Philly Builds AI Founder Series: "Your AI Isn't the Product. The User Experience Is."

​Philly Builds AI Founder Series: "Your AI Isn't the Product. The User Experience Is."

​The AI startups actually winning aren’t the ones with the flashiest tech... they are the ones that deeply understand who they're building for and the pain points their users experience. In this talk, Beth Garrison argues that the true competitive advantage in AI isn't what happens under the hood; it's understanding the lived experience of users. We'll explore how to uncover real user needs before writing a line of code, why a compelling AI demo may not translate into a successful product, and what it takes to design AI features that people trust, adopt, and keep using.

​About the speaker:

​Beth Garrison is an AI researcher, behavior analyst, educator, and product strategist whose work sits at the intersection of technology, human behavior, and user experience. With a PhD in AI (Human-Computer Interaction) and more than 15 years of experience in clinical and behavioral health settings, she brings a distinctly human-centered perspective to AI product development—one grounded in understanding how people actually communicate, learn, make decisions, and navigate complex systems. Her research explores human–AI collaboration, particularly in the design of technology for neurodivergent users. She is also the founder of Shaping Development, where she helps healthcare and behavioral health organizations move beyond just adopting AI tools, to redesigning workflows around the people who use them. Through her work in research, consulting, teaching, and product development, Beth challenges teams to begin with the user’s lived experience—not the technology—and to build meaningful AI products that people understand, trust, and use.

​The Philly Builds AI Founders series is created for startup founders in the Greater Philadelphia region. Registration application will require approval as we have limited capacity for this event.

​Thanks to our Co-Sponsor Ben Franklin Technology Partners for their support on this event.

​12-12:15 Check in, networking, pizza and drinks

​12:15-1 Host kick off, main presentation, q&a

​1-1:30 Continued networking and wrap up