#124 - Satu Salminen on Building AI Workflows: Lessons from an Early Pioneer

What does AI transformation actually look like once it moves past experimentation and becomes part of how a company works every day? 

Satu Salminen has been building with AI since the early ChatGPT days, and for the past year she's led AI transformation for HR at ZoomInfo, making her one of the earliest pioneers in the space. 

In this practical conversation, Satu walks through her journey from building a simple manager feedback coach to designing full end-to-end HR workflows. She shares how she identifies use cases worth investing in, why documentation and workflow design matter more than the technology itself, and how bringing legal and HR into the process early saves you from costly rebuilds. 

Satu also gets into the human side of adoption, explaining why critical thinking and systems thinking are the skills that matter most, why you can't outsource accountability to AI, and how ZoomInfo reached nearly 100% daily AI adoption across the company. Her advice for leaders is refreshingly direct: don't wait. 

If you're trying to understand what real AI transformation looks like inside a company, this conversation gives you a practical place to start.