This EPIC keynote by Maria Bezaitis, Intel Fellow and former EPIC Board President, explores the past, present, and future of ethnographic work in industry and the shifting dynamics of socioeconomic contexts and professional practices. The presentation included discussion and personal sharing by attendees about their experiences and the way the EPIC community can make and remakes itself. Extensive discussion by members of the audience has been excluded to protect the privacy of individuals.
Maria Bezaitis is a humanities-trained researcher who brings social insight to business and technology innovation. She has led research programs on personal data, AI & decentralized computing, risk and adoption in security, and the changing nature of ownership. In addition to her focus on culture for Intel Labs, Maria is leading Intel’s first dedicated investigation into the networks formed by senior technologists to evolve Intel’s understanding of technical leadership and to expose where inclusion challenges and inequities persist. Maria joined Intel in 2006 to run its R&D investment in human-centered innovation. She has run teams of social scientists, designers and engineers in Intel’s Client Computing Group, Next Generation Standards and Intel Labs. Maria started her post-academic career at E-Lab, a small consultancy that pioneered the use of ethnographic research for consumer product development, brand strategy and work process. She was Vice President of Experience Modeling at Sapient where she co-led the first globally scaled footprint of social scientists and designers in technology. She sits on the Board of Intel’s Network of Executive Women and is an advisor to the Technical Women at Intel Network. She has held board positions at TTI Vanguard, a technology thought leadership organization and Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Community. Maria holds a Ph.D. in French Literature from Duke University and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. She lives in Portland, Oregon with Jason, Theodore, Lucas and Ziggy Stardust.
