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Y Combinator

Y Combinator

Startups and entrepreneurship 2,420,000 subscribers

How To Design In The Agent Era

07.08.2026
Published: 07.08.2026 Category: Startups and entrepreneurship

Episode details

Episode description

AI isn't just changing the tools designers use. It's changing how they build, ship, and stand out. In this episode of Design Review, Stephen Haney, founder of AI-native design tool Paper, joins YC General Partner Aaron Epstein to demo the agent-first workflow that's making Paper one of the fastest-growing design tools since Figma. Using live redesigns of user-submitted websites as examples, they break down the most common AI design tells, show how to fix them in seconds, and explain why the biggest risk for founders isn't moving too slow, it's shipping something that looks like everyone else. Chapters: 00:00 - Great companies have great design 01:04 - What is Paper and why build it? 03:17 - What makes Paper agent-native 05:11 - Demo: Shaders, image generation, and brand design 11:32 - Design-to-code and the new agent stack 16:48 - Design Review: Legion Health 24:11 - How to avoid AI design slop 28:26 - Design Review: Sytex 32:42 - The biggest tells of AI-generated design 37:39 - Design Review: Moreta 41:11 - Can AI learn taste? 43:56 - How Paper uses agents internally 46:52 - Building a community around Paper 49:15 - Lessons from Steven’s first startup 53:30 - What’s next for design and Paper Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

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