Designing How Humans and AI Work Together
The problem was never the technology.
It’s always been the human systems underneath. Every tool and technology you deploy, especially AI, is about to show the cracks in the foundation.
I’m Maura Charles. I’ve led organizational transformation across media, retail, and pharma—including Time Inc., Bloomingdale’s, and Allergan—always at the intersection of innovation and execution.
In every case, I was the human middleware translating between silos, patching broken handoffs, and absorbing the gap between strategy and execution because the operating model was never designed to handle it.
Now I help organizations find where the gridlock lives and fix it at the system level.
Find It. Fix It. Free Your People.
-
Organizational Gridlock Audit
Every organization has a place where work quietly goes to die. The handoff no one owns. The decision that loops endlessly. The workaround everyone treats as normal. Right now, your best people are burning energy compensating for these breakdowns instead of doing the work that actually requires human judgment, creativity, and expertise. The Gridlock Audit finds exactly where these costly failures live and shows you the ROI of fixing them.
-
Advisory & Executive Alignment
Once you know where the gridlock lives, you need the infrastructure to eliminate it. Not more heroics. Keep It Human works with the C-suite and senior leaders to design Operating Constitutions: governance frameworks, decision structures, and accountability systems that let humans focus on what humans do best. This is the work most organizations skip in their rush to deploy AI. It's also the work that determines whether AI actually delivers ROI.
-
Workshops & Keynotes
We don't just share ideas. We change how teams see the systems they're working inside. Our talks and workshops give leaders and teams practical tools to diagnose gridlock, redesign broken handoffs, and build the human infrastructure that technology requires to work.
AI is powerful.
Humans are irreplaceable.
We make sure your systems know the difference.
Humans we've worked with
-
“One of Maura's greatest strengths was her ability to keep the energy high throughout the two-day event. Her enthusiasm created a dynamic atmosphere that kept everyone fully engaged. She seamlessly transitioned between different sessions, asking insightful questions and contributing her own thoughts, which added value to the overall attendee experience.”
Sophie Raymond, Product-Led Alliance
-
"Maura proved over and over again that she was trustworthy. I would share situations and ask, “What am I not seeing?” She became that trusted person for me and that was just amazing. That's her superpower. Her ability to build genuine trust very quickly with all layers of the organization, all the way through.”
Mary Faulkner, CISO, Thrivent Financial
-
“Maura is one of the best product managers I've worked with in my career. She has amazing experience across a diverse set of industries and top notch coaching skills!”
Natalia Williams (Chief Product Officer, Qonto – formerly CPO, Hootsuite and Mailchimp)
-
“Maura balances fierceness and softness in a way that I really admire. I think that's also why people trust her and welcome her into teams and share their problems and encourage her to be a part of the solution… because she can blend that intellectual and emotional piece really well.”
Jen Swanson, Tuckpoint Advisory Group
-
“Maura worked with former project and program and operations execs who had joined my team at NewsCorp as product leaders. She coached them on building product visions, roadmaps, and OKRs. She helped them shift their perspective to this new type of role.”
Jennie Baird, SVP Product Management, NewsCorp
-
“I've had the pleasure of working with Maura in her product coaching business, and she is exceptional. She is effective and efficient, and her uber-creativity enables her to identify opportunities and generate innovative ideas that always exceed expectations.”
Marina Vytovtova, Product Leader
-
“Maura’s product management experience from previous organizations was very helpful, and she is so easy to work with. She did a great job of meeting the people where they were instead of leading with the process. It has been a joy to work and partner with her.”
Former Client