About
About Marta
I build, write, and teach around practical AI for the work we actually have.
My work sits at the intersection of knowledge work, workflow design, data science, and practical AI. I am interested in what happens after the hype fades: how people actually use these tools, where they fail, where they help, and how we can build systems that remain understandable, reliable, and human-led.
Why This Site Exists
This site began from a simple observation: most people are not working inside clean AI demos. They are working inside emails, documents, spreadsheets, deadlines, approvals, reviews, handoffs, and imperfect systems.
This site is where I document the attempt to make that work clearer. Through essays, projects, learning materials, and workflow experiments, I explore how AI can support real knowledge work without pretending the hard parts have disappeared.
My Background
I did not come into AI through a lab. I came through the work itself. I spend my days in research administration, where the reality is complex, document-heavy, deadline-driven processes — exactly the kind of knowledge work where small improvements matter and mistakes are expensive.
I later completed a Master's in Data Science, which gave me language and structure for things I had already been doing by instinct: mapping systems, finding friction, and building processes that hold up under pressure.
Since then, I have been building practical AI-assisted tools and workflow systems for knowledge workers, and writing The Meantime, a book about working with the AI we actually have rather than the AI we are promised.
Alongside that, I am developing learning materials for non-technical professionals — the people doing the real work who deserve a grounded, practical way to understand these tools.
"I don't believe in mindless scaling. I believe in building with care, understanding, and intentional design."
My Approach
I do not believe every problem needs a large platform or a complicated automation. Often the better starting point is smaller: understand the workflow, identify the friction, design the simplest useful support system, and keep responsibility where it belongs.
- Start with the real workflow
Begin with the documents, emails, and recurring tasks as they actually are, not with what a tool can theoretically do. - Build small, useful systems
Favor the smallest support system that makes the work clearer or easier to repeat, before reaching for anything larger. - Keep human judgment in the loop
Keep responsibility, context, and final decisions with the person doing the work. The system supports judgment; it does not replace it.
What I Am Building Toward
The work is becoming one connected system: a book, a blog, a Substack, practical projects, a learning path, and eventually guided workflow support for teams. Each piece serves the same larger question: how do we work with AI in a way that is useful, careful, and grounded in reality?
The Meantime
The book — a non-technical compass for working with the AI we actually have.
The Blog
Ongoing essays documenting what works, what breaks, and what it means.
Projects
The workbench — practical tools and experiments built from real workflows.
Learning Path
A practical learning path for non-technical professionals, in development.
Work With Me
Workflow design and implementation interest for teams, in development.
MartaWasko.com is now the single home for all of it: the practical workbench — writing, tools, courses, and workflow experiments — and the author home for The Meantime and the broader work. Everything lives in one place.
Where to Go Next
A few good places to start, depending on what you are looking for.