Ryo Lu: The Way

Ryo Lu: The Way

From First of Kind by @soleio

February 18, 2026 · 34 min · Season 2 · Episode 2

About this episode

Ryo Lu discusses the future of design in a post-AI world and how Cursor is shaping the software development process.

What is the future of design in a post-AI world? Ryo Lu pioneered new patterns for collaboration as founding designer at Notion. He now leads design at Cursor, shaping how software gets built through a fusion of design and engineering. In this conversation with Soleio, he explains Cursor's approach to design and how the product will evolve to empower designers who build. 00:00 – Intro: The future of design 01:49 – What is design at Cursor? 02:50 – How the team actually works 04:46 – Generalists, Self-Starters, Ex-Founders 07:34 – Building Cursor inside Cursor 10:45 – The next level: Agents & Abstraction 13:48 – Pattern language 18:24 – A lingua franca for builders 20:34 – Baby Cursor 23:45 – The new shape of designer 26:10 – Does AI distribute or concentrate power? 29:43 – Why Cursor is the tool you should learn 30:54 – A new design philosophy 32:36 – Where the path leads S2:E2 Ryo Lu: The Way Hosted by Soleio and produced by Room 3 (www.room3nyc.com) First of Kind is powered by our sponsors: Framer: framer.com Cursor: cursor.com Vercel: vercel.com Profound: tryprofound.com Website: www.firstofkind.com Threads: threads.com/firstofkind_ Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_ X…

People in this episode

Host: Soleio

Guest: Ryo Lu

Topics covered

  • future of design
  • AI in design
  • collaboration
  • software development
  • design philosophy
  • empowering designers

Keywords

  • design
  • AI
  • Cursor
  • Notion
  • collaboration
  • software
  • design philosophy
  • empowerment

Sponsors

Framer, Cursor, Vercel, Profound

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Notion, Cursor, Room 3

More episodes of First of Kind

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the First of Kind podcast page.