Wade Foster
Wade Foster built Zapier to 850 people and multiple billions in value without naming a COO. He joins Between Two COOs to explain why exec hiring is a coin flip and why AI adoption is a people problem first.
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About Wade Foster
Wade Foster is co-founder and CEO of Zapier, the workflow automation company he has run for 14 years without ever naming a COO. Zapier has grown to 850 people and multiple billions in value on a single seed round raised after Y Combinator, and Foster has led the company through multiple technology shifts including the arrival of generative AI.
On this episode, Foster talks with host Michael Koenig about why he considers exec hiring a coin flip and why bringing in an outside COO rarely works, since the role has no fixed job definition and demands context that only comes from years inside the business. He also discusses Zapier’s decision to put AI transformation under its chief people officer, why the company called a “code red” when GPT-4 launched in 2023, and how he decides when a problem should be solved with deterministic software versus AI. The conversation covers CEO vs COO dynamics, AI adoption challenges, and what it actually takes to keep a founder-led company from losing its edge over time.
Listen to the full conversation with Wade Foster on Between Two COOs for a direct look at how Zapier thinks about leadership, AI adoption, and building a durable company without a COO.
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