Becoming an AI Builder in 2026: Building Your Own Toolkit in an Era of Constant Change

The year 2026 marks a personal milestone for me: the commitment to transition fully into an AI builder.
But anyone walking this path quickly realizes one thing — keeping up is hard.

New tools, new agents, new workflows appear almost weekly. There are no fixed rules, no “best stack,” and no definitive answers. This is an era of exploration, where each builder will inevitably craft their own unique workbench.

Recent updates to Cursor — particularly its in-app browser and visual editor — have sparked strong discussion. Cursor is clearly positioning itself as a tool that reduces the traditional gap between design and engineering.

The experience feels intentionally familiar to Figma users, but inside a coding environment.

To be clear: Cursor is not replacing Figma.
But its visual editor is an easy win for:

…without needing to deeply understand the codebase.

This matters because it keeps designers out of frustrating prompt loops. Instead of describing visual changes endlessly to an AI, designers can directly manipulate and experiment in real time.

Even without paying for Cursor’s premium AI features, the in-app browser + visual editor already deliver strong value. Designers can imagine, tweak, and experiment with Cloud Code directly inside a familiar environment — no heavy terminal work required.

This doesn’t signal the end of traditional design tools.
It signals a new overlap.

For designers who are new to code, jumping straight into a terminal can be intimidating.

That’s where VS Code extensions for AI agents like:

come in.

These tools provide:

While advanced workflows still perform best in a real CLI, extensions are a perfectly valid starting point. They allow designers to slowly build confidence, mental models, and fluency — without feeling blocked by the terminal.

The goal isn’t purity.
The goal is momentum.

The real danger today isn’t missing a tool — it’s chasing all of them.

With so many new releases, the most important skill is knowing when to stop exploring and start building.

Your toolkit should:

Not someone else’s Twitter thread.

There will be no universal stack.
Each designer and builder will end up with a personal workbench, shaped by their problems, habits, and strengths.

And that’s not a weakness of this era —
it’s the defining feature.