Leadership: autonomy with clear direction

How a Former Startup Founder (Nancy Xu) is Building the Future of AI Agents at Salesforce Agent ForceJoin us for an insightful conversation with a Salesforce Agent Force leader who previously founded Moon Hub and holds a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford. In this episode, Nancy Xu reveals her unconventional hiring strategies, including asking candidates "what tabs are open in your Chrome browser," and shares why relentless curiosity is the top signal she looks for when building AI teams. Discover how she transitioned from startup founder to enterprise AI leader while maintaining a culture of trust and autonomy.Nancy Xu breaks down the future of work with AI agents, explaining how we'll all transition from "producers" to "directors" as agent orchestration becomes central to every role. Learn about Salesforce's trust layer for Agent Force, the importance of humans in the loop for iterative agent improvement, and why the next 100 years of AI development represents humanity's greatest opportunity since mapping the world. This conversation offers tactical hiring advice, leadership insights on managing impatience as a strength and weakness, and a compelling vision for how AI agents will transform customer experience roles.Key Topics Covered:Unconventional interview questions that reveal candidate curiosity and passion beyond traditional resumesThe three intangibles to look for when hiring: relentless curiosity, mastery of craft, and passionWhy future roles will focus on "what and why" rather than "how" as AI agents handle executionAgent orchestration frameworks including MCP and ATA for agents working with other agentsThe critical role of humans in the loop for continuously iterating agent objective functionsHow trust operates as the number one value at both Salesforce and startup environmentsLeadership philosophy of hiring great people and giving them autonomy within clear directionManaging impatience as both a greatest strength and weakness in leadershipThe blending of research, product, and engineering roles in AI-native companiesWhy this moment in history is humanity's chance to positively impact the course of civilization through AIEpisode Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction and unconventional hiring philosophy01:42 - The Chrome browser tabs question and looking beyond traditional resumes03:21 - Hiring for curiosity in a world where jobs will transform in two years05:15 - From producers to directors: The future of work with AI agents07:18 - Comparing culture at Salesforce Agent Force vs Moon Hub startup09:28 - Operating from trust: Lessons from Stanford PhD program on autonomy11:02 - Greatest weakness: Managing impatience as a founder turned enterprise leader13:14 - Advice for 21-year-olds: Pursue passion and blend across departments15:54 - Why now is the perfect moment in human history to work on AI17:10 - Closing thoughts on making positive impact through AI developmentAbout the Guest:This episode features Nancy Xu, a product and engineering leader on the Salesforce AgentForce team who previously founded Moon Hub, an AI-powered talent platform. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford and brings systems thinking and mathematical rigor to building enterprise AI agents. Her work focuses on agent orchestration, trust layers, and enabling humans to work alongside AI at scale.About Salesforce/Agentforce:Salesforce Agent Force is an enterprise AI agent platform that enables businesses to deploy autonomous agents across customer service, sales, and operations. Built with trust as the number one value, Agent Force includes enterprise-grade governance, security, and a trust layer that handles compliance at scale. The platform focuses on agent orchestration, allowing multiple agents to work together while keeping humans in the loop for strategic direction