The PM's Guide to AI Design that isn't Slop

Today’s episodeToday I’m showing you, advanced Codex workflows with Meng To, founder of Design+Code.He told me early on that he’s barely touched Claude. He’s been living inside Codex every day since launch, running a setup most PMs have never seen up close.Plan mode and a fleet of 20 agents running at once while he steps away from his desk entirely. Slides, charts, and full brainstorms generated inside the same chat window, reviewed, regenerated, and shipped, all without writing a line of code.We also get into something heavier than workflows.Why PMs are losing their jobs to layoffs right now? And how to future proof your career?Don’t miss....----Brought to you by:Arize: Trace, evaluate, and fix your AI agents before broken behavior ships to users----If you want access to my AI tool stack - Dovetail, Arize, Linear, Descript, Reforge Build, Relay.app, Magic Patterns, Speechify, Bolt.new and Mobbin - become an annual subscriber ($150), and grab Aakash’s bundle.If you want access to my AI PM customizations - PM OS, Job Search OS, and Prompt Library - become a founding subscriber ($250).----Key Takeaways:1. Codex is a fleet operator - Meng runs 20 agents at once while stepping away from his desk entirely. Each one works on something different, slides, charts, brainstorms, while he does something else completely.2. Plan mode isn't optional - Skipping it means paying twice, once to build the wrong thing, once to undo it. Codex returns a full breakdown, architecture, steps, and open questions, before touching anything.3. A screenshot beats a paragraph every time - It shows the AI what you mean instead of what you think you mean. A simple two-key shortcut drops any window straight into the chat as context.4. The taste skill is the real differentiator - Without it, AI design defaults to generic. With it, the output looks like something a senior designer with years of experience actually made.5. Trust is earned in tiers - Read only first, then supervised access, then full access. Skipping straight to full access before learning where the AI tends to fail is how people get burned.6. HTML beats Figma for speed - Every extra tool is a login, a subscription, and a context switch the AI can't do for you. Keep your blast radius small.7. UGC won because audiences are tired of corporate polish - A synthetic version of you, used honestly, reads as more human than a generic message. Ten old photos is all it takes to build a digital twin.8. Technical PMs aren't surviving layoffs because they write code - Meng hasn't written a single line in six months. They're surviving because they're fluent enough to direct a fleet of agents and catch a wrong output before it ships.9. Meng builds his own tools when nothing off the shelf fits - His own video editor, his own SaaS templates, his own design brainstorming app. The tool built for your exact workflow beats the popular one every time.10. The bar isn't five star anymore - Five star is just the floor everyone clears by default now. The real question is what six, seven, all the way to eleven star looks like, because that ceiling rises exactly as fast as the floor does.----Related contentPodcasts:How to Design with AI - YouTube | Spotify | AppleHow to Use Codex Like an OpenAI PM - YouTube | Spotify | AppleThe Ultimate Guide to ChatGPT Codex - YouTube | Spotify | AppleNewsletters:OpenAI’s Codex is the Best Way to Use ChatGPTI spent 100s of hours building a PM OS for youHow to build product strategy in the age of AI----👨‍💻 Where to find Meng To:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mengtoDesign+Code: https://designcode.ioAura: https://aura.build👨‍💻 Where to find Aakash:Twitter/X: https://x.com/aakashguptaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aagupta/Newsletter: https://www.news.aakashg.com---PS. Please subscribe on YouTube and follow on Apple & Spotify. It helps!If you want to advertise, email productgrowthppp at gmail. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.news.aakashg.com/subscribe