The theory of user-driven innovation comes from MIT professor Eric von Hippel, who proposed that when tools are placed directly in the hands of people who have the most pressing needs for answers, innovation happens, because there is no longer a need to transmit requirements from one person (or group) to another.
The narrative he builds is one that compels us to become more comfortable with math and statistics, one that suggests we should take advantage of machines where possible, and one in which we cannot lose the human element guiding the analysis if we want to avoid catastrophic chaos-theory driven failures to which machines are susceptible.