Designing AI Around People, Not the Other Way Around

In his moment, we’re being asked to do something paradoxical. Protect craft while rebuilding it for a world shaped by AI.

This is for roles across industries - design, product strategy, service architecture, research insight, content systems, and so on. It’s the invisible decisions that shape how customers, clients, and employees move through an experience and how teams decide what gets built.

AI is accelerating everything. It can generate options in seconds, summarize research, prototype flows, draft content, simulate journeys. The speed is real.

But craft has never only been about output.

It has been about judgment. About knowing which insight matters. About sensing when something feels off. About understanding the human context behind the data. About telling a coherent story across touchpoints. About restraint.

The risk is not that AI will replace designers, researchers, product thinkers, or service leaders. The risk is that we introduce AI into systems that were never redesigned to support this level of acceleration.

Is AI Replacing Human Jobs? Don’t Buy AI First. Design for the Work First

Right now, I see organizations rushing to “buy AI.” Licenses are secured. Tools are deployed. Mandates are issued. In recent cases, roles are reduced under the assumption that the technology will absorb the work.

That mindset gets it backwards.

Don’t get it twisted, I love AI. But AI should not determine what your organization becomes. Your organization should determine what AI is for.

If you are leading right now, this is not primarily a technology decision. It is a learning, change, and culture decision.

Leverage your best learning leaders, change strategists, and organizational effectiveness partners. And *meaningfully* engage people at every level and role in your organization.

Ask the harder question first: What do we actually need in this moment?

Where are our bottlenecks?
Where is quality breaking down?
Where are we overextending human energy in ways that do not require human judgment?
Where does discernment matter most?

Let those answers drive what AI looks, sounds, and feels like in your workflows.

What does the role necessitate?
What is the challenge we are solving?
How might AI enhance that work rather than replace it?

Not the other way around.

Curiosity will bring learning. Critical thinking will bring discernment.

If we skip that human work, we risk speeding up confusion, eroding trust, and narrowing the very craft we are trying to evolve.

AI can scale production. It cannot scale wisdom.

That still comes from humans who are engaged, invited into the conversation, and trusted to shape how technology integrates into their work.

Slow Down to Speed Up AI Transformation

Do not put the cart in front of the horse. Do the human work first. Then design the AI around it. 

It may look slower at first. It may even look like you’re behind. In fact, you may not win the first headline or ship the flashiest demo. But thoughtful systems outlast reactive speed. The organizations that build with intention are the ones that endure.

Send me a message and let me know! Or engage with me on LinkedIn in the comments of this post. 

Are you designing your AI strategy around your people, or redesigning your people around your AI strategy? 

How are you strengthening discernment in your organization as quickly as you’re strengthening automation?

What would change if you let your real organizational needs drive your AI decisions, instead of the noise around you?

Are you simply moving fast, or are you building something that will last? 

Do you even know where to look first - for the root causes, for the leverage points? Get the ecosystem guide to get started or book a free consultation call to see how I can help. Get free insider insights, news, and resources by subscribing to the Alchemi community at the top of this page!