Host Leah Cottham sits down with Nadia Vatalidis, Head of People at Doist, to explore the critical strategies for scaling remote organizations from 70 to 1000 people across 40 countries. Nadia brings extensive experience from GitLab and Remote, sharing practical insights on organizational design, performance systems, and the evolving nature of work in the AI era.

The conversation covers essential frameworks for building flexible organizational structures that adapt during hyper growth phases. Nadia explains how companies can maintain transparency and accountability without becoming overly rigid, emphasizing the importance of continuous iteration in processes like onboarding, documentation, and communication systems. She shares specific examples from Doist’s open source career framework and their innovative approach to performance evaluation that ensures equity across all roles and locations.

Key topics covered:

[00:00] Intro

[03:40] Strategic scaling from 70 to 1000 people

[07:50] What breaks structurally before culturally

[10:20] Iterating onboarding every two weeks

[14:30] Building for the people you work with

[18:10] Defining high performance in distributed companies

[20:40] Adaptability versus technical skills development

[25:00] Bringing authentic self to work boundaries

[28:15] Leadership accountability in tool implementation

[33:50] Creating clarity without rigid job descriptions

[39:15] Regular feedback culture over performance cycles

[42:35] Highly leveraged specialists in the AI era

[46:00] Embracing paradox with AI adoption

[51:35] Performance evaluation evolution with AI integration

[55:35] Never starting with perfect when scaling globally

This episode provides actionable guidance for people leaders navigating the complexities of distributed team management and preparing for the future of work where AI and automation reshape traditional job descriptions and performance expectations.