Figma have a Product Operating Model problem.

Figma opened at $122. It's now at $18.92. Down 84% in less than a year.

The market is saying something simple: Figma missed the AI shift. It is a year-long pattern that has been surfaced by the recent Claude Design launch.

Why this was predictable.

ChatGPT launched in 2022. We are in 2026. That's four years. More time than it takes to develop a car from blank sheet to production. The shift was visible. It looks like the organisation wasn't structured to act beyond integrating AI as an "add-on" to a mature product.

Like many companies at their scale, Figma focused on feature stacking. The existing product, optimised to infinity. Software-only companies have rarely a product lifecycle replacement but they are not immune to technology disruption like AI.

According to theorg.com, the ratio of PMs to designers is telling. They use PMs to both orchestrate and own product direction. This doesn't only introduce a conflict of interest (an imbalance of power), it also neutralises the design discipline, the only function with the capacity to question existing frames, challenge assumptions, and create products that redefine markets. The way the iPhone redefined what a phone was.

If design had been carrying product vision, someone would have been asking the AI-native question years ago: "when do we build an intent-based interaction product?" The stock chart is the result.

What's happening to Figma is not an exception. This the end of an era for current Product Operating Model.

The market is redefining the game. The question isn't whether your product is good. It's whether your organisation is structured to see the next iPhone coming.