Current State of AI, Product System Design, Watches, and Popcorn
Your Weekly Review of News in Technology, UX and AI
Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:
📊 AI in Healthcare
📆 Current State of AI
👩💼 Managers and Executives
🤔 Thinking
Product System Design
🛸 Star Trek
👟 Reebok Pumps
🍿 Popcorn
Podcast
Harnessing AI in Healthcare: Insights from RJ Kedziora
In this episode of Product by Design, Kyle Evans interviews RJ Kedziora, co-founder of Estenda, a company specializing in custom software and data analysis for healthcare. We discuss RJ’s journey in technology and entrepreneurship, the importance of energy management over time management, and the role of AI in healthcare. RJ shares insights into the challenges and future of AI applications, the need for ethical considerations, and the potential for personalized healthcare solutions. He also offers advice to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make a difference in the industry.
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News and Useful Reads
Want to understand the current state of AI? Check out these charts.
Models are getting better, adoption is increasing, and spending is continuing to reach astronomical levels.
Despite predictions that AI development may hit a wall, the report says that the top models just keep getting better. People are adopting AI faster than they picked up the personal computer or the internet. AI companies are generating revenue faster than companies in any previous technology boom, but they’re also spending hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers and chips. The benchmarks designed to measure AI, the policies meant to govern it, and the job market are struggling to keep up. AI is sprinting, and the rest of us are trying to find our shoes.
Managers and Executives Disagree on AI—and It’s Costing Companies
It seems like most companies are now using AI in some way. But the real gains still aren’t there. And if you work in corporate America, you know there’s a large divide between the executive AI strategy and what AI can actually do.
That said, results have not materialized at a scale commensurate with investment. On that front, some surveys are discouraging. Researchers at BCG, McKinsey, and MIT, for example have converged on roughly the same figure: Less than 10% of companies are capturing meaningful AI value at scale. Only a small minority of firms, it appears, have achieved large-scale P&L impact.
AI is making us faster, more productive, and worse at thinking
The evidence continues to mount that AI can improve certain areas, but it comes at a cost.
There are real productivity improvements, but they are strikingly narrow. Goldman found a median gain of around 30 per cent in two specific areas: customer support and software development. Outside those domains, the evidence for broad improvement was, in the bank’s assessment, essentially absent. The promised revolution, for now, is happening in two rooms of a very large house.
Action items for AI decision makers in 2026
Artificial intelligence has dominated economic and business attention for the past several years. But the hype cycle is slowing as organizations confront the challenges of enterprise AI deployment and the need to drive tangible business value.
The Future of UX Design is “Product System Design”
Generative AI and agent-based development have decoupled the act of building from the specialist roles that used to own it. Designers are shipping prototypes. Stakeholders are spinning up MVPs. The list of people who can generate a working product idea, without writing a line of code or filing a design ticket, is growing every week.
The Star Trek Communicator Is Now a High-End Wristwatch
I love watches and Star Trek, so this one hits for me. I’ve been watching all the new watch releases this week and this is one of my absolute favorites.
Clearly channeling none other than Captain Kirk, the high-end Swiss brand has turned Star Trek’s iconic Communicator into a full-on luxury wristwatch—and we’re very much here for it.
Other Interesting Finds
The H. Moser & Cie. x Reebok Streamliner “Pump”
Speaking of watches, if you grew up having (or wanting to have) Reebok pumps, this watch may be for you. A lot of new watches were released this past week, but this one stood out to me as one of the most fun.
The Pump sneaker is returning in 2026, and to celebrate, the shoe brand is partnering with H. Moser on a weird and fun collaboration centered on its integrated bracelet watch, the Streamliner.
Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?
Popcorn and movies may be an inseparable duo now, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, when U.S. movie theaters first emerged in the early 1900s, they even outright banned the snack because employees didn’t want to deal with the mess.