Web Summit is one of the world’s biggest gatherings for people who build digital products. Every year it It brings together founders, product leads, designers, engineers, marketers, startup teams of all sizes, business strategists and people working across AI, SaaS and digital products who want to understand what’s happening across the industry right now. The 2025 event kept that reputation. Lisbon felt busy from the first morning: fast conversations, quick demos, teams showing what they’re launching, and a clear sense that expectations for digital products continue to rise. For VALMAX, being there offered a clear look at how teams approach product design today and what they expect from partners who help shape and support their products. We focused on how companies use design to manage growth, how AI and automation influence everyday work and which ideas are setting the tone for upcoming product innovation.
How AI Is Shaping the Industry
AI was everywhere at Web Summit this year. It showed up in marketing tools, analytics, support systems, operations, automation platforms and internal workflows. It wasn’t positioned as something experimental. It has simply become part of how teams work, communicate and make decisions. Many companies talked about using AI to speed up routine tasks and keep their processes moving without adding extra layers of work.
But with all this progress, one idea came up often. AI may be powerful, but it still struggles with things that require taste, structure and long-term consistency. Teams were very open about where the limits are. It can draft ideas, generate quick variations or organise large chunks of information, but it doesn’t create thoughtful design systems, usable interfaces or identities that feel distinct. Good websites, strong visual language and clear experience design still come from people who understand context, behaviour and purpose.
That contrast made this year’s conversations especially interesting. AI helps the industry move faster, but it hasn’t replaced the parts of digital work that rely on judgment and clarity. And that gap is exactly where teams look for strong partners.
Why events like Web Summit still matter
Being at Web Summit gives a kind of clarity you don’t get from the outside. When you talk to people directly, they share what slows them down, which parts of their work feel messy, what they want to improve, and which decisions keep getting pushed aside. These things don’t usually appear in reports or trend summaries. They come up only in real conversations about how teams actually work.
Hearing this firsthand helps us understand how different teams operate, where they need support and what they expect from a partner. It also shows which areas across design, operations and communication require more attention than it seems from a distance. For an agency working with clients in different markets, this is a practical way to stay close to what’s happening in the industry. It keeps our perspective grounded and helps us make decisions based on what people inside these teams experience in their everyday work.
Looking ahead
Web Summit this year made it clear that products are changing fast, and AI now sits inside many of them in a very practical way. Teams focused on making their products feel easier to use, even as the systems behind them grow more advanced. Talking with different companies helped us understand what they pay attention to when they plan new features and where they see the biggest risks.
Many teams also mentioned the issues that appear when they try to grow without a strong foundation. If the basics aren’t planned well from the start, everything begins to slow down later. Hearing this from different sides reminded us how important the early steps are.
At VALMAX we always spend time setting that foundation before moving into full execution, and Lisbon confirmed why this approach works. These conversations gave us a clear view of the challenges teams face, and we’re taking that understanding into our upcoming work.
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