FNDN

FNDN exists to empower startup success through strategic pay practices that drive growth and create clarity for your people.

We transform compensation into a clear, strategic advantage by ensuring fair, budget-aligned pay practices that drive your business's growth.

Director

Kindred Minds Advisory Board

An advisory group of HR/People leaders who are helping build the future of People tech. Learn more: kindredminds.com/

Advisor

Oyster®

Senior Director of People Experience

An expanded remit taking on responsibility for both people operations and employee experience of the end-of-end journey that all each professional undertakes in their employment with Oyster.

Director of People Experience

Leading the People Operations function for Oyster:
• Enabled Oysters scale from 200 to 700+ (across 70 countries) within 12 months
• Led establishment and roll-out of compensation philosophy through detailed communication campaign. 
• Led team in the construction of a global pay calculator - delivering an ability to benchmark any Oyster role across 140+ countries within minutes.
• Led pay transparency efforts in support of values. This included building our own compensation tool and launch to internal employees. Comprehensive reporting and enablement efforts on understanding philosophy and basis for mechanics of comp benchmarks.
• Development and rollout of Oysters job levelling framework to provide career paths to all and standardise roles and salaries internally and for candidates coming in to the business.
• Delivered implementation and rollout of a performance enablement platform based on a continuous feedback framework, providing an objective capability for progression and internal mobility.
• Led the growth and development of a globally distributed team of People Ops professionals, delivering an Operating Model to dedicate our team specifically towards service and project delivery.

Director of People Operations

Rheinmetall

• Responsibility for; Talent Acquisition, HR Business Partnership and Workforce Planning.
• Led national workforce planning, reporting and analysis in line with national capital projects and secondary defence contracts.
• Established and led the annual performance and compensation merit cycle. 
• Led team accreditation and adoption of Korn Ferry job evaluation methodology.
• Implemented market dataset in TA benchmarking and merit cycle process. Training talent acquisition, hiring managers and leaders broadly in compensation methodology and uptake.
• Led talent acquisition team in hiring ~250 people over 10 months, as well as key initiatives including the launch of RDA’s referral program.

SilverRail

Procured and implemented a global HR system (HiBob), replacing myriad expensive and non-integrative systems. This provided a single system for employee data, leave management, onboarding, performance, analytics and surveys across our global workforce.

Led development and implementation of a global job levelling framework across four global sites.

Procured and leveraged market benchmarking data for to enable offer benchmarking. Further utilised this dataset to establish market relativity and in developing and leading SilverRail's first global compensation cycle efforts.

Senior Director, People Operations (Boston, London, Brisbane)

Delivering a people agenda focused on creating a workforce of unrivalled growth in capability across initiatives such as; global job levelling, benefits and remuneration; talent identification and selection; organisational value and behaviours; leadership development; and, day-to-day stakeholder engagement across business and corporate executives.

People Operations Manager

Various Companies

Mid-Senior People Operations roles across tech, FMCG, legal and professional services industries.

Mid-Senior career roles

People | Tech | Community

I help startups know what to pay their people.

If you’re leading a People function, I’ve been where you’ve been.

I know you have a thousand things to do, and working out how to do compensation is just one of them.

I know this because my experience isn’t just compensation. I am a career People Operations expert — I just really like nailing comp strategy. 

When I establish and implement practices, I do so with the experience not just of a comp specialist, but someone who's been responsible for the manager conversations, the employee experience and the commercial wellbeing of my company — like you are for yours.

My experience spans small and large tech-scale ups. From seed startups in a small office, to multi-country, to hundreds of people fully remote and globally distributed across 70+ countries. I’ve supported companies that grew to acquisition and that achieved unicorn valuation.

I like to help scaling technology businesses get comp right and get it out of the way — so that you can be the commercial leader your company needs you to be.

My most recent experience was scaling the unicorn and hyper-growth company, Oyster.

Results:
• Oyster scaled from 200 people to 650+ across 70 countries, enabled by the precision and agility of our compensation strategies and operations.
• Underpinned by our compensation strategies Oyster ramped hiring to capture market share that achieved a 390% growth in revenue.
• Our global compensation strategy enabled us to scale and expand the company while achieving an average salary cost reduction of 23%, and maintaining a candidate closure rate of >80%.
• Established Oyster's inaugural pay equity review, closing identified gaps through role-based benchmarking and a newly implemented job level framework.
• Won an employer of choice award from the prestigious HR Transform awards.

Today I help Heads of People and Chief People Officers of scaling technology companies build and grow their company through their compensation strategy.

To work with me, reach out via my website www.fndn.com.au or send me an email at matt@fndn.com.au 

I have deep experience within the tech domain:
→ Global compensation strategies
→ Pay transparency strategy and rollout
→ Career frameworks and job levelling
→ Executive compensation
→ Pay reviews and pay equity audits
→ Salary benchmarking and market pricing
→ Sales compensation & incentive plans
→ Pay for performance

Matt McFarlane

I don't care who you are.

You're never important enough that people need an email to send you a connection request.

If I have to be spammed as soon as I accept a connection request from a random, so do you. 

It's called shared trauma. 

We're all in this together.

Building startup compensation practices 👉 Compensation Philosophy + Job levels + Salary bands.

The role of the People professional has never been more important, or more uncertain. 

Here to help make every people pro successful, is In Good Company. 

A community for People people that want insights into the conversations about culture, AI, leadership and the future of work — without the spin.

I'm stoked to be an ambassador of IGC, joining incredible leaders such as: Adam Weber, Jessica Z., Hebba Youssef, Angela R. Howard,Christine Song, Johannes Sundlo and many more.

I'd love to see you in there: https://lnkd.in/gbUWzCZu

Everyone says they want to be rich, but they're using outdated goals like 'I want to earn six figures'.

Not me.

I want to be the kind of rich where I can buy a *new* Aesop hand soap, instead of refilling that one I bought 12 months ago with cheap stuff.

That's true wealth.

I just got off a call with a Head of People, and they're dealing with something we've all faced, repeatedly. but often don't know how to solve.

The moment when a manager storms in, desperate to save their top performer, and the data shows they’re already sitting at the top of their salary band.
 
No room to move. No obvious lever to pull.
 
They've got a high-impact employee at risk...
... and you've got a framework you spent months building, which suddenly feels like the thing holding you back.
 
This is where People teams can often collapse into reactive decision-making:
– stretching bands to “just make it work",
– throwing cash at the problem without a strategy,
– or holding the line so tightly that you lose the very people your system was meant to retain.
 
But a top performer at band maximum isn’t the real problem.
 
It could be symptomatic:
– Of outdated bands,
– Of unclear levelling,
– Of weak promotion pathways,
– Or of a business case you haven’t articulated strongly enough.
 
And while managers will always push hard (“we can’t lose them”), you’re the one who has to defend fairness, avoid precedent, and keep your comp philosophy from crumbling under pressure.
 
It usually feels like a no-win scenario. Unless you reframe the problem.

Fortunately, there's a straightforward playbook for tackling everyone's most common problem, and there are ways to recognise and retain your best people without blowing up your structure or creating inequity.

And the timing couldn't be more perfect, because it just got published.
 
In this piece with comp platform Ravio, myself and Ekaterina Potter share a few of the ways to handle this challenge.
 
We give step-by-step guides, with practical examples and decision paths you can actually use.
 
And it's one worth saving, because if you've ever faced the “top performer at band maximum” dilemma, you know it's never a once off.
 
Grab the article here: https://lnkd.in/gtH-84md

And let me know below — how many times have *you* dealt with a high performer at the top of their band?

Ok LinkedIn friends, I have a relatively vain ask of each of you. 


I’m 100 people away from 20,000 followers, and I wanna see if I can hit it before I get back to Australia (on Saturday). 

But I’m not just going to ask for you to follow me (I'm not *that* vain).

Instead, I want to use this as an exercise for uncovering some of the best people to learn from on this platform.

The people you might miss because sometimes this platform isn't as great at uncovering them.

So, who are the 100 people you think I should connect with?

Let’s see if we can’t fill these comments with the best people, posting the best content on being a startup People professional.

I'm sure collectively we can unearth some amazing professionals and give them the recognition they deserve.

I’ll even kick things off with a few legends I adore following:
- Jessie Schofer - doing the lords work finding and sharing the best in the world of HR tech
- Luke O'Mahoney - leading the charge on people as a product with amazing content and events
- Melissa Theiss - some of the most pragmatic and commercial People content you can find
- Matt Bradburn - for everything at the intersection of people and AI
- Vanessa Monsequeira - चित्रलेखा - incredible leadership and org design and amazing build in public.

Now, just reply back with the 1 (or more) people you thoroughly enjoy (and why) and I’ll connect with them. 

Then by Saturday, if I’m at 20,000 people, I’ll be able to enjoy my jet lag just that little bit more easily. 

Thank you for your service.

LinkedIn is making it harder to find the best voices in HR. So I curated the most important list of people to follow if you're a HR professional.

I'm sure you're feeling it, too.

Every week I see only a limited, narrow segment of my full network.

And I feel like I'm losing the chance to learn from fresh names and faces, who are doing important work.

So I did something about it.

Last week I asked my network for help identifying the top 100 people I should connect with.

What happened next created a chain reaction of hundreds of the most important people to follow in the people profession.

My amazing network recommended the best people to learn from.

Then those same people recommended who they learn from.

It was a who's who of the best
- Thinkers
- Leaders, and
- Doers

All helping to lift the profile of our profession with their thought leadership.

They say you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

I believe the same can be said of the network you build around yourself.

Level ourself up and check out the full list here:
https://lnkd.in/gjwCCehP

Who's the most important person *you* learn from on LinkedIn?

2025 might be winding down, but on the FNDN Series, things are only heating up ﻿🔥
﻿
And we're closing out the year with powerhouse guest, Sarika Lamont. Chief People Officer at Vidyard.
 
We've got three incredible episodes, tackling three incredible topics.
 
This coming Sunday we'll be dropping episode 1, on everything to do with leading AI adoption from the People team.
 
(Fun fact, that's what Sarika is doing at Vidyard)
 
She shares a thing or two on the challenges facing people teams and how she's overcoming it.
 
For the final two episodes, we focus on my favourite theme: comp
 
In episode 2, we're covering how to personalise comp during a downturn. 

And how you can continue to make it meaningful and impactful despite a difficult business environment.
 
(Which might be particularly relevant given the bubble everyone thinks we're in...)
 
Then we hit a fun one in episode 3, with 'How to have the tough pay conversations'.

All three of them are bangers (promise).
 
First one is coming Sunday, and you can read, watch or listen (link below).

We’re in the most challenging era of salary progression of the last decade. And there's two compounding factors I see that are reducing how to grow your pay.

Pave has just published their 2026 Compensation Budgets & Trends Report, and it's a detailed snapshot of the market.

(grab the report here btw, well worth a read: https://lnkd.in/gnErrHN9)

But here's the two things that stood out to me:
 
1. Salary growth has stalled, with companies budgeting a pitiful 3.5% merit increase for 2026
 
2. Job hugging is growing, with turnover plummeting (especially in public companies) and people staying put for longer.
 
So why does this matter?
 
For those playing at home, a 3.5% increase on a $100k salary is $3,500...
... or $67 a week. 

*Before tax*
 
Not great for anyone who’s already absorbed record-high inflation. 

Prices may not be rising as fast, but they’re still elevated.
 
But sure, salary increases have sucked for a little while now, who cares?
 
Well I can tell you both from first-hand experience, and report data, the biggest pay increases you will get in your career will likely come from switching employers.
 
– The data shows an average 15% pay increase from switching companies,
– I've personally experienced closer to 30%.
 
That's anywhere from $11,500 to $26,500 you're leaving on the table by accepting your companies 3.5% pay increase.
 
And the gap compounds in years 2+
 
Which is why the rise in job hugging matters.

It represents the biggest impact to salary growth we’ve seen in years.
 
Now I'm not advocating for everyone to up and quit their job every 12 months.
 
But I am advocating for being clear-eyed about what’s driving this, and it's impact on you.
 
Job hugging is being driven by fear.

Months (years?) of high-profile layoffs and hiring freezes, have lead the majority of employees (55%) to state they're now prioritising job security over ambition.
 
And that creates a perfect storm:
 
We’re in a market where the two biggest levers for salary progression (annual increases and job mobility) are collapsing at the same time.
 
The result?
 
Professionals are experiencing the weakest real earnings progression in a decade, largely because fear is keeping them in roles where pay growth has flat-lined.
 
People aren’t earning more because the mechanisms that normally drive meaningful pay growth simply aren’t functioning.
 
Low salary budgets + risk-averse “job hugging” = stalled earnings.
 
So I'm not telling people to job hop.
 
But I am telling you the current environment is structurally stacked against your salary growth.

And you need to understand the forces at play so you can act deliberately, not passively.
 
Because staying put and hoping for a better pay increase isn’t a great strategy.

Not in this market. And probably not for a long while.

One of the biggest unlocks of my entire career has been the mantra 'ask and you shall receive'. Here's what I mean and how it worked for me just last week.

There's a famous quote I love, that is a little cliched, but perfectly sums up my approach to life.

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" 

So many people let the fear of rejection prevent them from ever asking someone for something.

And they reject themselves from the opportunity before anyone else is given the chance.

But asking for something has been the biggest unlock for my entire career:

- Can you help me with this
- Can I get involved in this
- Can I do this piece of work

Whatever it was, 'simply asking' can be the biggest hurdle between yourself and opportunity.

Here's an example that worked for me even just last week.

I was at 19,900 followers on LinkedIn. I wanted to be at 20,000.

I asked my network for help recommending 100 people I should connect with that would help me get there.

A few hours and 100+ comments later, a post curated with some of the most amazing people that I and others could follow was generated.

So ask the question.

Don't let the fear of rejection reject you before someone else can.

Because even if they do, you're no worse off after the ask than you were before it.

What's one thing you've been wanting to ask for that you've been putting off?

I get it, you're tired. But if there is one thing that is the most tiring part of being a Head of People, it's headcount planning.

Luckily for you - this weeks guest author on the FNDN Series is Melissa Theiss. 

A 4x Head of People that drops some of the most sage wisdom on being a commercial people leader getting around.

And this week's article (you guessed it): 'How to Build a Headcount Plan That Actually Works.'

Melissa shares a straight-forward 3-step process for taking the most stressful part of the year, and turning it into a process that works for you (and the business).

So hop on over to the FNDN Series newsletter and subscribe to get this article and many more nuggets of wisdom, straight to your inbox 📫

Despite the feeling, AI isn’t a threat to HR. It’s an opportunity to grow your responsibility (and yourself).
 
Most Heads of People are scared to say it out loud, but when I speak to them, their fear is real.
 
- Fear of being replaced.
- Fear of stuffing it up.
- Fear of one more responsibility dumped on an already overloaded team.
- Fear of not being “technical enough”.
 
But AI is already reshaping the People function. And it will do it whether we lead that charge or ignore it.
 
The fastest-moving leaders I’m speaking with aren’t waiting for permission.
Instead, they're claiming AI as a lever for culture, productivity and influence.
 
Not a risk to be managed, but a mandate to lead.
 
And the shift is simple: Instead of seeing AI as a tech project, view it as a people project (because it is).
 
It's a shift in mindset, a focus on adoption, and a need for behaviour change.
 
This and more came out clearly from my recent interview with Sarika.
 
In the latest FNDN Series interview, Sarika Lamont (CPO at Vidyard) shares how she not only placed AI squarely within the People remit, but why it worked.
 
And the outcome every HR leader (and Founder/CEO) wants?
 
She was able to avoid an entire People Ops Coordinator hire because automation reduced a full workload of admin.
 
These outcomes weren't just theoretical, and not just "future state". This was a present day impact.
 
That’s what leaning in (not stepping back) can look like.
 
In the latest episode, Sarika even goes into detail on how the hurdle to getting started isn't as high as everyone worries.
 
Don't be intimidated by starting with “transformation”.
 
You can start with something as simple as a low-stakes workflow:
Employment letters,
Policy retrieval,
Pre-boarding.
 
You just need one experiment that proves the point.
 
If you want the playbook for leading this shift, this episode is it.
 
The latest episode of the FNDN Series is live now, and Sarika dives deep into how she's taking AI by the reins and seeing real benefits at Vidyard.
 
Jump into it in the comments.

“Employer of choice” awards can unfortunately have a bit of a credibility problem.
 
Too many rely on opaque scoring or pay-to-play models.

The result is predictable: companies buy an accolade instead of building a workplace worth celebrating.
 
What cut through for me with Inspiring Workplaces was the opposite dynamic.
 
The process is transparent.
The bar is clear.
 
And my favourite part 👉 the award recognises progress over perfection. 

Organisations doing the work to build better workplaces, not just the ones polishing a submission.
 
It’s also why I agreed to join the judging panel for the 2026 awards.
 
And not just me. My co-judges are even more incredible. People like Nicole Karagiannis GAICD, Melanie Cole, Charlotte Anderson and Alex Pusenjak (and many more)
 
A who's who of those who have been in the trenches, pushing for the same people-first outcomes.
 
So if you’re a Head of People, ask yourself: what's that one thing you've delivered this year that deserves recognition? The thing that others could benefit from, even if it's not perfect.
 
PS: Early-bird pricing runs until 5 December. So jump online and get involved.

A guilty pleasure of mine when travelling is checking the internet speed wherever I go. Here’s the speed everywhere I went in Europe over 5 weeks. 

- Madrid Airbnb: 92 down, 50 up (bad start)
- Malaga Airbnb: 487 down, 450 up (😍)
- Malaga airport: 25 down. 17 up (tragic)
- València Airbnb: 287 down. 184 up. 
- Lisbon Airbnb: 519 down. 372 up (hello)
- Lisbon to Porto train: 9 down. 4 up (🤮)
- Porto Airbnb: 38 down. 8 up. 🙈
- Porto Airbnb 2.0 (didn’t like the other one): 737 down. 371 up (🔥🔥🔥)
- Turin Airbnb: 327 down. 155 up. 
- Lucca Airbnb: 67 down. 55 up (😞)
- Cagliari Airbnb: 83 down. 20 up. 
- Rome hotel: 368 down. 129 up (acceptable)

What’s the weird thing you do when you’re in the vacuum of holiday travel?

I know a lot of Australian People teams are grappling with how to improve the way they do work. If you're looking to implement Product-led thinking into your people practices, I can't think of anyone better to help you than Megan.

🐝 | UXer turned PXer | Speaker, Coach & Facilitator | Empowering leaders to unlock team performance through HCD

Years ago, when I was still in UX, I kept talking about wanting to work in teams that felt like intellectual beehives. 

🐝 I come alive when I’m working with collaborative, innovative and adaptive teams who are working towards something bigger than themselves.

If you've followed my journey as a UXer turned PXer, you know I've spent years advocating for people functions to adopt product-led, human-centred approaches. 

Before moving back to Australia, I told a friend about my dream of setting up a business to help founders and people leaders design organisations where people could do the best work of their lives.

 ➡️ 💬 He replied “Sounds like you’re a pollinator of design thinking”...

In the last two months I've been running my own discovery & design phases to get PollinateXD off the ground.

Now, what I'm working on is:
 • Sharing insights and ideas on how to design impactful & human-centred people experiences
 • Partnering with founders and leadership teams to build high-performing organisations
 • Coaching people leaders to build their confidence in moving beyond traditional approaches

I've got capacity for a few projects and coaching clients in the new year, so for those who have asked how you can help, I'd say:

♻️ Engage with posts that resonate. 
Likes, comments, shares - they help build community

📬 Subscribe to the collaborative newsletter I'm writing with Mark Lewis from Crewmojo. 
Every other Sunday, you'll get practical insights on how to adopt a truly people-centred approach to performance. (Link in comments)

☎️ Get in touch if you or someone you know is wrestling with adopting a truly PX approach to building organisational performance. 

and a MASSIVE thank you to my wonderful community across the globe for all your support so far!

Moving home, getting married and starting a business all in one year has been no small feat. But it's been nourishing for the soul and I'm excited for what's to come.

#PeopleExperience #OrganisationalDevelopment #CultureDesign #HumanCentredDesign #Leadership

I am the Founder of PxAI, a modern People Operations consultancy that helps startups, scaleups, and PE-backed companies grow with simple, stage-appropriate solutions to complex scaling problems using my knowledge and AI to improve people ops outcomes, impact and workflows.

I have over 10 years of experience in the recruitment and technology industries, specialising in designing and implementing Talent and People Ops strategies for startups across the UK, Europe, and the USA.

My mission is to help businesses put in place the fundamental people frameworks early on, and to break down the employee journey into modules that suit their needs and goals, whether they are at Seed or Series A/B/C.

Matt Bradburn

Most senior HR leaders I talk to want the CHRO role.
Almost none of them will get there.

Not because they aren’t talented.

But because they are optimising for the wrong things.

I’ve spent the last decade working with people leaders of all levels and capabilities.

I’ve learned that the gap between an HR Director who gets stuck and a top CHRO isn’t about doing more HR.

It is about doing different work entirely. It’s why so many CHROs are coming in from different functions.

If you are stuck at Director level, here is likely why:

1. You’re building processes, not systems.
Directors perfect the performance review cycle. CHROs ask how that cycle connects to the talent pipeline, comp strategy, and operational risk.

The Shift: Stop obsessing over individual workflows. Start mapping how five broken processes create £200k of "People Debt" that will block your next funding round.

2. You don’t speak the language of the business and execs.
If you can’t read a P&L, you can’t do this job. 41% of sitting CHROs say business acumen is the biggest gap in hiring senior talent.

The Shift: Stop presenting engagement scores. Start translating retention into ROI and explaining how a £60k hire impacts unit economics. If the CFO isn't asking you follow-up questions, you aren't speaking their language yet.

3. You’re scared of the data.
Boards don’t want dashboards. They want diagnosis, prognosis, and prescription.

The Shift: Move from "Attrition is up 5%" to "Attrition in our top tier is costing us £340k annually. Here is the three-lever plan to fix it."

4. You underestimate the politics.
A Director told me recently: "I thought I'd spend 80% of my time on strategy. I spend 60% navigating relationships." You have to influence without authority and deliver hard truths without burning bridges.

The Shift: Treat every stakeholder conversation as practice for board-level influence. Get comfortable being the person who says the uncomfortable thing in the room.

5. You lack executive presence (and no one has told you).
This is the brutal one. 78% of leaders believe weak presence is the primary career blocker. It’s not about being loud; it’s about whether people believe you when you say something will get done.

The Shift: Watch the CHROs you admire. Notice how they frame problems, how they handle silence, and how they take up space. Then, get a coach who will be honest with you.

If you do want it?

Stop spending 80% of your time being great at operational HR.

Start spending 50% of your time learning to think like a business leader who happens to have deep HR expertise.

That is the actual job.

Founder @ PeopleXai | AI education, enablement and automation for scaling teams

🔥 What happens in the pub doesn't need to stay in the pub...

Recently, I started chatting with a lovely guy, James Keo, in my local... 

He is a semi-retired software engineer, who has been out of the game a long time, but super interested in business, ai and automations.

Then we got overheard by a couple of local business owners. Then sold two projects.

Now we have a full on side hustle, which could become a main hustle... lets see 💪

If not clear by my posts on here already, I'm obsessed with how processes can be improved in people ops with automation - pulling systems together to reduce manual burden.

Now i'm going to work with James to expand beyond this into other fields - finance, sales, marketing, ops.

So if you know a small business owner, or team, drowning in admin... send them our way!

And yes - the entire site was built, in the pub, over a couple of glasses of red using Lovable, Supabase, and MCP connections to Notion and n8n

https://lnkd.in/e8-sVEUW

Most progression frameworks in your company were written for a world that no longer exists.

They were built for
⏳ years of experience
📈 scope of ownership
🧱 manual execution and process mastery

They were not built for a world where a mid level manager can automate 3-6 hours of work a week with AI, and your best people are quietly redesigning their jobs around it…

You now have four types of ability in every function.

1️⃣ Unacceptable
Avoid AI. Create manual bottlenecks. Still doing copy paste work that could be automated.

2️⃣ Capable
Use AI for basic productivity. Drafts, summaries, quick automation. Checks the output before using it.

3️⃣ Adaptive
Redesigns their own workflows. Builds small automations. Coaches others. Starts measuring impact.

4️⃣ Transformative
Redesigns whole processes around AI. Treats AI like infrastructure. Moves company level metrics, not just their own to do list.

This is true in Engineering, Product, Support, People and Marketing. The behaviours look different in each, but the levels are the same.

Here is what I am seeing work with clients:

🔹 Make AI capability explicit in your levelling.
Not “uses AI tools”. Things like

“Redesigns team workflows so manual work drops 30% and quality improves”

🔹 Rebuild talent mapping around AI.
Plot every role against both seniority and AI capability. Then what level of automation or agent in the next 12 months.

You will spot: senior leaders who have opted out, and junior people who are quietly Transformative.

🔹 Hard wire this into hiring and performance.
Score AI behaviours in interviews.

Ask in reviews: “Show me where you used AI to multiply your output this quarter.”

I have put this into a 14 slide deck on Rewriting Progression For The AI Era that walks through:

The AI capability ladder by function
Concrete behaviours at each level
A 0–90 day roadmap to retrofit AI into your current framework

Curious: where is your org today on this ladder, if you are honest, Unacceptable, Capable, Adaptive or Transformative? 👇

Rewriting progression and levelling for AI

👇90% of automation pilots and projects fail. Below I share just why…

Not because the tech isn't ready. 

Not because n8n or Zapier are too hard to learn.

But because we dive into the tech first

Then because we ask the wrong question.

We look at a shiny new AI tool and ask: "What can I automate?"

It feels productive. It feels like innovation. But usually, it’s just "Solutionizing" building complex Rube Goldberg machines that save 5 minutes a week but take 10 hours to maintain.

If you want to actually move the needle, you have to think like someone who works there or uses the process. The question isn’t what can be built.

The question is: "Where is the business bleeding through waste?"

I’ve turned my internal Strategic Automation Audit into this slide deck. It’s the exact diagnostic process I use before I ever touch a workflow builder.

It forces you to stop acting like a tinkerer and start acting like a COO.

👇 The framework breaks down like this:

🛑 Stop "Swiss Cheese" Processes
Your manual workflows are full of holes. Missed emails, single points of failure, tribal knowledge. Usually, one hole is fine. But when the holes align (and they will), you get a disaster. Automation isn't just about speed; it's about plugging the holes that cause £100k mistakes.  

⏱️ The 6T Framework
Before building, score the process against 6 variables: Task, Time, Team, Tools, Tolerance, and Trust. If a task scores a '1' on repeatability (totally unique every time), AI isn't going to fix it, it’s just going to hallucinate at scale.  Which is rubbish.

💰 Real ROI (Not "Vibes")
"It saves me frustration" is not a business case. You need to calculate the True Cost: Direct time + Error cost + Opportunity cost + Scaling cost. If the math doesn't show a 14-day payback period or massive risk reduction, don't build it.  

🏗️ The Priority Matrix
Most people start with "High Effort, Low Impact" projects because they look cool. That’s the "Money Pit" quadrant. You need to relentlessly focus on "Quick Wins" (Low Effort, High Impact) to get buy-in, then move to "Strategic Bets".  

We need to start building them because manual processes are an operational liability.

Grab the full breakdown in the carousel below.

P.S. Which quadrant are you currently stuck in? The "Quick Wins" or the "Money Pits"? 📉

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The Battle

Matt McFarlane

Matt Bradburn

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Performance ScoreMatt McFarlane's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMatt Bradburn's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Matt McFarlane

Matt Bradburn

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Matt McFarlane's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMatt Bradburn's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMatt McFarlane's LinkedIn Performance