Gleb Kuznetsov Addresses the Future of Design and AI at DDD's 10th Anniversary Event

Milan, Italy, June 15th, 2026, FinanceWire

Digital Design Days (DDD) recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in Milan, bringing together designers, founders, technologists, brand leaders, and creative executives from around the world to discuss the future of design, creativity, and emerging technologies. Among the featured speakers was Gleb Kuznetsov, founder of Milkinside, who presented a keynote on judgment and taste in the AI era.

The anniversary edition highlighted how creative professionals are adapting to rapid advances in artificial intelligence while continuing to focus on originality, human judgment, and meaningful user experiences.

That tension sat at the center of many conversations during the 10th-anniversary edition of DDD in Milan. Over the course of the event, designers, founders, technologists, brand leaders, and creative executives gathered to examine one of the industry’s most pressing questions: if AI can help anyone create competent work, what separates the work people remember from the work they forget?

Founded by Filippo Spiezia, Digital Design Days has grown over the past decade into an international event focused on design, innovation, technology, and creativity. According to event organizers, DDD has welcomed more than 240,000 participants worldwide across its in-person and online editions.

Now in its tenth year, DDD has gathered more than 240,000 participants worldwide across its in-person and online editions, with its latest edition welcoming more than 3,500 attendees from 48 countries.

Many questions surfaced across keynotes, panels, and discussions throughout DDD26, which brought together an international lineup of speakers including Stefan Sagmeister, Marina Willer, Wesley ter Haar, Emily Rickard, Robert Hodgin, Itay Schiff, and Gleb Kuznetsov.

Among the speakers contributing to the discussion was Gleb Kuznetsov, founder of Milkinside. His keynote, “Judgment & Taste in the AI Era,” examined why qualities such as taste, empathy, memory, and lived experience may become more valuable, not less, as AI-generated outputs become increasingly sophisticated.

His perspective echoed a broader theme that emerged throughout DDD26: technology may be changing how creative work is produced, but the challenge of creating work that resonates remains distinctly human.

Kuznetsov’s presentation focused on the role of human judgment in product design and creative decision-making as AI tools become increasingly integrated into design workflows.

That broader concern emerged repeatedly throughout DDD26, where designers, founders, technologists, and creative leaders explored how AI is influencing not only workflows but also originality, differentiation, and creative decision-making. 

Across talks, panels, and informal conversations, a recurring question surfaced: as AI makes it easier to produce competent work at scale, what makes something memorable?

His perspective reflected a theme that resonated throughout DDD26: in a landscape where tools can help create more content than ever before, differentiation may depend less on production and more on judgment, taste, and point of view.

He explains, “We did not become designers to ship the average. AI can generate the average faster than any human. Our job is to bring memory, empathy, friction, history, and taste into the work. That is the human layer machines cannot replace.”

That idea was one of the defining themes of DDD26. Across presentations and conversations, speakers explored how creative professionals are evolving from makers into what Kuznetsov describes as “maker-directors,” people whose value increasingly lies not only in producing work, but in shaping outcomes, directing tools, and deciding what deserves to exist.

For Spiezia and Digital Design Days, the success of the 10th-anniversary edition reinforced something bigger than attendance or speaker lists. It showed that DDD has become one of the rare places where the creative industry can talk about its future without reducing it to tools, hype, or sales language.

As DDD enters its second decade, organizers say the event will continue to serve as a forum for conversations around creativity, innovation, and the future of digital experiences.

If one message emerged from the event, it was that the future of design is not becoming less human because of AI. Instead, human judgment, taste, empathy, and creativity may become more valuable than ever.

About Milkinside

Located in San Francisco, Milkinside is a design agency focused on creating the future of product design, interactions, branding, and motion design. Founded in 2011, the firm creates digital products from idea to launch.

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