Now at Apple AI/ML · UX Research & Programs · Cupertino, CA

I research how people use AI. Then I run the programs that build it.

Mixed-methods researcher and AI data program lead. At Apple I run the human data programs behind AI models: what gets collected, how quality gets judged, and how those judgments reach the teams training the model.

Get in touch

AI/ML data programs, four of them run end to end

designed and run end to end, from field research to executive readouts

gesture-recognition accuracy gain, from ground-truth studies I designed and ran

Where I’ve worked

Now · frontier AI

Apple AI/ML Data Operations Team

Public interest, research & media

Pathcheck Foundation · Ideas in Action · DePaul University · Project NANDA · TEDxBeaconStreet

Enterprise & consulting

Deloitte · P&G · L’Oréal · Colgate Palmolive · Starbucks · Adidas · Samsung · Oracle · Shell · Canon

And what I work with

Research areas

Speech and audio · Sensor and motion · Vision and UI understanding · Multilingual text · Wearables and on-device · Accessibility · Human factors

Methods

Contextual inquiry · Think-aloud and diary studies · In-depth interviews · Usability testing · Surveys at scale · Regression, conjoint, MaxDiff · Log and A/B analysis · Quantitative and mixed-methods analysis · Human-in-the-loop evaluation · Ground-truth studies · Annotation and labelling design

Tools

Dovetail · UserTesting · Qualtrics · Optimal Workshop · SQL · Python · R · Tableau · Figma · Miro · Jira

Programs and delivery

Program design and staffing · Vendor and partner management · Budget and unit economics · Quality gates and acceptance criteria · Roadmaps and stakeholder readouts · Research operations

What I research

The questions I get hired to answer

Explainability and intent

How people decide when an AI’s output can be trusted, and what an interface has to show for them to act on it.

Human-in-the-loop evaluation

Study design that puts real users’ judgments into the training and evaluation loop, at the pace ML teams ship.

Bias and fairness

Surfacing algorithmic risk in AI/ML data pipelines and turning it into research practice that teams follow.

Point of view

Three bets I’m making about people and AI

Aim beats speed

Prototypes now cost hours, so the expensive mistake is building the wrong thing well. The decisive work moves earlier: which problem is real, and what evidence would settle it. That is research, on the critical path.

Master evaluation, master the model

Base models are converging. The advantage left is knowing whether yours works for the people it was built for. That puts human evaluation on the roadmap: who judges, by what criteria, and how their verdict reaches the team.

Trust is earned in the handoff

Adoption turns on one moment: when control passes from person to agent and back. People need to know what the agent will do, when it hands control back, and how to correct it. Accuracy cannot save a bad handoff.

Selected work

How it actually went

UX Research at Apple AI/ML Programs

15% gesture-recognition accuracy gain

Mixed-methods research on how people use voice, gesture, and on-device AI, shaping human evaluation and study design for Apple’s AI/ML systems.

Apple AI/ML Programs

Human-AI Interaction

Mixed-Methods Research

Sage Spark AI: Decision-Making Simplified

55% faster task completion in usability testing

Usability testing on an AI ideation tool that helps founders validate business ideas fast

Emerging Tech UX

Agile User Research

Intent-Driven Design

Human AI Interaction

MIT Pathcheck: Amber Alert for Health

57% Reduction in Public Health Misinformation

Decentralized AI for Public Health Crisis Response | Hackathon Runner-Up

HealthTech

Crisis Response

Rapid User Interviews

Concept Testing

In their words

Gurusha is an evidence-driven UX Researcher who elevated our team’s performance. She expertly guided our process with well-prepared outlines, ensuring smooth transitions through each research phase. Her deep consideration of organizational and user goals allowed her to build on strategy while teaching our team to translate research findings effectively for cross-functional collaboration.

Joyana Jacoby Dvorak

Associate Director, Mission and Ministry

Gurusha is a dream to work with. Her research provided actionable insights that helped benchmark our site, validate changes, and guide our global toolkit redesign. Her strategy provides a lasting guide for decisions, tracking performance, and prioritizing resources. She quickly earned stakeholder trust by immersing herself in our culture and user needs. A strategic problem solver, she delivers creative, ethical solutions - an invaluable asset to any team!

Karl Nass

Director, Vincentian Service & Formation

Gurusha ran an international AI/ML data operations program across 8 markets and 5 languages for our team at Apple. She owned the quality bar for the data reaching our models, and caught issues our automated checks had missed. She managed the researchers, engineers, vendors, QA, and could go as technical as each needed. She also guided us through the trade-offs and prioritized well, leading to a successful delivery. I’d recommend Gurusha for a program, product, or research role.

Anwesha Chatterjee

Program Lead - iCloud Mail, Calendar and Contacts, Apple

Gurusha brought a human-centered lens to a complex AI/ML research problem. She’s rigorous and genuinely curious. She sees what participants reveal beyond the numbers, surfaced variables we hadn’t accounted for that shaped our next phase and communicates research to engineering teams with clarity. Her research framework became the standard for follow-on studies, and she did it without needing to be the loudest voice in the room. If you’re hiring for AI/ML UX Research, she is a very strong candidate.

Abdelkareem Bedri

ML Research Manager, Apple

Gurusha applied advanced UX techniques like card sorting, tree testing, and first-click testing, providing insightful design recommendations for a complex project. She combines a forward-thinking perspective with a robust analytical mindset, making her a standout in UX. Her ability to translate complex user data into actionable insights is commendable, and her natural flair for motivating her team makes her a catalyst for innovation.

Danyell Jones

Senior UX Researcher, Meta

Gurusha has been a key member of our content advisory team. Her work was consistent with the high standards that our clients expect. She is committed to building strong relationships on her projects. She ensured that the client projects were well executed on time, on budget and delivered the desired results. She is enthusiastic, self driven and always open to learn.

Chandrashekar Mantha

Partner - Risk Advisory, Deloitte

Beyond her technical proficiency, she shines as a mentor and friend. Gurusha is always engaged with her peers and demonstrates a deep sense of empathy. Her ability to balance multiple roles while maintaining a strong work ethic is commendable. I strongly endorse Gurusha for any UX and Product Management role, as she brings a unique blend of skills, warmth, humanity, and a strong ethical compass to her work.

Jose Sanchez

Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media ·

Joyana Jacoby Dvorak

Associate Director, Mission and Ministry

Karl Nass

Director, Vincentian Service & Formation

Anwesha Chatterjee

Program Lead - iCloud Mail, Calendar and Contacts, Apple

Abdelkareem Bedri

ML Research Manager, Apple

Danyell Jones

Senior UX Researcher, Meta

Joyana Jacoby Dvorak

Associate Director, Mission and Ministry

Karl Nass

Director, Vincentian Service & Formation

Anwesha Chatterjee

Program Lead - iCloud Mail, Calendar and Contacts, Apple

Abdelkareem Bedri

ML Research Manager, Apple

Danyell Jones

Senior UX Researcher, Meta

Chandrashekar Mantha

Partner - Risk Advisory, Deloitte

Jose Sanchez

Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media ·

Joyana Jacoby Dvorak

Associate Director, Mission and Ministry

Karl Nass

Director, Vincentian Service & Formation

Anwesha Chatterjee

Program Lead - iCloud Mail, Calendar and Contacts, Apple

Abdelkareem Bedri

ML Research Manager, Apple

Karl Nass

Director, Vincentian Service & Formation

Anwesha Chatterjee

Program Lead - iCloud Mail, Calendar and Contacts, Apple

Abdelkareem Bedri

ML Research Manager, Apple

Danyell Jones

Senior UX Researcher, Meta

Chandrashekar Mantha

Partner - Risk Advisory, Deloitte

Jose Sanchez

Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media ·

Joyana Jacoby Dvorak

Associate Director, Mission and Ministry

Karl Nass

Director, Vincentian Service & Formation

Anwesha Chatterjee

Program Lead - iCloud Mail, Calendar and Contacts, Apple

Read all 17 on LinkedIn

Speaking & media

The findings travel

I speak about how people trust AI, explainability, and the research that keeps models honest.

Figma x SmashingConf, New York 2025

· Speaker, Intent-Driven AI & Explainability

UXPALOOZA 2025

· Featured Speaker, Designing with Intent

Kumbhathon Startup Festival 2025

· Invited Keynote, Intent-Driven UX for AI Products

UXPA International 2024

· Presenter, AI & UX: Future-Proofing Public Health

GenAI @DePaul 2024

· Panelist, Generative AI & Pedagogy Faculty Roundtable

Project NANDA, MIT Media Lab

· SF Bay Area Lead, the human half of agent trust

Gurusha Raskar on stage pointing at a slide titled Reactive Interfaces: Command and Response

Gurusha Raskar presenting a slide on accessibility, independence and opportunity to a lecture hall