Human-First AI: Building AI Products That People Actually Use

It's easy to add AI to a product. It's harder to know where it actually belongs. As a former product management leader at Twitter and current CEO of Descript, Laura Burkhauser makes it her business to build products that solve real problems for real people. In this candid, energetic conversation with principal LinkedIn instructor Morten Rand-Hendriksen, Laura shares what she's learned about building AI-powered products that feel natural, helpful, and grounded in how people already work—rather than futuristic for its own sake. Explore how she decides what features to include, why choosing the right interaction model matters, and how to reduce tool friction without erasing creativity. Laura also shares how to earn team buy-in through hands-on adoption and navigate the journey from skepticism to confidence.

Learning objectives
Explore how to ground AI product decisions in real user needs rather than hype.
Examine how Laura’s team decided what features to build—and what to leave out.
Discover strategies for earning team buy-in, from hands-on experimentation to navigating the journey from skepticism to confidence.