trust and positive outcomes across industries. There was a lot more in that chat, of course, so give it another listen if you feel so inclined. Thank you for joining us—and remember, Dice is your best resource to find the tech talent you need to fill your open roles, and for tech pros, the best place to grow your tech career.  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.