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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Chapters

00:00 — Meet Kate Barney: Reimagining Talent for the AI Era

03:18 — How AI Is Accelerating Growth Instead of Replacing Hiring

04:55 — The New Interview Question: Show Me How You Use AI

06:11 — AI Fridays, Shark Tanks, and Building an AI-Native Culture

07:09 — Scaling HR with AI: From Benefits Enrollment to Personalized Support

08:16 — Hiring for Curiosity, Growth Mindset, and AI Adaptability

09:57 — Skills-Based Hiring and the Future Shape of Organizations

11:29 — Why Early-Career Talent May Be Your Biggest AI Advantage

13:21 — Inside Smartly's AI Tiger Team and Internal Innovation Playbook

15:32 — Justifying Headcount in the Age of AI Efficiency

17:18 — Rapid Fire: Hiring Mistakes, Case Studies, and Team Building

18:20 — From HR Operations to HR Product: Rethinking Entire Functions with AI

20:01 — Closing Thoughts: Creativity, Reinvention, and the Future of Work