Generative AI tools and automated agents can build dashboards, write D3 code, and surface statistical trends in seconds. Yet, as computational barriers fall, data risk becoming colder, detached, and overly standardized. AI can calculate metrics, but it cannot feel context, express lived experiences, or exercise visual empathy. How do data practitioners use AI as a collaborator without losing the human spark that turns numbers into meaningful narratives?

In this session, Shazeera Ahmad Zawawi explores the boundary between algorithmic automation and human-led storytelling. Drawing from her work in Tableau, human rights data, data sonification, visual illustration, and personal vizzing, Shazeera shares a practical framework for delegating execution to AI while keeping curiosity, ethics, and artistic intent at the core of the design process. 

Shazeera binti Ahmad Zawawi is a Tableau Public Ambassador, Co-Lead of the Suisse Romande Tableau User Group, human rights lawyer, data analyst, illustrator, and host of The Storytellers podcast. Her work sits at the intersection of human-centered data, social impact, and multisensory art, ranging from human rights advocacy to personal data visualizations. She advocates for treating data as a human medium rather than just a technical utility.