AI is moving into almost every creative tool I use. Some apps are adding AI directly, while others work best when paired with it. The important part: I don’t let AI do the design for me—it’s there to speed up the process, help me explore directions faster, and cut out repetitive tasks.

This is how my toolkit looks today. It will keep evolving, but here’s where I’m seeing AI make the biggest impact right now.

Adobe: Still the Leader

For all the new tools out there, Adobe is still the leader when it comes to design. Their AI features are built right into the apps most designers already use, which makes them feel natural in the workflow.

Photoshop (Firefly integration) – Generative Fill to add or remove objects seamlessly, background replacement, smart object cleanup, style transfer, and even expanding images beyond their original crop.
Illustrator – Generative Recolor for instant palette exploration, Retype to recognize and match fonts, and Text-to-Vector Graphics to turn prompts into editable vectors. AI features like responsive “smart adjust” tools make Illustrator feel faster and smarter every update.
Adobe XD – While Figma leads in popularity, XD continues to evolve with AI-driven Content-Aware Layout, responsive resizing, and prototyping helpers that reduce repetitive work.
Adobe Firefly – Firefly is Adobe’s standalone AI engine, built for safe commercial use. I use it to generate brand-consistent images, text effects, and design variations, then bring them straight into Photoshop and Illustrator.

Adobe’s big advantage: they’ve embedded AI into the tools creatives already trust. That means you can work faster without losing the polish, depth, and control Adobe has always been known for.

Design + Collaboration

Figma Make – Great for building quick prototypes and flows. It helps me move ideas into something clickable fast. But I don’t use it to “design for me”—I still set the creative direction and polish.
Figma – Still my central hub for design systems, UI, and collaboration. The new AI features (like copy suggestions and layout clean-up) are nice for speeding up, but the best work still comes from hands-on design.
Canva – I don’t use it myself, but I recommend it to non-designers. Magic Design and Magic Write make it easy for anyone on a team to create quick assets without relying 100% on design.

Video + Motion

Synthesia – I use it for every video I make. AI avatars and voiceovers make it simple to create professional training videos, explainers, or demos without needing a full studio setup.
Runway – For AI-powered video editing, background replacement, quick motion graphics, and even text-to-video experiments.
Descript – Editing with AI transcription and voice cloning. It makes video edits almost as simple as editing text.
Adobe Premiere Pro + After Effects – Adobe Sensei powers captions, auto-edits, and smart motion cleanup, but I still do the final polish myself.

Content + Writing

ChatGPT – My creative partner for brainstorming and drafting. It helps me summarize research, generate copy variations, and move from blank page to options faster.
Notion – Notion AI turns meeting notes into action items and helps organize long research.
Miro + Milanote – Both tools are starting to add AI for clustering, auto-organization, and workshop support (Miro AI / Milanote).

Project + Workflow

Wrike – Wrike AI predicts timelines, flags risks, and breaks down complex projects. It helps me catch bottlenecks before they happen.
Monday.com – Monday AI surfaces dependencies and automates updates so teams spend less time managing tasks and more time creating.
Make (Integromat) – Make automates repetitive workflows. Paired with AI, it can draft updates, generate reports, or even auto-build campaign assets as part of a process.

Imagery + Concepting

MidJourney – My sketchbook for visual exploration. I use it to test moods, styles, and creative edges before I start refining (MidJourney).
DALL·E + Stable Diffusion – Great for exploring brand-specific visuals and generating variations (DALL·E, Stable Diffusion).
Freepik + Envato Elements – Both now offer AI image and video generation and Envato Elements AI. This is a big win for B2B design—no more pulling from the same stock libraries everyone else is using. I can create visuals that look fresh and unique instead of recycled, which makes a huge difference in industries where good visuals were always limited.

AI Speeds Us Up, But Creativity Still Leads

AI is in almost every tool I use now. Some apps are great for prototyping and automation, others for content and imagery. But the role is the same: AI speeds up the process. The design thinking, the creative choices, the storytelling—that still comes from me.

I’m still searching for that one perfect tool that can handle everything end-to-end. Something that can manage text as smoothly as Adobe, while also telling complex, layered stories the way B2B designers have to. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting close.

The good news is AI already saves us time in other parts of the process—editing, research, prototyping. That gives us more space to do what really matters: design with intention. Let’s not lose that mentality in the rush to automate.

My Creative Toolkit and How AI Fits In