Show Notes:
Guest: Ciara O’Sullivan
What does it really take to scale a $10B company without losing its soul?
In this episode, Alex Simmons sits down with Ciara O’Sullivan, Senior Director of People at Bilt, to unpack how one of the fastest-growing fintechs is redefining company culture in the AI era. Ciara shares how Bilt kept its culture strong while growing fast, why working in person gives them an edge, and how AI hackathons fuel new ideas.
If you care about building strong teams in a changing world, hit play and discover how it’s really done.
Timestamps:
00:00 Welcome to Have a Better Day
00:47 Meet Ciara O’Sullivan
03:25 How to scale culture without losing people
07:35 Why the first 90 days matter
12:43 The story behind Bilt’s famous jackets
14:06 Hiring smart: culture screens & problem-solving
17:27 Why they never equated funding with headcount
18:27 How Bilt embraced AI from the start
21:59 Why in-person work is their secret weapon
26:05 Remote or hybrid work
29:38 AI experiments, wins and fails
34:16 From AI hype to shared company language
36:18 What HR leaders really need to focus on
40:23 Creating a safe space to try new things
41:15 Companies blocking AI are falling behind
43:47 Getting leadership buy-in for big changes
45:44 Human skills that matter more than ever
47:00 Final hot takes on trust, change & AI
Episode Resources:
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