We don’t have a shortage of designers. We have a shortage of mentors.

Over the last few years, I’ve interviewed 50+ designers, and one pattern continues to stand out. Flashy designs. Impressive portfolios. Well-crafted case studies. Confident explanations. Familiar UX terminology. Everything appears polished. Everything sounds right.

But it’s not. The moment the conversation goes one layer deeper, the gaps begin to surface. Vocabulary has increased faster than understanding. Depth of knowledge is often missing.

I often meet designers who can confidently discuss Design Thinking, Double Diamond, Design Systems, or AI-assisted workflows. But when asked to solve a problem, sketch ideas, critique their own decisions, explain trade-offs, or iterate on feedback, many struggle.

Now, in the AI era, creating flows, personas, wireframes, and polished UI has become easier than ever.

But UX was never about producing screens. It has always been about understanding people, solving business problems, making informed decisions, and learning from outcomes. The talent pool is expanding, but the proportion of deeply trained designers appears to be shrinking.

What worries me most is the growing gap between learning design and practicing design. And I don’t think the responsibility lies only with young designers. We don’t have a shortage of designers in India. We have a shortage of mentors.

I’ve also met experienced designers and managers who have spent years in the profession without significantly evolving their understanding of product strategy, business, research, systems thinking, or emerging technologies.

When experienced practitioners stop learning, mentoring naturally declines. And when mentorship declines, young designers are left to learn from quick tutorials, informal training, templates, social media, and now AI. Very few get the opportunity to learn through thoughtful feedback, real product challenges, and experienced guidance. That’s where the gap continues to grow.

But if you’re just starting your UX journey, don’t let this discourage you. In fact, this is your biggest opportunity. While others are chasing the fastest way to create screens, invest your time in learning research, business, systems thinking, and problem solving. Those skills compound over time and will outlast every new tool, trend, or AI capability.