Event Description

Galvanized by recent political events and social movements, concerns about diversity, equity, and justice are increasingly informing the world of UX. However, many researchers and designers often struggle to operationalize them in their companies and organizations. In this event, we invite Dr. Arathi Sethumadhavan, the Head of User Research for Ethics & Society at Microsoft’s Cloud + AI, to discuss how she and her team have spearheaded efforts to introduce the responsible development of technology at Microsoft. She will share with us tips on how to successfully shape the next generation of innovative technology by using the perspectives of a diverse set of stakeholders, including those of historically marginalized communities.

Speaker Bio

Arathi Sethumadhavan is the Head of User Research for Ethics & Society at Microsoft's Cloud+AI, where she brings the perspectives of a diverse set of stakeholders including traditionally disempowered communities, to help shape products responsibly. She works on AI across speech and computer vision as well as mixed reality. Arathi is also a Fellow at the World Economic Forum, where she is working on unlocking opportunities for positive impact with AI as well as proactively addressing governance gaps. Prior to joining Microsoft, she worked on creating human-machine systems that enabled individuals to be effective in complex environments in aviation and healthcare. She has published more than 40 articles on a range of topics from patient safety, affective computing, and human-robot interaction, and has delivered ~60 talks at national and international conferences. Her book "Design for Health: Applications of Human Factors" released last year. Arathi has a PhD in Human Factors Psychology and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science.