“Most human in the loop designs I see are theater. There's a checkbox. Someone clicks approve, but the interface has already framed the answer.” Rana Gujral · Using AI at Work: AI in the Workplace & Generative AI for Business Leaders
September 2026
Gujral opens the episode with this, before host Chris Daigle has asked him anything. His argument is that the approval step most companies bolt onto an AI workflow is decorative, because the interface has already narrowed what there is to approve. He follows it with a test: look at what your team produces, not at what they say they decided.
Transcript
Hey, before we start, quick question. How many people are on your estimating team? Your scheduling team, your quality team. Now, what's the one task that each of them would say eats up most of their week? There's something. Now, let me ask you, what does that team cost you? Those are the questions that our AI asks you in a session that we call the $50,000 opportunity. You book 15 minutes with Danny on my team. She runs this tool live with you on the call. And you leave with a ranked list of AI projects and what each one is worth. It's free. Just go to chiefaiofficer.com forward slash 50k 50k. Now, let's get into the episode.
Most human in the loop designs I see are theater. There's a checkbox. Someone clicks approve, but the interface has already framed the answer.
Am I still deciding or am I just approving?
If you want to audit whether your team is still deciding or just approving, don't ask them. They'll tell you they're deciding. Look at what they produce. If the doc reads like restatement of what the system suggested, they approved. If it reads like the system said, A, I checked B and C, and here's why A still wins, they decide it.
How does somebody distinguish like, when should I really get this serious about it and track my decision making?