How to bring startup speed to big organizations

A startup founder joins a 10,000-person company to build AI from scratch and learns how to move fast without losing trust.

Moving fast inside a big company can feel impossible. You’re hired to shake things up - but if you move too quickly, you lose people. This episode dives into that tension. Atlassian’s Head of AI, Nisha Iyer, shares what happens when a startup founder joins a 10,000-person company and tries to build new AI products from the inside. She unpacks learning to slow down, earning trust, and building momentum the right way - without giving up the spark that made you effective in the first place.

Executives and operators will relate to the tension between urgency and patience - and take away ideas for leading change without burning out your team or losing trust.

• 00:00 — Moving fast meets resistance
• 04:00 — “Learn the business”: slowing down to speed up
• 09:00 — The big swing that fell flat — and the lesson in humility
• 17:00 — Piloting change and earning trust one team at a time
• 22:00 — Turning internal wins into customer-facing AI
• 26:00 — Balancing empathy, momentum, and trust
• 31:00 — Reducing fear, sparking excitement: leading through change
• 36:00 — What’s next: voice tech, connection, and being more human

Shoutouts:
The First 90 Days — https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612
Atlassian — https://www.atlassian.com
Rovo — https://www.atlassian.com/software/rovo

Follow Nisha Iyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nisha-ranjani-iyer/

Follow Keith Cowing: https://linkedin.com/in/keithcowing
Subscribe to Keith’s free coaching via email: https://kc.coach

Subscribe to the show:
YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/@kcowing
Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/1Bw7KhjlUzFjMoFhdfNAKN
Apple Podcasts — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/executives-unplugged/id1769131263