What Your Machines Should Do

“Despite our general eagerness to increasingly automate our work and lives, the future of human potential requires us to do more of what humans can uniquely do. In an era of cognitive offloading, Hutka’s timely book illustrates the costs, the opportunities, and the necessity of cognitive expansion.”

–Scott Belsky

Founder of Behance, author of The Messy Middle

“In this timely guide for product leaders, Hutka shows that the shortest path to choosing what to automate is the most intentional one.”

–Kimberley Peter

Director of Design Research + Activation, RBC, and co-founder of The Banking on Impact Project

“The gap between automation’s promise and its payoff is a people gap. This book provides the practical guidance needed to close it, grounded in decades of sociotechnical research.”

–Dustin Kiskaddon, PhD

VP, experience research, JPMorgan Chase, and author of Blood and Lightning: On Becoming a Tattooer

“As AI promises the automation of everything, everywhere, all at once, this book represents a timely and highly practical guide to adopting more deliberate and humanistic automation strategies and practices.”

–Simon Roberts

Founder, Stripe Partners, board president of EPIC, author of The Power of Not Thinking: How Our Bodies Learn and Why We Should Trust Them

“This book puts current discussions about AI into human, social, organizational, and historical context using rich and compelling examples that help readers understand how human choices about automation echo across technologies and sectors. Hutka makes crystal clear the case that AI strategy is human strategy first and foremost and provides concrete approaches for navigating strategic choices about automation.”

–Eric T. Meyer

Dean & Chancellor’s Professor of Social Informatics, School of Information, University of California, Berkeley

“A delightful, surprisingly refreshing read on one of the hardest questions in tech. Stef synthesizes her hard-won experience in cognitive science, human-centered design, and strategic thinking into something rare–a clear, human framework for automating with intention, at a time when most of us are either paralyzed or rushing headlong into full automation. She takes tools we already trust–from UX, systems thinking, strategic foresight–and places them exactly where we need them most: the still-uncharted territory of AI strategy. A must-read for product designers, PMs, business strategists, and frankly anyone trying to tame the AI beast.”

–Tatjana Dzambazova

Head of AI at Motif; formerly Emerging Technology PM, Autodesk, IDEO alumni

“What Your Machines Should Do cuts through the pressure to automate for automation’s sake and offers something rarer: a clear-eyed, human-centered roadmap for deploying technology that actually works alongside people, not just around them. Through real examples of automation done right (and badly wrong), expert testimonials, and universally applicable frameworks you can put to work immediately, Stefanie shows why the question was never whether to automate, but how. Sharp, witty, and grounded in lived experience, this is equal parts an indispensable manual and a genuine page-turner!

–Angela Kochoska, PhD

Research scientist, IDEO

“What an incisive and timely book! It’s simultaneously a thoughtful strategic guide on how to think broadly when deploying AI in organizations and a tactical manual grounded in real cognitive science (with the bibliography to prove it) for how to deploy AI tools that extend people’s capabilities, instead of trying to replace them. It doesn’t just focus on the AI models of the moment or whatever use of AI is in vogue today. Instead, it shows readers how AI tools extend how they think, rather than just automating workflows. Readers get a lasting framework for how to incorporate AI into their work and how to identify when new product hype won’t be successful, regardless of what new capabilities AI develops in the future.”

–Mike Kuniavsky

AI CAD startup founder, co-author of Observing the User Experience, founder of Sketching in Hardware, formerly head of design, Xerox PARC

“This book gave me a more disciplined way to think about automation: not as a race, but as a series of strategic decisions grounded in customer value and organizational readiness. It’s one of the few AI analyses that left me feeling more confident in my judgment.”

–Rita Reznikova

Sr. director, marketing

“Human flourishing depends on leveraging advanced technology. Stef Hutka cracks the code on automation to ensure that we get our priorities straight.”

–Harry Max

Executive director, Peak Priorities LLC, and author of Managing Priorities

STEFANIE HUTKA, PHD

STEFANIE HUTKA, PHD, is a UX practitioner, author, and educator. She is the founder and head of design research at Sendfull, a boutique consultancy for emerging technology teams. She also teaches UX, systems thinking, and vibe coding at UC Berkeley.

Previously, Stefanie led design research and strategy for 0-to-1 product launches at Adobe, Meta Reality Labs, and DAQRI. She holds an ARCT Diploma in Violin Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto, specializing in cognitive neuroscience.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.