Nobody’s Done This Job Before

In hypergrowth, process can either sharpen the engine or smother the innovation that got you there. Dr. Serena Huang sits down with Roopesh Panchasra, SVP of Global Talent Acquisition at NScale, and Iris Hermelin, Chief People Officer at WEKA, to unpack how they are thinking about hiring and building culture at companies growing explosively fast. They talk about adding interview rigor without slowing down, why they hire for potential over pedigree, and how AI is reshaping recruiting on both sides of the table. *Timestamps* (0:00) Intro (0:30) Meet Iris and Roopesh (2:15) NScale's growth to 1,000 people (4:42) What makes a good day in people operations (6:50) Adding rigor without killing innovation (9:05) Using data to test hiring assumptions (11:07) Defining organizational health (16:46) Keeping culture alive at scale (19:48) Screening for empathy and values (22:39) Hiring for potential vs. pedigree (29:37) How AI is reshaping recruiting (33:04) The fake applicant problem (35:35) Hiring in the current market *Links* Connect with Serena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serenahhuangphd/ Connect with Roopesh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roopesh/ Connect with Iris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irishermelin/