Lever Talent, Inc.

As founder & CEO of Lever Talent, Inc. - the talent strategy agency - I get to lead our efforts to help leaders implement strategies to bring their best selves to work and take control of the biggest lever in business.

Our mission is to help leaders realize they are capable of more than they could ever imagine. We believe individuals make a business, not the other way around, and all business is personal.

The employee-employer relationship is broken. Thankfully, employees are gaining leverage. Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and Web3 are shifting the power dynamic. We’re flipping the script by helping businesses lean into this shift - bringing humanity back to business in the future of work.

At Lever Talent, we help businesses deploy technology-enabled talent strategies that empower leaders to find leverage in themselves and their teams to spur growth in any market. Maximizing team performance while ensuring they maximize their greatest asset - their career.

We help with:

- Talent Strategy: We help leaders align their people strategy to their business strategy and accelerate growth with talent optimization.

- Career Development: We give people the training and coaching they need crush their current job and achieve their goals.

- Leadership Communities: We bring growth-minded leaders together to share ideas, learn from each other, and grow.

Detailed Services Overview:
- Leadership & Strategy Alignment Consulting
- Mission, Vision, Values & Culture Transformation
- Hiring Process and Strategy Consulting
- Management Training
- Leadership Coaching 
- Team Building Workshops
- Career Development Communities
- Employee Engagement / Performance 
- The Predictive Index Software sales and client service - we are a PI Certified Partner.

Founder & CEO

The Lever with Drew Fortin Show

With a goal to redefine your understanding of the future of work, "The Lever with Drew Fortin" launched on YouTube and your favorite podcast streaming app starting on August 7, 2023.

Over the first half of 2023, Connor Lewis, Executive Producer and founder of Studio Lewis, and I set out to find experts to dive deep, not just into the technology but its implications on our world of work, investment, academia, economics, and businesses.

There is a lot of fear-mongering out there on the rise of AI and robots are coming to take jobs. It's important to remember that every major platform shift before AI has led to more prosperity and further innovation. The Lever is designed to challenge current thinking and highlight the transformative effects of AI, robotics, and Web3 on the traditional employee-employer relationship. It emphasizes the good things these advancements mean for workers.

Each of the six episodes in Season 1 of The Lever is about 10-20 minutes long and is a carefully crafted composition of news, research, and expert commentary on future of work trends. With pre-drafted episode summaries in hand, we set out to interview leaders, innovators, and trailblazers across work tech, investing, academia, economics, and business. We then carefully analyzed 25 hours of footage and transcripts from 23 interviews and dozens of news and research articles to finalize the show scripts for Season 1.

Learn more 👉 Levershow.com

Co-creator, Host, and Future of Work Researcher

The Predictive Index

The Predictive Index (PI) is a private-equity-backed talent optimization software and services company.

I was promoted three times in my tenure:
- Chief Growth Officer 7/2021 - Present (1 yr)
- Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing 11/2018 – 7/2021 (2 yrs 9 mos)
- Vice President, Sales & Marketing 9/2017 - 11/2018 (1 yr 3 mos)
- Vice President, Marketing 5/2015 - 9/2017 (2 yrs 5 mos)

As Chief Growth Officer, I reported directly to the CEO and was responsible for maintaining their unified vision and go-to-market plans by keeping tight collaboration and cross-functional alignment - breaking down silos and challenging the status quo.

I was part of the senior leadership team since my start. We achieved over 550% revenue growth since 2015 (28% CAGR - breaking $100M ARR in 2022!), 100% growth in the paying subscriber base (achieving 11.5K), and 2,000% growth of the PI certified partner network (achieving 1.1K partner firms).

I led the development of our strategy to create the talent optimization (TO) category and evangelize the TO discipline, which led to the $50M growth equity investment from General Catalyst in 2019.

My charter was to navigate the transition from sales-led to product-led growth (PLG). We successfully launched our first PLG product in 2021 called PI Design - which quickly grew to 2K paying business subscribers and grew our client expansion billings over 50%. Followed by PI Hire and PI Diagnose in 2022.

I spent most of my time focused on PI’s long-term growth plan and goals to develop the TO category and remain the industry-leading SaaS platform. Healthy growth was the name of the game, so there was constant, necessary conflict to manage between long-term/short-term goals and results. (👈 That was the fun part. I love that stuff!)

I was extremely fortunate to work with a dream team of direct reports who led our sales, partner recruitment & activation, demand generation, product marketing, brand, and content marketing functions (of 100 PIoneers).

Chief Growth Officer

In Confidence Podcast

Difficult co-worker? Meddling micromanager? Tough team? Sabotaging self-talk? No doubt, work perpetually challenges everyone’s confidence causing us to feel uncomfortable, unworthy, and unengaged. Get science-backed confidence coaching from two of the best in the biz.

I co-hosted this leadership and personal growth show with Alyssa Dver of the American Confidence Institute. We take calls from real callers and help them work through workplace issues that are getting in the way of them being their best.

Podcast Host

PennySaver USA

The California PennySaver was a local advertising and classified media icon from 1962-2015. I joined at a time of great risk and change - we had the strategy to introduce digital products to fill the ever-growing void created by declining print ad revenues. It was my first executive leadership position reporting directly to the CEO. We were generating $175M in annual sales revenues from 12K business clients and millions of consumer classified ads. 

While there, I led a strategic revamp of our full-service local digital marketing and SaaS website service to a monthly subscription model, integrated 3rd party applications, and kicked off a 3rd Party Reseller Program that increased our growth rate 90%. We also introduced new digital ad products on our classifieds website, which grew revenue from our online listings & classified product by 100%.

I managed many different teams of many shapes and sizes - including a field sales team, product management, engineering, development, and design teams in Poland, India, and Arkansas. I also set up and managed our strategic partnerships with companies like Google, Bing, and Yext.

In 2013, I was tasked with downsizing efforts, restructuring, and assisted the company through a pitch and spin-off of ownership from Harte-hanks, our parent company, to any acquiring private equity firm. Although it was an amazing learning opportunity, I was exposed to the dark side of business when our owners shut the company down in 2015 with little notice - they were subsequently sued for not providing proper notice before firing hundreds of employees.

Vice President, Marketing & Digital

HubSpot

The growth and success we were achieving at Compete caught the eyeballs of HubSpot's CMO and I and jumped at the opportunity to join this growth-stage SaaS start-up on their marketing team. Although brief (the team dynamic was admittedly not for me!), I learned so much and made long-lasting relationships.

We were able to grow our already gargantuan monthly lead flow by 20% while I was there to 45K leads. I managed all of our advertising and search marketing. I implemented mobile marketing, affiliate marketing, and ad retargeting programs. I also wrote a lot of content and held presentations to educate our users on topics that were near and dear to me like SEO, search engine marketing, and content generation. 

Check out this top-ranking article I wrote when I was there (which was accompanied by a 20+ page guide I also wrote) been since been updated several times and generated thousands of views and leads.

Inbound Marketing Manager - Advertising Programs Lead

Compete, Inc.

Compete was a competitive web analytics start-up co-founded by David Cancel (current CEO and co-founder of Drift). I joined as their first dedicated marketing manager responsible for running demand gen programs for their SaaS start-up product called Compete PRO (competitive intelligence and market research tool). This was product-led growth before product-led growth was cool! I reported directly to the GM of Compete PRO. 

The freemium client firehose was on and the problem of the day was figuring out how to convert this free client base into paid subscriptions and monetize our products. 

I created a multi-channel marketing and go-to-market strategy that leveraged our brand strength in the marketing technology space (we had an AdAge Top 25 ranked marketing blog) across all digital channels.

In less than a year, we grew our freemium base 83% to 220K accounts and increased free to paid conversions by 30%+! The result was 50% growth to $6M ARR while maintaining 85% retention rate - this was in 2010! 

Compete was acquired by WPP's Millward Brown Digital, formerly Kantar, formerly TNS just as I started there. The Compete PRO product was eventually folded into other products and assets were sold off as M&A activity evolved.

See the attached presentation I prepared and presented at a Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (aka MassTLC) meeting in 2010.

Senior Manager, Internet Marketing (SaaS)

Staples

I developed and executed growth strategies to drive e-commerce sales and revenue on Staples.com. This was a very exciting time in retail and e-commerce. Staples.com generated about $500M in annual revenues from over 30K+ products - it was one of the world's largest online retailers at the time. Amazon was starting to gain traction and disrupt, but no one had a clue just how significant and transformational the rise of e-commerce would be.

This was also the beginning of the SEO movement. I had the unique opportunity to spearhead Staples.com's first SEO task force. We met regularly to talk about how to implement site-wide optimizations and execute a transformational strategy to democratizing our product data. 

I also managed our affiliate marketing and comparison shopping engine programs which generated over $60M in annual revenues. We had over 1,000 affiliate publisher websites. 
 
I quickly fell in love with web analytics and learned about website architecture, programming, and merchandising products online. I became obsessed with digital marketing, analysis, and growth modeling and projections.

Online Marketing Manager - Staples.com

Online Marketing Specialist - Staples.com

Corporate Communications Coordinator - Staples Copy & Print Center

Picture this… I had just graduated with my music degree, I landed an interim choir director gig at my old high school. I was in a band and we played many times a week. I needed health insurance, so picked up a shift at my local Staples store in Acton, MA (Store #1219) in their copy and print center. 

I’ve always been infatuated with business (I set up our band as a general partnership, ran our books, and admin stuff). I quickly became passionate about running this copy and print center too.

When my choir gig was up I became manager of the copy and print center. I had my own $650K P&L. I managed a small team. I ran the business, kept the engine humming, went knocking on doors to increase business, managed the books, ordered supplies, covered gaps in shifts, etc.

This was truly an amazing experience that led me to becoming an assistant store manager and attracted the eyeballs of our corporate offices.

Assistant Store Manager

Founder & CEO @ Lever Talent | Host of The Lever Show | Helping leaders develop talent strategies that leverage a tech-empowered future.

You're capable of more than you could ever imagine.

I started my career impatient, driven, and naive - pushing hard to climb the corporate ladder and eventually found myself fired from a highly coveted growth-stage start-up in my mid-20s. 

That moment sent me on a journey of self-discovery. I realized I'm a fixer, visionary leader, relationship builder, and goal setter. I’m fascinated by the human condition and the impact that technology is having on humans at work.  

Innovations in AI, robotics, and web3 stand to scale our potential, strengthen our superpowers, and free us up to focus on the more human elements of work. Over the last 20 years, I've learned that if you paint an inspiring vision, surround yourself with people you admire and trust, and embrace technology, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can grow.  

In 2022, I decided to follow my passion and became the Founder & CEO of Lever Talent, Inc. - the talent strategy agency. I spend my time helping business leaders deploy talent strategies and tools to find leverage in themselves and their teams to spur growth in any market. Join the movement at levertalent.com. 

I use my LinkedIn to network, learn from others, and share any wisdom I've gained along the way.  

With technology, our leverage is limitless. Let's embrace and change the world. ⚡️🌎 

Specialties: Talent Strategy, Growth Leadership, Cultural Transformation, Mission Vision Values, Team Building, Talent Optimization, Go-to-Market Strategy, Digital Transformation, Consulting, The Predictive Index, Engagedly

Drew Fortin

I’ve seen a lot of posts from leaders talking about how hard layoffs are for them.

They’re right, it is brutal to sit across from someone and tell them their job is gone. 

I’ve done it more than once. It never gets easier.

But here’s what I don’t see enough of: 

Acknowledgment that the person being let go has it far, far harder.

They’re the ones facing an insurance crisis, mortgage payments, daycare costs, food bills, and the emotional gut-punch of losing purpose overnight.

As leaders, we talk a lot about empathy and “doing it the right way.” 

But if we’re being honest, most layoff comms are designed to protect the company’s emotions, not the individual’s livelihood.

We’ll say things like “this was the hardest decision I’ve ever made” while the person we’re letting go is quietly wondering how to tell their family.

Layoffs are sometimes necessary. But if you have to do them, don’t center your pain.

Center their reality.

If you’ve ever had to do layoffs, reflect on this:

Who carried the real weight of that moment, you or them?

Founder & CEO @ Lever Talent | SHRM-SCP | Helping leaders develop talent strategies that leverage a tech-empowered future.

Amazon doesn’t pretend to have a great culture.

That’s exactly why their strategy works.

Andy Jassy has been blunt: automation is driving results, and they’re doubling down on it.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Amazon’s culture has never been warm and fuzzy; it’s designed for efficiency, precision, and relentless execution.

And for them, that alignment works.

Where leaders go wrong is pretending their company can act like Amazon but feel like Patagonia.

You can’t build a cutthroat, hyper-optimized operating model and then talk about “psychological safety” and “belonging” like it’s in your blood.

If your business is tightening up, getting lean, and optimizing for efficiency, own it.

If you’re trying to grow through experimentation and empowerment, build the space for that.

But don’t sell one and live the other.

No, your coworkers are not your family. 

And the “workplace family” is one of the biggest lies we keep telling ourselves.

Sociologist Sarah Mosseri’s new book, Trust Fall, takes that myth head-on, and I’m here for it.

For decades, leaders have used “we’re a family” as shorthand for belonging, loyalty, and trust. 

But as Mosseri’s research shows, it’s often a cover for imbalance: companies say “family,” but act like corporations.

Her work reminded me of how often I see teams confuse trust with comfort.

True trust is risky and vulnerable. It means giving people the freedom to question the system without being punished for it.
 
Most workplace "families" rally during a crisis, “bond in the trenches,” and call it teamwork, but never stop to ask why they're always in crisis. 

That’s a leadership problem, not a culture win.

The best workplaces are communities built on shared accountability and mutual respect.

If you have to call it a family to keep people around, you’ve already lost their trust.

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Talks about #culture, #leadership, #futureofwork, #humanresources, and #transformation

No one cares more about your career than you do.

It is the single greatest asset you own.

Yet most people treat it like a group project, waiting for someone else to tell them what’s next.

Promotions, stretch projects, mentorship, even recognition, none of it just happens because you deserve it. 

It happens because you’ve made it clear what you want and you’ve done the work to prove it.

If you haven’t taken the time to define your next move, no one’s coming to do it for you.

And if you haven’t told anyone what you actually want, don’t be shocked when the world stays quiet.

When you do speak it out loud, when you say “this is what I want, this is who I’m becoming,” the universe starts to rearrange itself around you.

So stop waiting for permission.

Own your path.

Your next chapter starts when you decide what you want.

I wish someone had told me that in my 20s.

So I’ll tell you:

Don’t outsource your trajectory. You own the asset, so start managing it that way.

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Every leader should be able to say:

"Here’s what I’m great at, and here's where I need help.”

Imagine if every team normalized that kind of honesty. 

No need to guess, just strengths out in the open and gaps named for what they are.

Success doesn’t come from trying to be great at everything. 

It comes from doubling down on what makes you exceptional and building systems that let others do the same.

It's common knowledge that the best athletes don’t play every sport. They find the one that amplifies their strengths, and they go all in.

The same goes for leaders. 

As technology evolves and AI expands, being more human is becoming a leadership advantage.

The future belongs to teams that know themselves deeply, celebrate their natural talents, and build around them.

Let’s start with transparency and build well-aligned teams.

AI layoffs are a cop-out.

Let’s stop pretending otherwise.

The economy’s rough right now.

So when I see companies announcing “AI-driven layoffs,” I can’t help but roll my eyes.

No one’s getting a commensurate productivity lift from AI in 2025 or 2026 for that matter. 

At least not yet.

What we are seeing is leaders using AI as the scapegoat to justify tough calls they don’t want to own.

“I’m sorry, it’s just automation.” No, it’s economics.

AI will absolutely reshape jobs and displace workers. It’s already changing how we work and what value humans bring.

But most of these cuts have nothing to do with true AI efficiency. They’re about maintaining needed profitability in a weak market.

And when leaders hide behind “AI transformation” instead of admitting that, they erode trust even faster.

Let’s be honest with our people.

Let’s say, “The market sucks right now, and we have to make hard choices to survive.”

Because the story of AI shouldn’t be about fear and headcount cuts.

It should be about how we redesign work to make humans more valuable than ever.

Everyone says the hardest part of layoffs is losing people.

No one talks about what it’s like to be the one who stays.

Some folks in my network shared what it’s like to “survive” multiple rounds. There’s the obvious: survivor’s guilt.

But then there’s the post-anxiety layoff that no one really talks about.

Because the truth is, no matter how loyal you are to the mission, surviving multiple RIFs changes you.

You might still want to help the company rebound, but once people start scanning for exits, the culture’s already cracked.

Culture doesn’t survive that kind of fear intact. In many cases, you have to rebuild from scratch.

And this is where most companies overcorrect.

They double down on wellness, celebrate using PTO, and hang posters that say “It’s okay to not be okay.”

The intention is good, but it becomes the new avoidance strategy. If everyone’s recovering, no one’s building.

Healthy organizations don’t glorify burnout, but they also don’t treat ambition like a bad habit.

Real balance means creating an environment where people want to give their best because they believe the effort still matters.

If you want your people to stop running scared, give them something they can't help but run toward.

I believe in meritocracy.

I just don’t believe most companies have one.

What most companies call “meritocracy” is really proximity bias. 

There is no system in place and no consistency. Managers often reward those whom they see and befriend, and often those who remind them of their less-experienced self. 

Real meritocracy means clearly defining what “great” looks like, and measuring everyone against it. 

You can’t have true meritocracy until you fix inequity. 

Until opportunity and access are more balanced, we’ll keep rewarding visibility over value.

And for the record: I’m not anti-capitalist.

Quite the opposite.

Capitalism is the best tool we have to increase the livelihood of the world. It should objectively reward performance.

But when the system for measuring it is broken, everyone loses. The overlooked performer, the biased leader, and ultimately, the business itself.

Meritocracy is worth fighting for.

But let’s stop confusing comfort for fairness and proximity for performance.

If we can design systems that measure what matters, and make space for everyone to win on merit, that’s good business.

A lot of companies are only adding AI to their title because it makes for a better headline.

And honestly, that’s not a bad thing. AI holds massive promise. 

And if you’re not actively adopting AI tools and building your company’s AI fluency, you’re falling behind. 

AI is a huge opportunity. The issue is that most companies are chasing “AI strategy decks” instead of asking better questions like:

- How can we use AI to optimize what already works?

- Where can it automate the repetitive stuff so our people can focus on higher-value work?

- How do we teach our teams to experiment and adapt as AI tech evolves?

That last one is key.

HR has a huge role to play here.

AI is an organizational change problem, and right now, HR is being asked to lead that charge, often without the tools, confidence, or seat at the table they deserve.

Now’s the time to use AI as the catalyst to build a culture of learning, agility, and human adaptability.

It’s the basic, day-to-day work of evolving how we work with AI that actually paves the way for the kind of strategic, differentiated applications everyone’s chasing.

Because the future of leadership is about using technology to help humans become more capable, creative, and resilient than ever.

Empathy became the new performance metric.

And now no one knows how to say the hard stuff.

Since COVID, we’ve seen a cultural overcorrection. And somewhere along the way, performance and clarity got left behind.

Caring for people doesn’t mean cushioning them from reality. 

We still operate in a capitalist system. Companies exist to grow, compete, and win. 

When your culture forgets that, it starts to drift.

You can feel it when a company faces tough calls, layoffs, restructures, and missed targets. 

Suddenly, people are shocked. Disillusioned. “Wait, how could this happen?”

Because no one said the hard stuff when it mattered.

Strong cultures don’t hide from reality. They help people understand the business, the risks, and the road ahead.

And it falls on leaders to do two things at once:

1) Build a humane culture that treats people like adults.
2) Stay ruthlessly focused on the strategic imperatives of the business.

Empathy matters. But empathy without clarity only creates confusion.

If your company vanished overnight and you had to rebuild it tomorrow…

Would your org chart look the same?

Now imagine applying that to your workforce strategy.

If you were starting your company today, in a world of AI agents, async collaboration, and 10x productivity per person, how would you design your org?

Would you still define “manager” the same way?

Most wouldn’t.

And that’s the point. 

We’ve built orgs layer by layer for decades,  adding roles, tools, and policies like barnacles on a ship, without ever scraping them off to see if the structure still floats.

A “zero-based” approach to human capital would force us to rethink how work actually gets done now.

If you’re not familiar, it’s when companies start their budgets from scratch every year.

No “last year plus 10%.”

It’s a thought experiment worth doing, especially for HR and people leaders trying to design the next era of work.

If you were rebuilding your org from zero today, what would you keep… and what would you leave behind?

Specialization is killing innovation in HR Tech.

For 15 years, HR leaders have been told to “find their niche.”

Hyper-specification was the smart move. Now, they’re paying for it.

Last week, a digital marketing partner told me,

“You call yourselves a full-service talent strategy agency, but no one else does that.”

Exactly.

Because the industry has spent a decade unbundling itself into a thousand micro-experts.

Now we’re entering the great rebundling.

Just like streaming: first came Netflix, then the flood, now everyone’s craving cable again.

HR is no different.

Leaders don’t want 10 vendors solving 10% of the problem.

What they really want is one partner who can help them with the whole system, not just a piece of it.

That’s why we built Lever Talent, Inc. as a full-service talent strategy agency.

Whether you need cultural transformation, org design, leadership training, fractional HR support, or HR software management, you can start small and scale with us.

Everyone loves to say HR is “slow to adopt AI.”

HR is the only team smart enough to ask what happens after the adoption.

This is the function responsible for compliance, documentation, process, and most importantly, people. 

Of course, they’re going to measure twice and cut once. That’s our responsibility.

AI is moving so fast that “measured” can start to look like “left behind” if leaders don’t stay curious.

Every HR leader I talk to should be getting fluent in the language of AI right now.

The HR leaders who figure out how to make AI work for people are the ones every CEO will want on their team.

We’re already seeing it in logistics, where people collaborate with software and robots every day. 

That’s just the beginning.

HR’s role in the AI era isn’t to keep up.

It’s to lead the integration responsibly, strategically, and humanely.

Stop saying “AI won’t replace you; someone who knows AI will.”

That’s not true.

If 15% of your workforce gets cut overnight, it’s not because every manager suddenly became a prompt engineer. 

It’s because the CFO did the math.

Tenure, pay bands, performance stack ranking… that’s the calculus, not who’s best at ChatGPT.

Yes, AI is replacing people. But not in the way LinkedIn gurus want to sell it.

It’s commoditizing everything except distinctly human ability.

So yes, AI will force displacement.

But what it’s really forcing is a reckoning with what makes us valuable in the first place.

You don’t survive this shift by becoming “AI fluent.”

You survive by becoming more human than ever.

If a candidate’s first touch is a faceless agent, you just told them exactly how much you value people: not much. 

Automation is efficient. But hiring isn’t a spreadsheet exercise.

Candidates want speed and someone accountable for decisions that shape their careers.

Tech is not strategy. People still are.

As someone obsessed with what AI and robotics mean for the employer–employee relationship, I’ll die on this hill: 

The more tech we adopt, the more our differentiator becomes distinctly human judgment, trust, context, and dignity.

If you’re racing toward “AI-run hiring by 2026,” start here:

1) Human decides, AI informs. 

Use models to structure, summarize, and surface signals. Final calls belong to accountable humans.

2) Radical transparency. 

Tell candidates where/when AI is used and how it influences outcomes. No black boxes. (Trust is the currency.)

3) Bias isn’t “fixed,” it’s governed. 

Treat bias as a system problem: data audits, adverse-impact monitoring, and escalation paths that real people own.

4) And most importantly: Train the humans. 

Most teams don’t know what “AI skills” even means. Make fluency part of manager enablement and recruiter craft.

I’m not anti-AI. I’m anti-abdication.

You didn’t hire more people to slow things down...

But that’s exactly what happened.

Scaling should make things smoother, but it rarely does. The habits that helped you win early on don’t serve you later.

When companies start, they’re agile, experimental, and fueled by belief.

Then, they hit product-market fit. Now they’re in growth mode. 

That’s when process, discipline, and focus take over. Meetings multiply, and decisions slow.

The business becomes about precision: tightening systems, reducing errors, building consistency.

But when you over-optimize for process, you lose the agility that made you successful in the first place.

At a certain point, you need to redesign how your organization works.

At Lever Talent, Inc., we use the Competing Values Framework to help companies do exactly that.

If your team feels stuck in “slow motion growth,” this is your signal to recalibrate.

Because every stage requires a different kind of leadership, culture, and operating model.

CEO turnover is spiking in 2025, and it’s not because CEOs are failing. 

It’s because the job changed faster than they did.

New data shows high-performing companies are now almost just as likely to replace their CEO as underperformers. 

In the S&P 500, 2025 turnover in the top three performance quartiles hit 12%, nearly matching the bottom quartile at 14%.

Boards aren’t waiting for a downturn or a misstep. They’re finally acknowledging what many of us inside organizations have felt for years:

AI transformation is reshaping every role, and yesterday’s leadership profile doesn’t map to tomorrow’s demands.

The leadership equation has shifted: agility, digital fluency, and stakeholder orchestration now matter more than tenure.

That's why external CEO appointments nearly doubled this year. 

If the last few years taught us anything, it’s that strategy fails when leadership, structure, and decision-making can’t keep pace. 

The companies built for the future are the ones redesigning leadership for it, before the market forces them to.

And if your org isn’t building future-ready leaders, your board will go shopping for one.

Saber Solutions

I leverage extensive experience in operations and technology to help companies, law firms and corporate legal departments streamline their processes. As a consultant at Saber Solutions, I work closely with clients to implement operational best practices and cutting-edge technology solutions, when appropriate, designed to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and optimize overall practice management. I bring deep industry experience and understand both the how and why behind business systems. I work with visionaries who seek guidance on scaling business operations by identifying gaps in accountability and advising on implementing sustainable solutions. Whether in the capacity of a fractional COO or working on a project basis, I seek to improve a client's business functions so that they can effectively and efficiently scale.  I oversee change management, perform practice audits, establish best practice OKRs and KPIs, and advise on technology implementation with a deep understanding of artificial intelligence enabled products.

Operations & Management Consultant

Laundris Corporation

Advisor

LegalMente AI

St. Mary's University

I commit time to my law school alma mater as an Adjunct Professor teaching Entertainment Law and making it an entertaining experience.

Adjunct Professor

AvantStay

Taking the passion I had for short term rental advocacy and management skills, I took a role with Avantstay on the heels of their closing a $160M financing round. I inherited a team of 5 and recruited and grew it to 15 creating 3 verticals: Regulatory Operations (permitting & research), Public Affairs (advocacy and regulatory change monitoring) and Standards & Safety (operational implementation of regulations; regulatory compliance). I spent the majority of my time, aside from managing individuals, creating advocacy processes and procedures for the company. I led creation of a regulatory threat decision matrix in order to prioritize where we would dedicate resources, and regulatory response decision trees. Through management of our Regulatory Operations team I gained familiarity with over 200 jurisdictions and their regulations, allowing me to have a deep understanding of community concerns. Leadership of the Standards & Safety team provided me with intimate knowledge of how regulatory changes play out operationally and impact future revenue. I took hands on leadership of the Public Affairs team and sought out and participated in coalitions in our existing markets, being careful to enter into advocacy efforts strategically, being mindful of community optics and risk of revenue losses, whether we advocated directly or via lobbyists I hired and managed. Our efforts were most demonstrably seen in Riverside County California where we helped to prevent a hard occupancy cap of 10 on homes across the large region. Avantstay to this day continues to use the regulatory intelligence work developed under my leadership as a selling point for its prospective property investment partners.

*Role consolidated during a reduction in force, along with several other Director level roles across the organization due to company's financial condition.

Head Of Policy

The Guild

I led the Corporate Operations Department, supporting the hospitality operations of our business through management of the Legal & Policy, People, Finance and Property Management teams. A large part of my role involved General Counsel duties, as the CEO and Board’s trusted advisor. I managed a resourceful and resilient team but was also solely responsible for Policy and Legal functions. I began with the company as General Counsel and was given management responsibility when the pandemic began in 2020. As an in-house general counsel asset for the company I managed the company’s various legal matters such as real estate transactions, SaaS contract review, private financing, contract drafting, risk analysis, employment and intellectual property matters, both simple and complex. I had a particular passion for the company’s advocacy and government relations efforts in the cities in which we operated. I managed outside advocates in different cities as needed, and led strategy in response to the city of Cincinnati’s attempt to outlaw short term rentals in 2019, which we succeeded in preventing. My interest in advocacy led to me organizing peer companies to create the FLEX Coalition, an advocacy coalition dedicated to advancing the interests of multifamily STR operators.

*Left on very amicable terms after 4 years of service to take on the exciting opportunity presented by Avantstay.

Vice President of Corporate Operations & General Counsel, Corporate Secretary

Carbon Arrow

After my exit from JustLegal I participated in a consultancy until joining The Guild.  I provided consultative strategic and short-term fractional CLO (Chief Legal Officer) and fractional COO (Chief Operating Officer) services to individuals, small businesses, legal professionals and entrepreneurs. Under Carbon Arrow’s law firm consulting services I was fractional COO and Of Counsel for The Gober Group (law firm) from 2017-2019 and AK Legal (law firm) from 2018-2021, aside from engagements with individual solo practitioners. I continued my legal practice, while also assisting in building the legal operations for the law firms I consulted with. This included building contract databases and recruiting talent for growth of the firms.

*Consulted on an interim basis until I was offered a full time role at The Guild.

Partner

MassVenture

I was co-founder of MassVenture, an equity crowdfunding portal that was the first to be licensed by the state of Texas for intrastate equity crowdfunding, and later for national campaigns.  The platform allowed retail investors to own a part of the companies they cared about. MassVenture facilitated the raising of capital for companies. As co-founder I led fundraising efforts and advocacy efforts and stepped aside to simply be a Board Member as of 2015. The company ceased operations in 2018.

*Side project I ran with a law firm co-founder that my co-founder focused on so that I could focus on scaling and selling RAM Law Firm.

Co-Founder; Board Member

JustLegal

JustLegal was a platform created to make the connection between lawyer and prospective client smoother and easier. JustLegal provided one of the first highly secure virtual meeting platforms for attorneys and prospective clients. The marketplace connected numerous attorneys to clients and its white label product offered directory services to bar associations. I was asked to join the company as there was a need for in-house attorney support due to any perceived privacy issues and barratry concerns. The company was acquired by Digitaltown, Inc. in late 2017. I served at COO and General Counsel, handling our operational, legal and privacy issues as well as making connections into the legal ecosystem. Under that scope I led advocacy efforts with the state bar of Texas and local Texas bar associations so that they might adopt the product, making sure they understood that there would be no risk of running afoul of legal ethics rules.

*Role no longer in existence after succesful acquisition of the platform by Digitaltown, Inc.

Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel & Attorney in Residence

MWR Legal

In late 2014 myself and fellow partners of RAM Law Firm entertained 2 offers to merge into other boutique law firms. We most closely aligned with the entrepreneurial focus RWR (formerly MWR Legal) maintained and were acquired in 2015. I provided general business counsel in the areas of start-up and intellectual property law with a focus on financing and M&A. Ressler Wynne Ressler (RWR) was a top-rated business law firm founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs and their emerging companies, which later was acquired by Michael Best & Friedrich, LLP. RWR offered a unique perspective on how to launch, protect and grow a business due to having advised hundreds of entrepreneurs on the development of their ideas and companies since 1996. The founders of RWR Legal also founded SKU, the consumer packaged goods accelerator. RWR Legal represented clients from start-up through growth, financing, acquisitions, restructuring and exits. I learned a great deal with RWR as I was mentored by a former partner of Skadden Arps, Rick Ressler. While at RWR I advocated for our clients to the Texas State Legislature and Texas Board of Securities for Texas to be the first state in the United States to allow for equity based intrastate online crowdfunding. I continued advocacy efforts while acting as the Partner in charge of Business Development and Client Management.

*Left the the role on amicable terms to pursue the subsequent role with JustLegal.

Partner; Of Counsel

*Demonstrated success in process improvement.
*Experienced in developing and achieving meaningful objectives and achieving key results.
*Proven operational integrator, providing tactical support to visionary leadership.
*Ability to work independently and collaboratively to pursue short and long-term goals.
*Proven ability to manage departmental P&Ls with demonstrated ability to drive and preserve revenue.
*Demonstrated success in managing multiple direct reports & leading multiple functions.
*Proven ability to be scrappy and creative in a fast-paced work environment with limited resources.
*Experienced in working in disruptive high growth startups.
*Proven ability to use legal analysis for actionable solutions.
*Demonstrated success in removing regulatory hurdles and expediting government processes.
*Proven ability to build coalitions.

R.C. Rondero De Mosier

Technology is a great enabler, but it’s not a magic wand.

I see so many high-growth companies rushing to adopt AI, automation, and new platforms. And that’s good. But without a clear strategy, it’s just noise.

The real power comes when you align technology with your core business goals. When you understand what processes need to be optimized and why.

Otherwise, you end up with shiny tools that don’t move the needle. Or worse, create new chaos.

My advice? Start with the “why.” Then choose the “how.” And only then, the “what.”

Because in the end, technology should serve your strategy, not the other way around.

Improving the performance of your business | Lawyer turned operator | Working with you to help your business achieve scale

Ever notice how the biggest bottleneck in scaling a law firm or a high-growth business isn’t the tech, the market, or even the talent? It’s the process. The way we do things. The habits we’ve built over years that now hold us back.

Change is uncomfortable. I get it. But if you’re serious about growth, you have to get comfortable with shaking things up.

It’s not about throwing everything out and starting over. It’s about asking the right questions.

Where are the delays? The redundancies? The handoffs that make everyone’s life harder?

And then, how do you fix them? Not with a quick fix, but with a real, sustainable process improvement.

Technology can help. But it’s only as good as the process it supports.

My challenge to you: look at your workflows today. Identify one thing that’s slowing you down. And commit to improving it.

Because in the end, operational excellence isn’t a one-time project. It’s a mindset. A continuous journey.

Docusign has leveled up its product! This past week I decided to give the trial of Iris a test drive.

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Docusign IRIAS: Contracts Just Got a Brain Upgrade In the legal world, time is as valuable as precision. Every minute spent reviewing, signing, or cor

This Week's Review: Docusing IRIS

Docusign

Is your firm or department truly prepared for the next wave of regulatory change? Many high-growth companies overlook the strategic importance of proactive compliance planning—yet, it can be a game-changer.

Effective regulatory strategy isn't just about avoiding penalties; it's about building agility into your operations. When legal considerations are integrated into business decisions early on, you reduce friction, accelerate growth, and position yourself ahead of competitors who play catch-up later.

Would you say your team is fully aligned with evolving regulations? Or are you still reactive rather than proactive? Sharing insights or hurdles could spark ideas on how to embed compliance as a core driver of scalable success.

I’ve been thinking a lot about regulatory strategy lately. Not just compliance, but proactive advocacy.

In high-growth environments, regulations can feel like a barrier. But what if we saw them as a bridge? A way to shape the playing field rather than just react to it.

Navigating this space requires more than legal know-how. It demands strategic foresight, relationship-building, and a willingness to engage with regulators as partners.

The companies that succeed in this space aren’t just avoiding trouble—they’re influencing the rules of the game.

So, here’s a question: how are you engaging with regulators? Are you shaping policy or just reacting to it?

Are your processes ready to handle the next wave of growth, or are they holding you back? 
Many high-growth companies focus so much on scaling their sales and market reach that operational friction gets overlooked. Yet, if your internal workflows aren’t optimized, growth can become chaos—delaying deals, increasing costs, and risking compliance gaps. 
The secret lies in proactive process improvement paired with smart technology integration. Automating routine tasks and embedding legal analysis into operational workflows not only accelerates scaling but also fortifies your foundation against regulatory pitfalls. It’s about working smarter, not harder. 
So, what’s the one process bottleneck you’d love to eliminate right now? Start there—because even small improvements can unlock exponential growth.

Unlocking growth isn’t just about expanding your client base — it’s about rethinking how your entire operation functions. 

High-growth companies often hit a wall not because of market demand, but due to operational bottlenecks and outdated processes. The real game-changer? Agile process improvement combined with strategic leverage of technology. When you align legal and business strategies seamlessly, scaling becomes more predictable and sustainable.

Are your current operations built for scale, or are they holding you back? Sharing insights on what’s worked (and what hasn’t) can spark ideas that propel us all forward. Let’s challenge the status quo and focus on embedding agility at every level of growth.

Scaling a business or a law firm is like building a house.

You need a solid foundation. Clear plans. And the right tools.

But more than that, you need a vision. A reason for every brick, every process, every decision.

Without that, you’re just building in the dark.

I’ve seen it happen. Teams get caught up in the day-to-day, losing sight of the bigger picture.

And then, growth stalls. Or worse, collapses.

So, what’s your vision for your operation? Are you aligning your team around it? Because without a shared purpose, scaling becomes chaos.

Let’s be honest. Scaling a business or a law firm is a constant balancing act.

On one side, you have the pressure to grow fast, to capture market share, to innovate.

On the other, you face the realities of operational complexity, regulatory hurdles, and team fatigue.

The secret? It’s not about doing everything at once. It’s about strategic prioritization and process optimization.

I’ve helped high-growth companies streamline their operations, cut through the noise, and focus on what truly moves the needle.

And here’s the truth: technology alone won’t save you. It’s how you use it, how you embed it into your culture, that makes all the difference.

So, what’s your next move? Are you optimizing or just surviving? Because in this game, only the adaptable win.

I’ve seen a lot of firms struggle with integrating legal analysis into their operational workflows.

It’s not just about having the right tools. It’s about embedding legal thinking into every decision, every process.

Legal isn’t a separate department anymore. It’s a strategic asset.

When legal analysis becomes part of your business strategy, you unlock a new level of agility.

You can spot risks faster, seize opportunities sooner, and make smarter decisions.

But it takes intentional effort. It’s about breaking down silos and fostering collaboration.

Because at the end of the day, legal isn’t just compliance. It’s competitive advantage.

Legal operations is no longer just a support function. It’s a strategic partner.

When legal teams understand their data, workflows, and technology, they become invaluable.

They can predict risks, optimize workflows, and even influence business strategy.

But it requires a shift in mindset. From reactive to proactive.

From cost center to value creator.

The future belongs to those who see legal ops as a driver of growth, not just a cost.

Are you ready to make that leap?

Are legal operations truly ready to embrace AI-driven change, or are we still stuck in the mindset of incremental improvement? 

The reality is, high-growth companies and law firms alike face a critical inflection point. Leveraging AI isn’t just about automation; it’s about reimagining how legal analysis integrates seamlessly with business strategy—shrinking turnaround times, reducing errors, and unlocking strategic insights that weren’t possible before. Yet many organizations hesitate, fearing disruption or misunderstanding what AI can realistically deliver today. 

The question becomes: Are we preparing our teams to operate in this new ecosystem? Or are we risking becoming obsolete as technology accelerates ahead? Embracing change management and proactive process redesign is no longer optional—it's essential for staying competitive. 

What’s your view on where legal ops should focus first? Is it technology adoption, cultural shift, or strategic realignment? Let’s start the conversation.

Are your scaling efforts actually delivering the agility and efficiency high-growth companies need? 

Many organizations fall into the trap of implementing processes that become rigid or obsolete just when they should be flexible and responsive. Process improvement isn’t about adding complexity—it’s about peeling back unnecessary layers and designing workflows that adapt as quickly as your market demands. The key is integrating continuous feedback loops and leveraging data-driven insights to refine operations in real time.

Too often, teams wait until a crisis hits before revisiting their processes—by then, it's too late. Instead, what if we made agility a core part of our operational DNA? Regularly questioning assumptions, embracing technology like AI for predictive analytics, and fostering a culture of ongoing improvement can transform how you scale.

Are your current processes future-proof? Or are they holding you back from seizing new opportunities? Consider this: every operational bottleneck you solve today sets the stage for smarter growth tomorrow.

I’ve been thinking a lot about legal operations and how often we focus on the shiny new tools. The latest AI, the newest workflow automation. And don’t get me wrong—these are game changers.

But here’s the thing. Sometimes, the biggest wins come from the simplest shifts. Small tweaks in how we handle document review, or how we prioritize cases, can ripple out and create massive efficiencies.

It’s easy to chase the next big thing. But the real magic is in mastering the basics. Building a solid foundation that can support the more complex tech layers.

I challenge you—what’s one small change you could make today that would free up time or reduce errors?

Because in the end, operational excellence isn’t about the flashiest tools. It’s about consistent, deliberate improvement.

Legal ops and business strategy are no longer separate worlds. They’re merging, and fast.

The firms and companies that get this are the ones leveraging legal analysis as a strategic asset. Not just a compliance checkbox.

Think about it. Every contract, every regulation, every legal decision is data. Valuable data. If you know how to interpret it, you can spot opportunities, mitigate risks, and even predict future challenges.

But most organizations still treat legal as a cost center, a necessary evil.

That’s a mistake.

Legal insights should inform your business decisions, not just follow them.

The question is: are you using legal data to drive your strategy? Or are you leaving money and opportunities on the table?

It’s time to rethink what legal can do for your growth.

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