In this talk, I examined how product managers and designers can build human-centered products in an AI-driven landscape, particularly within complex systems like healthcare.

Drawing on my experience building across healthcare and AI-enabled platforms, I discussed where AI-powered products often fall short, prioritizing efficiency, metrics, and scale over trust, empathy, and real-world context. Using Duolingo as a case study, I outlined how design patterns such as positive reinforcement, personalization, adaptive feedback, and social presence can be intentionally embedded into products to drive sustained engagement and behavior change.

I concluded by reframing human-centered design as a strategic product imperative rather than a design preference, and challenged builders to evaluate whether their AI systems are truly serving the people behind the data.