Prompted: AI, People and the Creative Spark

Canva

As AI evolves from just a tool to a trusted collaborator, the creative process is being rewritten. Prompted: AI, People and the Creative Spark is a show about this new era, when human inspiration meets artificial intelligence, and new forms of creativity, leadership, and invention take shape. Hosted by Canva’s Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Cameron Adams, each episode brings you insight and direction from the leading voices at the intersection of AI and human ingenuity. These are the thinkers and builders reimagining what’s possible when we start treating AI as a co-creator. If you're curious about the future of creativity, and the people bold enough to shape it, you're in the right place.

  1. Turning AI Into Infrastructure with Atlassian’s Sherif Mansour

    May 28

    Turning AI Into Infrastructure with Atlassian’s Sherif Mansour

    Sherif Mansour has spent over 16 years at Atlassian helping shape products like Jira and Confluence. Now Head of AI at Atlassian, he’s focused on a bigger shift: how AI changes not just what we build, but how teams work together. In this episode, Sherif and Cameron unpack why many organizations remain in “single-player mode” with AI, and why transformation happens when AI becomes part of collaborative workflows. Sherif shares how Atlassian deploys agents inside procurement, product, and customer feedback systems, why synchronized experimentation drives adoption, and why as AI accelerates output, strategy becomes more important, not less.   Key Quotes “Don’t look for a killer AI use case. Look at what your team already does and make that better.” “As AI speeds everything up, strategy matters more. You have to point the ship in the right direction.”   Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction 00:57 - The Prompt 02:51 - Creative All Hands 08:27 - Define "long term" in AI strategy as the next six months. 15:16 - Identify your stage in the AI maturity pyramid: answers, task execution, then virtual teammates. 20:59 - Map team workflows first, then insert AI agents at specific friction points. 24:00 - Celebrate failed experiments to encourage ambitious AI experimentation across teams. 30:50 - Expect humans to become the bottleneck as AI dramatically increases output. 34:30 - Give AI step-by-step instructions, not just the final task. 37:03 - All Star Creative Team 38:31 - Design Reveal   Links Subscribe to the Prompted Newsletter: https://promptedwithcam.substack.com/ Cam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/ Sherif on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherifmansour/ Link to Sherif, Yvonne and AI’s Creative Collaboration:  https://promptedpodcast.com/episode-11 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    41 min
  2. Why AI Is Turning Product Managers Into Builders with Noam Lovinsky, CPO at Superhuman

    May 12

    Why AI Is Turning Product Managers Into Builders with Noam Lovinsky, CPO at Superhuman

    AI isn’t just changing what products can do, it’s transforming how products get built. In this episode, Superhuman CPO Noam Lovinsky joins Cameron Adams to unpack the shift to AI-first product organizations. From Grammarly’s transformation into Superhuman to the rise of agent-driven development, Noam explains why product teams are collapsing traditional roles and moving faster than ever. They explore why chat isn’t the ultimate AI interface, how product managers will increasingly ship code themselves, and why the biggest bottleneck in the AI era may no longer be building, but deciding what to build. Key Quotes “Very soon the expectation is that all PMs will be pushing code to production.” “We had to disrupt ourselves and go after it — or pack our bags.” Timestamps 01:30 The Prompt  04:29 Creative All Hands  09:56 Treat major AI shifts as a refounding moment for the company.  12:46 "We had to basically disrupt ourselves and go after it, or pack our bags." 23:06 Chat is now a UX primitive, in the same way as a button or a dropdown is. 23:44 Create AI tools that work where people do: docs, code, designs  24:23 Build AI canvases that actively write and create alongside the user. 29:37 Use AI to compress long meetings into clear summaries people can act on. 35:50 Create rituals like AI Fridays where teams share how they are using AI tools. 37:35 "Very soon the expectation is that all PMs will be pushing code to production." 37:52 “How can we make sure PMs can build an idea and get customer feedback within 24 hours?” 39:36 Smaller zero to one teams can succeed with AI tools.  40:30 Start with the outcome you want when working with AI agents. 40:48 Create verification loops so AI systems can check their own work.  43:22 Time saved with AI is a form of “life extension.”  44:06 All-Star Creative Team  46:00 Design Reveal  47:23 Outro Links Subscribe to the Prompted Newsletter: https://promptedwithcam.substack.com/ Cam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/ Noam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noaml/  Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    48 min
  3. The Future of Work Is Video: AI Avatars, Agents, and the New Creator Economy with Rong Yan, HeyGen

    Apr 29

    The Future of Work Is Video: AI Avatars, Agents, and the New Creator Economy with Rong Yan, HeyGen

    AI isn’t just changing how we create content. It’s changing how we communicate and who gets to create in the first place. In this episode, HeyGen CTO Rong Yan joins Cameron to explore how AI-generated video is reshaping the way individuals and organizations share ideas. From marketers and sales teams to everyday knowledge workers, Rong explains how tools like avatars and video agents are making it possible for anyone to communicate through video—without Cameroneras, studios, or production teams. They also dive into a bigger shift: the move from knowledge accumulation to rapid adaptation. In a world where tools evolve monthly, success isn’t about what you know—it’s about how quickly you can learn and apply new capabilities. Key Quotes “I don’t believe in accumulation. What matters now is how fast you can learn and adapt.” “A 10x person isn’t someone who knows more. It’s someone who can leverage tools better.” “AI is not a replacement for humans. It’s a tool to improve the quality of humans.” “It’s not about too much content. It’s about too little good content.” Timestamps 01:34 - The Prompt 04:27 - Creative All Hands 07:58 - Train yourself to learn faster instead of relying on accumulated past knowledge. 10:08 - Shift teams toward agent-based workflows instead of relying on traditional IDE coding. 17:34 - Turn documents into short videos using tools like HeyGen for better engagement. 21:46 - The original Turing test was designed to test whether a machine could pass as being human through text chat. 25:28 - Focus on delivering valuable content rather than using AI to deceive audiences. 36:49 - Prioritize creating high-quality content quickly instead of worrying about content volume. 39:52 - All Star Creative Team 41:44 - Design Reveal 43:20 - Rapid Fire Links Subscribe to the Prompted Newsletter: https://promptedwithcam.substack.com/ Cameron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/ Rong on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rong-yan-2004692/ HeyGen: https://www.heygen.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    46 min
  4. The Future of Storytelling: AI Video, World Models, and What Comes Next with Alejandro Matamala Ortiz

    Apr 7

    The Future of Storytelling: AI Video, World Models, and What Comes Next with Alejandro Matamala Ortiz

    AI isn’t just changing how we create content. It’s changing who gets to create, and what creation even looks like. In this episode, Runway Chief Innovation Officer Alejandro Matamala Ortiz joins Cameron to explore how AI video is unlocking a new era of storytelling. From a surgeon making short films to the rise of interactive, explorable worlds, Alejandro shares how tools once reserved for Hollywood are now in the hands of anyone with an idea. They also dive into the next frontier: world models, systems that don’t just generate images or video, but simulate how the world actually works. This isn’t just about better tools. It’s about a new creative medium. Cam's notes on Substack: promptedwithcam.substack.com Key Quotes "We made systems, tools, models that could allow anyone in the world to create a two-hour feature film." "Building AI products felt more like carving than building… taking pieces of this marble to discover what I want to make." “This model learns by seeing the world and understanding how the world works.” Timestamps01:28 The Prompt  03:29 "If you make great things, if you put love into it, people will come back and they will use it."  04:31 Creative All Hands  13:27 AI is expanding creativity to new people who always have stories to tell.  17:06 World models simulate not just visuals but physics, continuity, and object interaction.  18:13 World models open new frontiers across entertainment, gaming, and robotics.  19:26 Models learn how the world works by watching vast data and finding correlations.  22:26 AIFF.com  22:57 Reactors are experimenting with new formats combining gaming, VR, and storytelling.  23:45 More projects are being greenlit due to reduced cost.  24:15 "Stories will always win."  25:02 Georges Méliès  29:26 Building is now so cheap, startups can no longer place just one bet.  36:33 Sitting researchers next to creatives helps you spot what is worth producing.  38:18 Every major technology shift created new markets, not eliminated roles.  38:35 Creative roles are blurring: illustrators become filmmakers, writers start thinking in images.  39:26 All-Star Creative Team  42:50 Design Reveal  44:50 Rapid-Fire Links Subscribe to the Prompted Newsletter: https://promptedwithcam.substack.com/ Cameron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/ Alejandro on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matamalaortiz/ Runway: https://runwayml.com/ Catie, Alejandro, and AI’s Creative Collaboration: Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    47 min
  5. Startups in the AI Era: Peter Deng on What Will Win

    Feb 24

    Startups in the AI Era: Peter Deng on What Will Win

    The AI landscape is shifting every week. Startups are racing to challenge the status quo, and investors are closely watching the space.  Peter Deng, a visionary product leader turned investor, joins the podcast. Peter helped shape Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and ChatGPT, driving major launches like ChatGPT Enterprise, voice, and memory at OpenAI.  He is now a General Partner at Felicis, where he backs founders building AI-native companies. In this episode, Peter shares how investors evaluate AI startups today, what separates lasting businesses from surface-level integrations, and what founders must rethink to build companies that hold up over time. Cam's notes on Substack: promptedwithcam.substack.com Key Quotes “There are so many people solving problems that have been solved before, but with old technology, and now they’re solving them with AI in a way that’s ten, a hundred times better.” “There are a lot of problems that these big model companies are not solving, and that’s where startups are doing really, really well.” “AI has to be core to the product. Otherwise it’s just not interesting.” Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction01:16 - The Prompt03:44 - Creative All Hands06:14 - Join teams, or invest, during moments of inflection.09:12 - Use LLMs as a midnight brainstorming partner, when others are asleep.12:00 - Think about "affordances" and shape technology to humans.16:01 - Lean into the back-and-forth to help you clarify and articulate your ideas.19:36 - Startups are solving problems the big model companies are not addressing.21:27 - Founders should relook at old problems, with new technology.25:05 - The top four models will be hard to beat. That's not where the game is being played.26:38 - Product taste and design will be more important over the next 18 months.29:20 - Hopefully AI efficiency will give people more time to spend in real life.34:52 - Startups that extract knowledge out of people's heads, will have an advantage.44:22 - All Star Creative Team47:11 - Design Reveal Links Subscribe to the Prompted Newsletter: https://promptedwithcam.substack.com/ Cam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/ Peter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterxdeng/ Link to Peter, Jade and AI’s Creative Collaboration: https://promptedpodcast.com/episode-10 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    51 min
  6. The Fun-First Framework for AI Adoption with Allie K. Miller

    Feb 10

    The Fun-First Framework for AI Adoption with Allie K. Miller

    Allie K. Miller has a rare superpower: she makes the cutting edge of AI feel clear, practical, and genuinely fun. Recently named to TIME’s list of the most influential people in AI, Allie has become one of the internet’s most trusted guides—breaking down new models, tools, and workflows for millions, from curious beginners to seasoned builders. In this episode, she joins Cameron Adams to unpack what’s coming next: agentic browsers, “AI-first” reinvention, and why productivity alone can be a trap. Along the way, she shares a simple prompt structure that unlocks better outputs, how to turn fear into agency, and why creativity is often the fastest on-ramp to adoption. Plus: a delightfully weird prediction about how we’ll perceive the world. Cam's notes on Substack: promptedwithcam.substack.com Key Quotes "If they just keep their current workflows in three years, they'll be completely behind the ball." "There is a world in which, with some sort of brain computer interface or new sort of AR overlay to the world, we could see things that are completely imperceptible to humans today." "Productivity is a trap. AI can enable you to do better work and it can enable you to do new work that you weren't able to do before." Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction 01:45 - The Prompt 04:07 - Creative All Hands 13:39 - Use AI to simulate future scenarios when convincing teams to change. 15:30 - Let small teams move ahead instead of waiting for company-wide adoption. 17:37 - Use AI to enable work that was previously impractical to do manually. 20:23 - Use creative AI tasks as an entry point before work use cases. 23:32 - Encourage skeptics to try AI even if they expect to dislike it. 24:40 - Ask permission before introducing AI into group conversations. 26:21 - Try this prompt structure: who you are, your objective, then context. 28:07 - Add goals, fears, constraints, and resources to improve AI responses. 31:29 - Photograph handwritten notes or post-its and upload them as AI context. 43:29 - Use AI to analyze patterns across multiple past conversations. 52:10 - Turn one detailed input into multiple formats like decks or videos. 1:01:08 - Design Reveal 1:02:48 - Key Takeaways Links Subscribe to the Prompted Newsletter: https://promptedwithcam.substack.com/ Cam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/ Allie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alliekmiller/ Link to Allie, Tisha and AI’s Creative Collaboration: https://promptedpodcast.com/episode-9 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    1h 4m
  7. Creative Generalists Will Win the AI Era - Google’s Natalie Piucco Shares Why

    Jan 27

    Creative Generalists Will Win the AI Era - Google’s Natalie Piucco Shares Why

    Natalie Piucco, Field CTO at Google Cloud, joins Cameron Adams for a wide-ranging conversation on AI, innovation, and what it really takes to lead through constant change. From her childhood on a banana farm to launching AI-powered products at Google, Natalie shares how creativity, trust, and learning shape high-performing teams. They explore why AI is a fundamentally creative technology, how psychological safety unlocks faster learning, and why we shouldn’t wait to “feel ready” before exploring what problems we can solve with AI. Natalie also unpacks the art of the possible, from creative simulation and education to agentic AI, and explains why the future belongs to high-agency creative generalists.  Guest Quote“AI can’t hold the brush, but it can inspire the strokes.” “The future belongs to high-agency creative generalists who can turn vague ideas into momentum.” Time Stamps00:00 - Introduction 01:31 - The Prompt 03:47 - Creative All Hands 07:09 - Create psychological safety so your team can admit what they don't know. 08:25 - Train everyone in Design Thinking. It's low cost and unlocks creativity. 12:09 - Use NotebookLM to turn long documents into podcasts you can learn from. 13:49 - AI is an adult-permission slip to do things differently. 17:55 - Add an AI meeting assistant to every call so you can focus on people. 19:45 - Before doing any task, pause and ask: could AI do this? 24:11 - Define where risk-taking lives in your company. Creativity requires it. 25:25 - Don't just adopt AI tools. Help people build mental models for using them. 28:00 - Use the Progress Principle: count testing, feedback, and killing ideas as wins. 32:09 - Look for AI opportunities in boring, repetitive work like tax or compliance. 37:00 - Start your AI experiments with a clear challenge and the metrics associated with that. 38:07 - Price every problem. What does it cost in money, time, or customers? 40:46 - Use the Moonshot Framework: huge problem, radical solution, breakthrough tech in three circles. 43:32 - Build community and in-person connection. AI makes human trust more valuable. 44:00 - All Star Creative Team 46:30 - Design Reveal 49:21 - Rapid Fire     LinksCam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/ Natalie Piucco on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-piucco-7238403b/ Prompted Newsletter: https://promptedwithcam.substack.com/ Link to Natalie, Harriet and AI’s creative collaboration: https://promptedpodcast.com/episode-8  The Leonardo.ai, Google, James Gulliver Hancock collaboration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymSfyF3UezU Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    53 min
  8. Inside OpenAI’s Global Expansion with Oliver Jay, Managing Director

    Jan 13

    Inside OpenAI’s Global Expansion with Oliver Jay, Managing Director

    How does one of the world’s fastest-growing companies approach international scale? How is localizing AI different than localizing any other product?  Managing Director of OpenAI International, Oliver Jay, joins Cameron to answer these questions and give us a window into  what it takes to deploy AI models globally. Drawing on his experience at Dropbox, Asana, and now OpenAI, Oliver explains why AI adoption follows familiar product-led growth principles but moves dramatically faster, how OpenAI works with governments through its OpenAI for Countries program, and why voice, education, and workforce upskilling must coincide to make  AI accessible worldwide. Cam’s notes on Substack: promptedwithcam.substack.com Key Quotes“ The models are at the point where you will see an explosion of voice native applications. I think voice changes everything.” “At this scale,  you really do need to work side by side with governments to ensure that countries are ready for what's coming.” Timestamps01:12 - The Prompt 03:51 - Creative All Hands 06:24 - When demand is global, execute in parallel, not sequential country rollouts. 07:07 - Familiar interfaces (like chat) can unlock adoption faster than capability alone. 07:56 - Start your day by asking AI to preview meetings and prep. 10:15 - Scale globally with bottoms-up product work and top-down government partnerships. 12:38 - The risk of not having enough compute far outweighs the risk of having too much. 13:38 - Upskilling needs systems: academy, certification, and job matching loops. 16:02 - Watch usage patterns by country, product breakthroughs can start anywhere. 16:48 - Design educational AI like a tutor: prompt, challenge, and guide, don't solve. 19:13 - Teach models language principles, and they generalize beyond training languages. 23:22 - Voice can replace keyboards as the gateway to digital opportunity. 26:23 - Traditional teams can lead innovation when AI removes their biggest bottlenecks. 27:55 - Show customers real prototypes fast. Codex can build demos in minutes. 43:48 - All Star Creative Team 45:20 - Design Reveal 47:16 - Rapid Fire 49:02 - Key Takeaways   LinksSubscribe to the Prompted Newsletter Cameron Adams on LinkedIn Oliver Jay on LinkedIn Link to Oliver, Yvonne, and AI's creative collaboration: https://promptedpodcast.com/episode-7  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    52 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.3
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

As AI evolves from just a tool to a trusted collaborator, the creative process is being rewritten. Prompted: AI, People and the Creative Spark is a show about this new era, when human inspiration meets artificial intelligence, and new forms of creativity, leadership, and invention take shape. Hosted by Canva’s Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Cameron Adams, each episode brings you insight and direction from the leading voices at the intersection of AI and human ingenuity. These are the thinkers and builders reimagining what’s possible when we start treating AI as a co-creator. If you're curious about the future of creativity, and the people bold enough to shape it, you're in the right place.

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