In this age of digital acceleration when velocity is directly measured against success, there is a much-needed omission: the human touch. As technology advances faster, wiser, and further into everyday life, the support systems that make it tick have learned to emphasize functionality and uptime over the emotional and practical requirements of the individuals they serve. IT infrastructures can operate perfectly, but the people behind the service requests — the users — find themselves having to deal with impersonal, by-the-book environments that are transactional in nature, not supportive.
What if IT wasn’t tech-centric, but human-centric? What if we measured service excellence not by how fast we get a ticket solved, but by how well we know the human behind it?
It was in this gap — between experience and service, between purpose and performance — that Katrina Macdermid sensed an opening. Her insight wasn’t one moment, but rather a trend that held true across organizations: systems operated, yet individuals faltered. She noticed that the conventional frameworks for IT Service Management (ITSM), although effective, weren’t making their way to the very individuals they were meant to assist.
And so, she rewrote the story — from systems to people. What started as a change of mind became a worldwide movement.
Katrina Macdermid: Architect of a Human-Centered IT Framework
Katrina is a pioneering voice in the ITSM sphere who is most well-known for revolutionizing how organizations perceive technology, service, and experience. As co-founder & director of HIT Global and architect of the Humanising IT™ framework, Katrina has emerged as a highly influential thought leader, leading institutions towards a more integrated, people-centric model of service.
With a distinguished career featuring contributions to all official ITIL® 4 publications and the high honor of ITIL® Master, Katrina’s IT qualifications are beyond question. Yet her greatest distinction is that she can see past frameworks and behold the human beings they touch. Her writing urges an industry long dominated by legacy systems and rigid metrics to instead embrace a more dynamic, empathetic, and experiential model of service management.
“It wasn’t one specific moment,” she recalls, “it was a pattern I couldn’t overlook.” While there was high SLA achievement and slick dashboards, the actual experience for end users was still frustrating and alienated. That epiphany became the foundation for Humanising IT™ — a process not meant to supersede classic ITSM, but to make it more human.
Beyond Metrics: The Genesis of Humanising IT™
Traditional ITSM sees success in binary terms: Is the service up? Is the ticket closed? Katrina disrupted that binary thinking. She saw a new benchmark — one where success is determined not only by performance, but by perception.
At the heart of Humanising IT™ is the HIT Double Diamond Framework™ — a four-phase model inspired by the British Design Council’s original Double Diamond. While the original model was created to guide design thinking in creative industries, the HIT Double Diamond™ reimagines it for IT service environments, where complexity, governance, and scale demand more than just process adherence.
The four phases — Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver — bring human insight into every stage of IT activity. From surfacing the real (and often conflicting) problems in the Discover phase, to embedding improvements during Deliver, each step prioritises empathy, shared understanding, and iterative design. The result is IT services that are not only operationally sound but also relevant, trusted, and meaningful to the people who use them.
A Global Influence Backed by Evidence
What began as a design-led theory has now become a globally recognised standard — shaped by Katrina Macdermid’s results-driven ethos and unwavering focus on outcomes.
Rather than relying on rhetoric, The HIT Global team tested Humanising IT™ with real clients, gathered both qualitative and quantitative feedback, and refined the model based on what actually worked.
Katrina’s book, Humanising IT™: Human-Centred Design for IT Service Management, has become a go-to guide for practitioners looking to bring empathy into complex environments. Her Humanising IT™ Podcast reaches thought leaders and practitioners around the world — exploring how design, service, and humanity intersect.
Humanising IT™ Training: Empowering the Next Generation of IT Leaders
At the heart of HIT Global’s mission is education. Through Humanising IT™ training, Katrina and her team are building the next wave of professionals ready to lead with empathy, strategy, and service innovation.
Professionals across the globe — from healthcare, government, financial services, and beyond — have already been certified through HIT Global. The training equips teams with practical tools, real-world methods, and a design-led mindset to transform IT from the inside out.
And soon, the next chapter begins.
“Humanising AI™, our newest course, addresses the rising risks of automation that ignores human context. It teaches IT teams how to recognise bias, surface assumptions, and design AI-powered services that work for people — not just systems.”
“Training is where it starts,” Katrina says. “Because transformation only happens when people think differently — and feel empowered to act on it.”
Challenging Tradition: Turning Resistance into Momentum
Disruption, even when positive, is rarely embraced without skepticism. Katrina’s efforts to humanize IT were initially met with resistance from professionals steeped in legacy frameworks and accustomed to process-oriented thinking. Many dismissed her approach as “too soft,” assuming it lacked the rigor necessary for enterprise environments.
But Katrina encountered resistance with resilience — and with data. She and her team ran controlled experiments, conducted trainings, and tracked measurable gains in both service delivery and user satisfaction. Over time, critics became supporters.
The success of Humanising IT™ wasn’t hypothetical — it was visible. Users were more satisfied, teams were more engaged, and organizations experienced real improvements in service outcomes. This evidence, coupled with Katrina’s skill at explaining the “why” of the movement, converted hesitation into momentum.
Mentorship, Diversity, and Women in ITSM
Katrina’s influence goes far beyond frameworks and models — she is also a fierce advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in technology.
Her leadership approach is personal, empowering, and intensely deliberate. “You don’t need permission to lead,” she advises young women. “You need a voice, a vision, and the courage to use both.”
Katrina’s advocacy disrupts outdated leadership archetypes in tech. She advocates for emotional intelligence, collaborative decision-making, and inclusive design as critical aspects of contemporary leadership — not weaknesses.
Humanising AI™: The Next Evolution
As artificial intelligence becomes more and more integrated into IT processes, Katrina is looking to a crucial question: How do we make sure AI works for people, not processes?
HIT Global’s latest venture, Humanising AI™, is a natural progression . It brings the same principles from Humanising IT™ — experience, empathy, and ethics — to automation. Now that AI is powering everything from ticket sorting to predictive analytics, there is a danger of perpetuating biases and ostracizing users unless human control is built into the design process.
HIT Global’s Humanising AI™ approach prioritizes inclusive training data, explainable decision-making, and user feedback loops to guarantee that automation augments — not displaces — human judgment.
She cautions against blind adoption. “Too many organizations are hurrying toward automation without taking a moment to say: Who does this benefit? Who does it hurt? What happens when it breaks?” Humanising AI™ seeks to close those blind spots.
A Timeless Legacy: Defining IT Excellence for Generations
Katrina’s career has influenced how companies worldwide conceptualize positive outcomes in IT. Her legacy lies not within the technology she managed or the processes she wrote — but the professionals she has coached, the conversations she influenced, and the people whose lives were positively affected.
She has demonstrated that technical superiority and human compassion are not antagonists — but rather complementary. And, most of all, she has licensed IT professionals to care — to not just ask “Is it working?” but also “Is it helping?”
In a market still ruled by SLAs and uptimemetrics, Katrina is making room for something greater: purpose-driven service. Her models don’t merely enhance operations; they change culture. They provide teams with a reason to come to work, users with a reason to trust, and leaders with a reason to believe in something greater than the next system upgrade.
Conclusion: The Heart of IT is Human
In an era where the world is becoming ever more driven by algorithms, dashboards, and KPIs, Katrina’s message is heard above the din with urgency and conviction: Technology is meant to serve humans, not the reverse.
Her path-breaking work with Humanising IT™ and Humanising AI™ signifies more than innovation—it signifies a return to purpose. It serves as a reminder that behind each process lies an individual, and that the real measure of success is not only in performance but also in value that we generate for others.
With empathy, vision, and courage to lead differently, Katrina is revolutionizing what leadership in IT can be.
