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Why More Orgs Should Be Shaped Like the Space Needle | Smartly
What if the biggest barrier to AI transformation isn’t the technology — but convincing people that AI will improve their work, not replace them?
In this episode of Notable Perspectives, Christina Pasanen sits down with Kate Barney, Chief People Officer at Smartly — the AI-powered advertising platform that manages over $6 billion in ad spend for 800+ brands including Samsung, Spotify, and Uber. Before Smartly, Kate scaled TikTok's Global Business Solutions workforce from 35 to 8,000 employees in just three years. She's seen what it takes to build at hyperspeed — and now she's rethinking the entire people function for the AI era, from replacing HR ops with an AI agent to running company-wide AI Fridays and Tiger Teams.
Join us as we explore:
- The Tiger Team Playbook: How Smartly built a cross-functional AI strike force that runs Shark Tanks, trains the company, and builds internal tools — without hiring a single external consultant.
- HR Product, Not HR Ops: Why Smartly replaced a traditional HR operations leader with a product thinker tasked with building an HR agent — and what that means for every people team.
- The Five-Year-Old Rule: Why cutting entry-level hiring to save money today creates a talent crisis tomorrow — and why new grads might be your best AI hires.
Follow Notable Capital:
X: @notablecap
LinkedIn: @Notable Capital
Visit Our Website: https://www.notablecap.com/
Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/43j3cMkcKIgHuXu1tFHWpz?si=a326d0cd016f47c0
Subscribe on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notable-perspectives/id1392649094
View all episodes
By Notable Capital
5
5151 ratings
What if the biggest barrier to AI transformation isn’t the technology — but convincing people that AI will improve their work, not replace them?
In this episode of Notable Perspectives, Christina Pasanen sits down with Kate Barney, Chief People Officer at Smartly — the AI-powered advertising platform that manages over $6 billion in ad spend for 800+ brands including Samsung, Spotify, and Uber. Before Smartly, Kate scaled TikTok's Global Business Solutions workforce from 35 to 8,000 employees in just three years. She's seen what it takes to build at hyperspeed — and now she's rethinking the entire people function for the AI era, from replacing HR ops with an AI agent to running company-wide AI Fridays and Tiger Teams.
Join us as we explore:
- The Tiger Team Playbook: How Smartly built a cross-functional AI strike force that runs Shark Tanks, trains the company, and builds internal tools — without hiring a single external consultant.
- HR Product, Not HR Ops: Why Smartly replaced a traditional HR operations leader with a product thinker tasked with building an HR agent — and what that means for every people team.
- The Five-Year-Old Rule: Why cutting entry-level hiring to save money today creates a talent crisis tomorrow — and why new grads might be your best AI hires.
Follow Notable Capital:
X: @notablecap
LinkedIn: @Notable Capital
Visit Our Website: https://www.notablecap.com/
Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/43j3cMkcKIgHuXu1tFHWpz?si=a326d0cd016f47c0
Subscribe on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notable-perspectives/id1392649094