Zapier’s Brad Smith on AI, Automation, and Why People Still Come First
Zapier’s Brad Smith on AI, Automation, and Why People Still Come First
The Nue Team
Description
In this episode of The Lift, Brad Smith, Zapier’s Head of Solution Architecture, shares the leadership principles he uses to guide his team in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.
His philosophy combines a deep appreciation for automation and AI with the belief that trust, curiosity, and connection are still the most valuable assets a leader can cultivate.
Brad dives into how Zapier approaches hiring, starting with the belief that you can teach tools and processes but not integrity, empathy, or curiosity.
One of Zapier’s most distinctive interview steps is the “no-guardrails” challenge, where candidates are asked to build a Zap without instructions or a “right” answer.
This exercise reveals how applicants approach ambiguity, engage with the product, and problem-solve independently — skills that mirror the work they’ll do if hired.
The conversation also explores how Brad builds trust in a fully remote environment. Without hallway conversations or chance encounters, he focuses on intentional connection.
Transcription
Mark Evans : Hey, it's Mark Evans. Welcome to the Lift where we dive into how the best operators are shaping the future of go to market and revenue operations. James MacArthur and I are joined by Brad Smith, head of Solution Architecture at Zapier.
Where he is helping thousands of businesses simplify workflows and tap into the next era of automation and AI. Before we dive in, here's a quick snapshot of what Zapier is up to. They're growing fast from about $310 million in revenue in 2024 to a projected $400 million in 2025 with a user base north of three million, and that growth is being fueled by a shift into a more module, AI first pricing model and expansion into the enterprise market. And they're deep into an AI first transformation with tools like AI workflows, chatbots, AgTech AI, and an astonishing 89% of employees adoption rate for AI tools.
Welcome to the podcast, Brad.
Thanks for having me, Mark James. Excited to be here.
I'm extremely excited because Brad, you and I have been friends for almost a decade at this point, and it's been great. So I'm really excited to have you here. because I know you've recently, you've made the switch over to Zapier.
You're building all sorts of cool stuff. For those that don't know Brad, and I don't know how in this world you wouldn't know Brad. Brad is one of the founders of a wonderful company called Sonar Now a Roy, and he is just a genius, gentle, amazing man who is here to help everyone everywhere. So I'm going to start off with an easy question, which is what have you done recently that you really love and why'd you
Brad Smith: What have I done recently that I really love? I'm going to start more on a personal note. It was hanging out with you in New York a few weekends ago celebrating our good friend Keith. I'd be remiss if I didn't at least start there on the friendship side.
And I will take a small side step. You mentioned this, but I'm going to double down on it. Yeah, we've been friends for over a decade, and I love that we started there. We've been RevOps folks together, hanging out building solutions, or we've been partners in previous worlds. I think it goes too far understated at times.
The level of friendship that we truly get to build in this world. I'm going to go off into some like agentic world here in a second, where we're all going to be robots and that might not exist in the future, but I think it is really important. The roads that you and I have been down both with.