What ops leaders actually think about AI | Ep. 8

This episode steps back from the guest chair. Joe Zboch, director of marketing at Hatch and host of Scaling Specialty Growth, recaps what five COOs and operations leaders at scaling practices taught him about the job. The throughline surprised him.ㅤHe expected operators to be mechanical and formula-driven. What he heard instead was that operations is about people and communication, and that the people part really is the operating system. Listeners get the top three takeaways from the first run of episodes: why people come before process and technology, why you can't optimize before you stabilize, and what operations leaders actually think about AI. It's a short reflection on what it takes to be an operations leader, and a read on where the show is headed next.ㅤ📌 What we coverWhy people and communication, not a secret-sauce framework, turned out to be the real operating systemPeople first, process second, technology third as the actual order of operationsHow a quarterly staff forum at DMOS lets feedback bubble up from the roots of the practice to the topThe start-small rule: a few chords before the whole song, and why you can't optimize before you stabilizeTreating change like a game the team plays together, so tough becomes funSetting KPIs and milestones so you can right the ship when a plan goes waywardWhat operations leaders actually think about AI: grow with the staff you have, and let it clear the low-value tasks that lead to burnoutWhy turnover in coordinator, contact center, and access center roles drops with training and a people-forward approach