Summary

On this episode of The WorkOps Podcast, host Jeet Mukergi sits down with Natasha Valani, Chief People Officer at Tubi, the number one free ad-supported streaming service in the US. Natasha shares how her people team built a live calibration tool in Replit in just two days, connecting it back to Workday and saving roughly two weeks during year end review season. The conversation goes well beyond one tool: Natasha unpacks how she hires for high agency and low ego, why subtraction is her favorite leadership discipline, and how she sees junior and people roles evolving as AI takes on more of the routine work. It's a practical, candid look at running a lean, builder-minded HR function, ideal for people leaders, HR practitioners, and anyone rethinking how their team operates in the AI age.

Chapters

0:45 Welcome and Natasha's story

1:45 From 26 schools to belonging and the people space

3:45 Building a culture where everyone builds

6:45 Hiring for high agency and low ego

9:45 The year end calibration problem

10:45 The two day tool built in Replit

15:45 Why build instead of buy

19:45 Trade-offs and the power of subtraction

21:45 The honest gap, headcount management

26:45 The future of junior roles in the AI age

Takeaways

-You don't need a vendor RFP to solve an HR problem. Someone who knows the guts of the process built a live calibration tool in Replit in two days and connected it to Workday, saving roughly two weeks.

-High agency is the differentiator in the AI age. Natasha screens for it with one question: tell me about a time you built a solution nobody asked you to.

-Pair high agency with low ego. Stay curious and ask questions, but don't assume nothing good existed before you.

-Subtraction is a strategy. Force-rank priorities, openly showcase what you removed, and protect your team's bandwidth by refusing to do everything.

-Junior roles won't disappear, they'll shift. The people closest to the guts of a workflow become operational advisors and orchestrators, and AI still needs a human eye to catch the slop.

Connect with the Guest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-valani-1758a418/

Website: https://tubitv.com

Sponsor
This episode is brought to you by Kinfolk, the AI service desk built for HR.

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