What happens when your own AI outperforms you as a leader?

In this episode of The Venture Variety Show, I talk with Xiaoyin Qu, founder of heyBossAI, about her bold decision to step down and appoint Astra—an advanced AI agent—as the company’s new CEO.

Xiaoyin shares what it’s like to hand the CEO role to an AI, how Astra manages a team of AI "employees," and why some customers still crave human interaction, despite faster, cheaper AI-driven service.

We dig into:• Why Astra was already handling CEO-level tasks• How heyBossAI uses a team of AI “employees” to ship products in minutes• The use of Slack for transparency and trust• What this shift means for leadership, storytelling, and human-AI collaboration

Originally recorded in partnership with The AI Cognitive Shift podcast and AiNews.com. (35) The AI Cognitive Shift - YouTube

Keywords: AI leadership, website automation, heyBossAI, Astra, Xiaoyin Qu, entrepreneurship, future of work