AI doesn't fix broken products. It amplifies them | Michelle Brito

AI won’t fix your product. In many cases, it makes things worse.

In this conversation, Michelle Brito explains why most companies are getting AI adoption wrong and what they should be doing instead.

From her work at Volkswagen Digital Solutions, Michelle shares practical insights on designing AI-powered products that actually deliver value and not confusion.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
- When artificial intelligence actually makes sense in a product
- Why AI is often used as a shortcut for deeper problems
- The difference between AI and simple automation
- How to evaluate if your workflows are ready for AI
- Why user trust breaks when AI is introduced too early

⚠️ The biggest mistake?
Starting with the technology instead of the problem.

💡 Key takeaway:
AI doesn’t fix broken systems. It amplifies them.

Connect with Michelle Brito:
→ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-brito-47342554/

Human × Intelligent is a podcast at the intersection of design, AI and human agency. Hosted by Madalena Costa.
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Guest bio
Michelle Brito is a Senior Product Designer at Volkswagen Digital Solutions and a mentor at Ladies that UX Lisbon, with over 15 years of experience spanning journalism, editorial design, and digital product strategy. Based in Lisbon, she currently leads design efforts for B2B search engines and researches the integration of AI-driven solutions within the automotive sector. Her background is uniquely multidisciplinary, combining a Master’s in Communication Sciences with a d.MBA and specialized training in UX/UI design. Throughout her career, which includes work for publishing houses, government agencies and marketing firms, Michelle has focused on bridging the gap between business goals and user needs through benchmarking, usability testing and visual thinking.

Chapter timestamps
00:00 – Why companies are asking the wrong AI question
00:42 – Introduction to Michelle Brito
01:15 – Is AI the right starting point?
02:20 – Where companies misuse AI (simple problems, wrong solutions)
03:18 – AI as a shortcut for deeper issues
03:39 – Why organizations rush into AI
04:44 – When AI creates confusion and distrust
05:30 – How to push back on stakeholders
06:14 – How to know when AI actually makes sense
07:27 – Why users don’t adopt AI tools
08:24 – Questions to evaluate AI vs automation
08:40 – AI driven by hype vs real need
09:28 – Real example: AI making simple tasks harder
10:10 – Red flags in AI product decisions
11:03 – Why research still matters (even if it’s “boring”)
12:07 – Responsible AI in regulated environments
13:28 – Who is accountable for AI decisions?
14:48 – What healthy AI adoption looks like inside teams
16:40 – Where to start with AI (the right way)
17:21 – The most overlooked first step
18:16 – Making decisions under pressure
19:21 – AI requires simplification, not complexity
19:53 – Practical advice to avoid AI traps
21:06 – Final thoughts on AI hype vs reality

Concepts to explore further:
→ AI vs Automation
→ AI as a multiplier (not a fixer)
→ Problem-first vs technology-first thinking
→ User trust in AI systems
→ AI readiness (data, workflows, goals)

👉 Subscribe for more conversations on AI, product design and human-centered technology.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

So most organizations are asking how to integrate artificial intelligence. The better question, the harder one, is when it actually makes sense to. That tension lives on the center of today's conversation. My guest has navigating from the inside one of the most complex product environments in B2B systems where artificial intelligence had to survive contact with real users, real teams, and real operation constraints. Michelle Brito is a senior product designer at Volkswagen Digital Solutions, working at the intersection of product, strategy, and emerging technology. Always grounded in the user research and the kind of operational reality that doesn't show up in the pitch deck. So without further ado, welcome to UMANX Intelligent, Michelle. Ready, really, really glad that you're here.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Oh, what amazing introduction. Thank you very much. Thank you. And I'm very, very, very happy to be here with you. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Of course, I am very happy that you're here. I'm very excited to see what you will share. And let's go right away and talk about the that artificial intelligence is basically dominating almost every strategic conversation right now, but often before the fundamentals are even in place. So I want to start start from a slightly uncomfortable place. So, Michelle, is AI actually the right starting point for most organizations today?

SPEAKER_01 1:18

I think instead of thinking about what kind of technology we have to use to solve the problem, we have to go back and understand the user's problems. I think it's very important to ask answer some questions like is your user familiar with AI solution? Is your business aware of all the AI compliance? And also as a designers, we need to think like, is this solution solving a user problem? And this is another question that should be discussed and analyzing before jumping to the final solution. Because I feel like, as you mentioned now, it's pretty common to for for the companies uh choose first the technology instead of understanding the problems, the user problems.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

And let's grab that and make it even more concrete because regardless of readiness, many companies are already trying to implement artificial intelligence. What are or what do you see as the most common situations where companies try to introduce artificial intelligence when what they actually need is something much more basic?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Yeah. To be honest, I feel like when they want to make things simpler and faster. For example, like uh customer support, they always want to implement an AI assistant, which makes sense because sometimes the interactions are like quicker and we can easily solve uh users' problems. And also when the problem is simple and rule-based, it's very common. They always want you to implement AI. And actually, AI it's in fact is very it's very, very powerful, but it's also very expensive and predictable, and also harder to design well. So I feel like companies should avoid uh think about implementing AI when things are already working well, and in other words, like if your product needs to have flows that it's predictable, I think implementing AI could be very, very uh difficult and perhaps it's isn't a good alternative.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

So in those cases, AI is almost acting as a shortcut for deeper operational or even structural issues, because that kind of suggests that the problem isn't just technical, it's more systemic. My next question comes hand in hand with that. Why do organizations tend to skip these foundational steps and jump straight to artificial intelligence?

SPEAKER_01 3:42

I'd say because they think they have this idea of integration and solving all the users' problems in only one click or one prompt. I think at least in my experience, sometimes my stakeholders they come with this idea like, okay, so let's let's integrate everything, let's solve users' problems, that'll be so easy, will be so like uh simple, and also because the market is very, very competitive. So you can you can see like AI everywhere. And if your new boring uh uh feature doesn't have AI, it seems like your product is out of dated. So um I think also because they're assuming that everyone is ready for interacting with an AI feature, probably.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

And it kind of happens in the world because we are we feel very pressured, right? And this leads to unintended consequences. Have you ever seen situations or heard of situations where introducing artificial intelligence too early created more errors or confusion or even operational risk rather than value?

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Yeah, to be honest, lately I've seen situations where users don't trust the results or when they don't feel like part of the mission uh of the integration with the solution, with the final solutions. Sometimes they don't feel like they are kind of doing their jobs, especially when it's an internal tool, for example. I think the best outcomes come from like a human AI collaboration, not a substitution.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

How do you usually solve these problems with your stakeholders, with your clients, to make them feel more at ease? Because if you introduce these are solutions to your product, there's always going to be these problems because there's no way around it. So, how do you usually introduce or solve these situations?

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Well, I feel like uh it's very hard to change people's minds when they have a solution in their minds. So for me, now my main challenge is like explain for my stakeholders that it's very important to do a deep research instead of like solve the users' problems with new AI features because we already have a lot of new AI features. So I think it's boring, but it's very basic. We have to research. So we have to investigate, we need to understand the users' problems. It's basic, it's old, but in the end, it's the best solutions.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

So if many organizations are getting this wrong, for me, at least, the real question would be if how do you tell when AI actually makes sense versus when it doesn't?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

So for me, when it's something that works, like works very well, I think it doesn't make sense to implement something completely new and complex. So for me, it's a big no. But when we have the opportunity to introduce, uh, for example, like some very specific AI interactions with the features and the users in a very well consolidated product, I think in this case it makes sense. But I don't like when the the stakeholders and the business they want to like implement a 100% AI product, let's say, because sometimes it's very, very risky for the users to interact with this completely new product. And also in terms of like in my case, because I have most of my products, they are like internal products. Sometimes the users they don't trust, they don't know how to interact. So they don't use our products, they continue like doing the same old tests. So I think it's very tricky because we are still going and like it. This is also my challenge, like to understand the process and to evaluate when and how to apply and to interact for the users to interact with this AI uh features.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Do you have any tips for people that are in the similar situation as you? Because of course people are going to have problems, but if they are not using, how do you solve it?

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Yeah, so I try to ask some questions for myself and also with my PMs and with my business team is like, is AI actually better than simple automation? Or something like what specific workflow is uh slow, expensive, or error prone? So we should focus on this kind of flows. And probably the tasks with the high volume and low tolerance for delay, they are the best for implementing AI. So I think we have to be aware of like for introducing AI in your product, you need to have time, you need to have a good research, you need to work close with metrics.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

And how do you recognize when a company is adopting adopting artificial intelligence because it's a strategic necessity versus when it's mostly driven by narrative uh pressure or fear of being left behind?

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Well, I think as I mentioned before, it's very clear when, for example, us as a designer, when we see like a very complex flow that could be just three three three steps. A flow with three steps, for example. Um, a good example is like sometimes I have to send money to Brazil and I use uh Brazilian bank. So basically it's a PIX. I don't know if you heard about PIX. So we have to press, at least I I used to have to press two buttons and only add the name or the number and the value. But now they are introducing a set uh AI assistant. So instead of just adding some information, some numbers, I have to interact with uh AI uh assistant, um, saying like the name, the number. For me, to be honest, it was way, way uh easier to interact only with my inputs than with an AI assistant. So I feel like they are trying to be innovative instead of being like uh um introducing a helpful uh help um flows for the user. So I feel like when it's something that is like 10 times uh better, I think it makes sense to to add this AI interaction in your product. But sometimes when it makes the user feel like more confused, doesn't make sense at all.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Are there any specific signals or patterns that immediately stand out uh to you?

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Well, in terms of it stand out for me when we are like gathering and exploring a possible AI solution, it's like when, as I mentioned before, when the technology comes first, before the to understanding like the users' uh problems. So I think it's very common because as I mentioned, if you don't have AI now, nowadays, if you don't have an AI feature, you are like outdated. So for me, and learning from my past experience as well, because I I also implemented an AI assistant one year and a half ago. And so basically, we are not solving the users' problems, we are not understanding the users' problems. So I think we sometimes it's very boring to understand and to collect all this information, unfortunately. But if you need to make sure that this uh solution will be 10 times better than you have. So, for example, if your business team comes with something ready, be careful because it could be like a problem in the problem in the future. So sometimes we need to just like do babe steps and try to understand how if your team are in the same page in terms of outcomes and do like very, very small changes, very, very small interactions, for example, with uh users and AI, then to have like a very big and complex feature with AI.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yeah. And I imagine that these distinctions or these situations become even more critical in certain environments. I guess my next question to you is how should organizations think about introducing artificial intelligence responsibly? You already kind of talked a little bit about it, but specifically right now when they operate in regulated environments?

SPEAKER_01 12:08

I would say they should start with risky classification. At least I was trying to do this like to create a very list with the risk classification and not with the the use case, because we have to be aware, like and also our company and our team, they need to be aware about the all the risks that is implementing AI. So and also uh answering some questions like what's the impact of being wrong here, for example, and also who is affected if something happens, for example, like financially, legally, or physically. So, and also being very, very intentional about data boundaries because it's something that's for example, for AI assistants, we need to be aware about data boundaries, and last but not least, I think we should to be aware about how in the end the users like the human can reveal the final results, how the users can interact and reveal the final results. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

I guess this brings us to what happens internally because even with the right intent, execution, and also talking with stakeholders depends also on ownership, right? So inside of an organization, who should actually be accountable for how artificial intelligence systems are used?

SPEAKER_01 13:37

I think in the end, the responsibility should be distributed because once everyone knows what we are doing, like as a team, I think the responsibility should be very well distributed. And I feel like sometimes that tension is exactly where many organizations fail because the outcomes sometimes are so unpredictable and it's hard to prevent errors. So, as I mentioned, it's very, very hard to prevent errors. So, my suggestion is like maybe you can try to create a racy model with the the roles and also some responsibilities. I think it could work.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Should that responsibility sit in like a specific function, or does it need to be shared across leadership and teams? What is your opinion on this?

SPEAKER_01 14:26

To be honest, I think it should be shared because everyone needs to be aware about the impact of errors. And once they are aware, of course, the system, the tool, like the product will have some specific information for the user. So of course, the leaders they they will be like the most likely the responsibles, but I think it should be shared also with the team.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

And basically accountability is one thing, but how it shows up on the day-to-day is something completely different. And I think it's also important for us to introduce this topic to the conversation because what does a healthy and responsible introduction of artificial intelligence inside teams actually look like? Because I don't think many people are talking about this. I've been hearing a lot of people saying that their like leadership is just saying, you have to have AI, you have to use AI. Tell me basically tell me where to spend my money. But what is your opinion on this? What would you say it's the healthy and responsible way?

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Yeah, I think a healthy introduction uh inside of the teams doesn't have to be like a big lounge or with uh like something like a bold AI transformation announcement, for example. I think this is very dangerous. It should be like very gradual, like like full of sharing experiences, testing fails, and of course, like sharing also the fails because it's very important. The teams that do this well move carefully, so slowly at the beginning, and so they can move like faster and later without breaking trusts, I think.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Okay. So let's assume that an organization wants to move in that direction. Where should organizations start if they need to start slow, like you're saying, if they want to do this properly, what would you say they need to introduce first?

SPEAKER_01 16:13

I think first of all, they need to put everyone everyone's expectation at the same page about it. When I say everyone, it's everyone, like the the the stakeholders, the business team, and everyone same, same at the same page. So also like start by identifying the right kind of problem. This is very hard to identify the right kind of problem. It might be like the high volume or the time consuming, and or also like the problem that involves like a messy or unstructured data, probably, because they are the most likely to be solved by AI.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

So, what's the most overlooked first step that tends to get ignored?

SPEAKER_01 16:53

I think we ignore the most basic, that it's this AI feature will solve the user's problems. So I think we are always jumping to the final solution, and also I feel like we are ignoring all this comp those like compliance uh risks that could be like very problematic in the future, and we are ignoring the data, the connection with all the data, and we have good data to connect in our system. So I feel like we are like constantly ignoring this very important uh aspects.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

What enables um that kind of decision making specifically under external pressures?

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Well, I I think if you have a good team, like uh very aware and very well trained about the risks, I think it's way, way more easy to like brainstorm together and find the right uh the right solutions. Because when you are under pressure, like as a designer, and you have to design the best flow, it could be very, very hard for you because you don't have like the right tools, the right people, and also a team to help you to create this structure and also to deliver the best solutions for the user. So you have to receive this support from your developers, your product owner, your product manager, um to understand the user's problem and also to be able to deliver the best AI solution.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Do you think that one of the biggest misunderstandings right now is that artificial intelligence adoption is about adding this kind of complexity that you were talking about when in reality it often requires simplifying systems first?

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Definitely, yes. And and I think like AI only works well when the product goals are clear, structured, and are very, very intentional. And otherwise you are just like it's scaling the confusion.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

So if we zoom out from the from everything we've discussed, what advice would you give teams who want to integrate artificial intelligence responsibly without falling into the trap of premature adoption?

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Yeah, I think the biggest trap is like the sentence we need to use AI. I feel like uh we instead of we should like change for we have a problem worth solving. I think we have to to change the sentence, the the affirmation, and also like answering some questions like is AI actually better than simpler automation? Or what specific workflow is slow, expensive, or error prone? I also like um we should focus on um tests with high volume and low tolerance delay. Well, it's like it's gold if you find this this test. And as I mentioned before, uh we have to define a rule that is 10 times or nothing. Because if your um AI solution is not like 10 times better than what you have, or 10 times better than something like very simple automation, I think it doesn't make sense to implement AI in your project.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

100% agree. Thank you for sharing. And before we finish our conversation, I would like to ask if there's anything else you would like to share with the audience.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Yeah, I think you know it's very it's very like common uh have AI in our day-to-day conversations. And for some people, it's like, okay, I can't like hear about AI anymore. From other people, it's like, okay, I really want to implement AI in my products. But I I think we have to understand that AI it's something that we are still learning and we are still trying to understand how the users will interact, and probably they will love, probably in five years, everything will be about AI. And also it could be like, okay, it's just a hype. Let's like do babe steps and try to understand what is the best, what is simple, and what makes people solve people's problems.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

And well, I think that's it. Thank you so much, Michelle. This has been a really great conversation. And I guess what it stands out to me is that responsible artificial responsible adoption of artificial intelligence isn't really about starting with the technology, it's about the user flows, the understanding of the systems, the people and the timing, like you were saying, and maybe even most importantly, having the discipline to build the right foundations before adding intelligence on top. Thank you so much for your perspective. And to everyone listening, if there's one take, it's this AI doesn't fix uh broken systems, it actually amplifies them. So before moving forward, make sure what you're building one is actually ready for it. Thank you again, Michelle. It has been a pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Thank you very much.