Close the automation strategy gap with Stefanie Hutka’s new book, What Your Machines Should Do

Automating something with AI is easy. Knowing what to automate, and when, is where most teams get stuck. What Your Machines Should Do by Stefanie Hutka is a guide to making those calls the right way.

What is What Your Machines Should Do about?

AI is just the latest chapter of automation, but too many organizations chase fully automated futures that have nothing to do with whether they’re ready or what customers value. What Your Machines Should Do closes that Automation Strategy Gap. Stefanie draws on decades of lessons from human factors, HCI, cognitive science, and systems thinking to help product and design leaders automate with intention: deciding what to automate, sequencing the rollout, and evaluating whether the system is actually helping the people it was built for.

Published on November 10, 2026, this highly anticipated book has been praised by Kirkus for being “an insightful, grounded guidebook to harmonizing human cognition with AI.”

What will I take away?

What Your Machines Should Do gives you:

• Frameworks you can use Monday morning. The Autonomy Decision Matrix tells you whether to automate; the Cognitive Allocation Model tells you how to split the work between human and machine; the Automation Choice Check tells you whether the choice reinforces your strategy.
• Translations of decades of human factors and HCI research into practitioner language, so you do not have to read 40-year-old aviation papers or business case studies to know why jumping to full automation ends poorly.
• Guidance spanning vision, strategy, and execution, useful for individual contributors, leads, and executives. It gives a team a shared language, with the Matrix as the working artifact.
• The confidence and know-how to push back on top-down “AI-first” mandates with evidence-based alternatives, with both cautionary tales (e.g., GM, Klarna, Duolingo) and positive ones (e.g., FANUC, Ocado, and the BCG).
• Designs for what to protect, not just what to delegate. Chapters 8 and 9 help you preserve the work that builds expertise and meaning while offloading the rest.

Who is this book for?

What Your Machines Should Do is for:

• Individual contributors looking to manage up, helping your team build a practical feel for what the technology can actually do.
• Managers guiding a team’s day-to-day automation choices, deciding what to build, what to adopt, and what to keep human.
• Senior leaders working to align technical capabilities with customer and business value.

Hear Stefanie in conversation with Lou Rosenfeld

Want to hear more from Stefanie? In this episode of the Rosenfeld Review podcast, Stefanie and Lou discuss why technical feasibility alone isn’t enough — and how shared frameworks can help leaders and practitioners more thoughtful decisions about automation.

Who is Stefanie Hutka?

Stefanie Hutka, PHD, is a UX practitioner, author, and educator. She is the founder and head of design research at Sendfull, a boutique consultancy for emerging technology teams. She also teaches UX, systems thinking, and vibe coding at UC Berkeley. Previously, Stefanie led design research and strategy for 0-to-1 product launches at Adobe, Meta Reality Labs, and DAQRI.

Ready to dive in? Order your copy of What Your Machines Should Do today!