#224 Professor Didar Zowghi - Move Fast and Fix Things: Why AI Needs Human-Centered Design

2025-10-31

What if the biggest risk in AI isn't the technology itself, but building it without understanding the problem first?Professor Didar Zowghi leads pioneering research on diversity and inclusion in AI at CSIRO's Data61. Her DNI guidelines were incorporated into Australia's national framework for AI in government in 2024. But her path to becoming a trailblazer in AI began unexpectedly, as a young woman from Tehran who couldn't study physics in the UK because her English wasn't good enough. Computer science, they told her,...

What if the biggest risk in AI isn't the technology itself, but building it without understanding the problem first?

Professor Didar Zowghi leads pioneering research on diversity and inclusion in AI at CSIRO's Data61. Her DNI guidelines were incorporated into Australia's national framework for AI in government in 2024. But her path to becoming a trailblazer in AI began unexpectedly, as a young woman from Tehran who couldn't study physics in the UK because her English wasn't good enough. Computer science, they told her, had its own language.

That "serendipitous path" led to decades of groundbreaking work in human-centered technology design, over 300 published articles, and a leadership philosophy built on empathy, courage, and lifting others up.

In this conversation, Didar shares her "don't think, just do" attitude through discrimination and doubt, why she advocates for "move fast and fix things" rather than "break things," and why 87% of AI projects fail.

She reveals why organisations must understand the problem before chasing solutions, why equity and inclusion are safety issues, and how her mentors taught her which battles to fight in a male-dominated world.

This one's for leaders who want to build technology, and lead teams,that truly serve humans.

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