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Guest Bio
Brandon Sammut is the Chief People Officer at Zapier, one of the earliest and most successful no-code automation companies.
With over 800 fully remote employees, Zapier has been at the forefront of workflow automation for more than a decade. Brandon’s role sits at the intersction of people, culture, and technology — giving him a unique vantage point on how to drive company-wide AI adoption at scale.
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🎙 Episode Intro
Most leaders know AI matters. But the real challenge is: how do you get an entire company — hundreds or even thousands of people — to actually adopt it?
In this episode, Brandon shares how Zapier is weaving AI into the fabric of its culture. We cover what worked, what didn’t, and how a company known for automation is now navigating its biggest platform shift yet.
⏱ What’s Covered
(00:00) Introduction — Brandon’s role at Zapier and how AI entered the conversation
(04:12) Why top-down AI mandates rarely work (and what Zapier does instead)
(08:45) Building AI fluency across a remote, global team
(12:30) Zapier’s “center of excellence” approach — balancing guidance with experimentation
(17:55) Early wins: how AI started showing up in recruiting, customer support, and marketing
(22:40) The challenge of scale: making AI adoption sustainable vs. shiny
(27:15) Rethinking skills and roles in the AI era — how HR is adapting
(32:02) The cultural playbook: celebrating use cases, sharing learnings, keeping momentum
(38:16) What incumbents get wrong about AI adoption
(42:50) Zapier’s bets on where automation + AI converge next
(47:30) Lightning round + closing reflections
💡 Key Takeaways
Mandates don’t work — momentum does. Zapier built AI adoption by empowering teams, not forcing them.
Celebrate the wins you want repeated. Sharing stories of AI in action helps shift culture faster than policies.
Balance exploration and standards. Too much centralization kills creativity; too little creates chaos.
AI is an accelerant, not a replacement. Roles aren’t disappearing — they’re evolving.
Leadership sets the tone. Brandon’s role shows that AI adoption is as much a people strategy as a product one.
🔗 Where to Find Brandon
LinkedIn: Brandon Sammut
Zapier: zapier.com
If you found this episode useful, share it with a teammate or friend exploring AI adoption inside their org.
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Until next time,
Haroon