Stop Automating the Easy Things | ADPLIst Chicago x NVISIA
We gave robots the easy tasks and called it progress. We are not making that mistake again.
Every major technological threshold promised to expand human capability. The wheel, electricity, and the factory floor each absorbed what was hardest and most limiting, allowing humans to go further.
Digital broke that pattern.
Instead of using technology to carry what was most difficult, we automated the easy tasks and called it innovation. We gave bots the balance checks and left call center workers with eight hours of pure escalation. We removed friction from music discovery and quietly replaced the effort that helped people build taste. We optimized transactions, but left humans with the emotional labor, ambiguity, and judgment-heavy work that machines could not resolve.
Now we are standing at another threshold.
This time, we are not just automating tasks. We are automating judgment itself. And unlike the last cycle, the erosion may be invisible until it is too late.
In this talk, Twisha Shah will explore why designers have a critical role to play in the AI economy — not as decorators of interfaces, but as architects of human decision-making. Designers are often the only people in the room trained to understand how people interpret information, make trade-offs, respond under pressure, and navigate uncertainty. That is not a soft skill. It is one of the most strategically valuable capabilities a team can have right now.
This conversation will challenge designers to stop spending their most valuable thinking on button states and start claiming the professional territory of decision architecture before someone else defines it without them.
Attendees will leave with a concrete framework for thinking about decision architecture, practical questions to bring back to their teams, and a clearer understanding of how design can shape the future of AI-powered products, systems, and organizations.
Who Should Attend
This event is for designers, product leaders, researchers, strategists, technologists, and anyone working at the intersection of AI, product systems, and human decision-making.
It will be especially relevant for people asking:
How do we design AI-powered products without eroding human judgment?
What should designers own as AI changes product development?
How do we move beyond interface polish and into strategic decision architecture?
What does design leadership look like when automation starts shaping not just actions, but choices?
About the Speaker
Twisha Shah-Brandenburg is a design leader, educator, and systems thinker working at the intersection of AI, organizational transformation, and human-centered strategy. With leadership experience across companies including Target, Venmo, BMW, and Grainger, she has spent her career helping large organizations navigate complexity, rethink decision-making, and build products and systems that scale with humanity intact.
Currently a design leader at Target focused on enterprise AI and data ecosystems, Twisha’s work explores how organizations can move beyond automation-for-efficiency toward designing environments that support judgment, accountability, and meaningful human participation. Her writing and talks challenge the industry’s assumptions about productivity, innovation, and the future role of design in an AI economy.
Hosted in Partnership with Nvisia
This event is hosted in partnership with Nvisia and Alex Shulko.
Nvisia is a technology modernization and software innovation partner with offices in Chicago and Milwaukee. With more than 30 years of experience, nvisia helps organizations build scalable platforms, modernize technology, develop product strategy, and apply AI-enabled transformation in ways that connect business needs with durable technical execution.
About ADPList
ADPList is a global community of mentors and learners— a community that was founded in 2021 with a mission to democratize mentorship for all. It has since grown to 24,000+ mentors who have mentored more than 100 million minutes in 141 countries across the globe. Our meetups are a great opportunity to meet new people, build community, and talk shop.
ADPList Chicago Team 🇺🇸
This event is planned and hosted by Ambassadors representing the ADPList Chicago Chapter!
Mila Shumilina, Onur Kocan, Aaron Montanez, Sherry Yu, Daniel Santrella, Hari Pudipeddi, Jantzen Loza, Efe Aykac