Technically Speaking with Harrison Wheeler · 2025-05-05 · 41 min
In this episode of AI Product Builders , I sit down with Jay Demetillo, design lead at Canva, to talk about what it means to design spreadsheet experiences for the future. Jay has worked all over the world - from Grab in Southeast Asia to leading the design of AI features inside Canva Sheets. Now based in Australia, he shares what it took to reimagine a legacy product, modernize complex workflows, and bring AI in as a meaningful co-pilot, not just a gimmick. We get into: * The drag-and-drop design challenge no existing tool could solve and how he had to rely on his ingenuity * Prototyping high-fidelity interactions with ProtoPie to shape engineering scoping * Why working across time zones requires clarity, collaboration, and great prototypes * How Canva Sheets makes data visualization, formulas, and mobile editing easier for everyday users * The principles behind Canva’s “magic” AI features like Magic Insights and Magic Formulas * Jay’s own side project: an article tracker app built with AI * What working with AI taught him about the limits of solo building This episode isn’t about slapping AI on a product.
Green flags over red flags: Navigating today's brutal job market with Jermaine 'The Jobfather' Murray61 / 100Human-centered AI: Ovetta Sampson on design risks and rewardsVibe coding: A beginner's guide with Kyle ZantosBreaking up with mockups: Filip Skrzesinski on Subframe's real-time design with codePablo Stanley on developing Lummi.ai and achieving product-market fit