Designing agents to feel like teammates

Building Teams in the Age of AI: How Slack CMO Ryan Gavin is Reshaping the Future of Work

In this episode, Ryan Gavin, Chief Marketing Officer at Slack, reveals how self-awareness in leadership and the convergence of marketing and product strategy are creating unprecedented opportunities in the agentic era. Learn why employee productivity through AI orchestration is poised to become the fastest accelerator for top line business growth companies have ever seen, and how Slack is positioning itself as the conversational work platform for this transformation.

The conversation explores the critical shift from employees as doers to orchestrators, where every team member—from day-one interns to seasoned executives—will manage digital coworkers and AI agents. Discover the product principles driving Slack's approach to agent integration, the social dynamics of working alongside AI teammates, and why the traditional career ladder is being replaced by immediate access to capabilities across development, creative, analytics, and more. The discussion also covers practical frameworks for building exceptional teams, reducing AI adoption anxiety, and why picking the "right" career path matters less than crushing the job you're in.

Ryan delivers actionable insights on leadership development through self-awareness, understanding how team members receive feedback and recognition differently, and connecting business opportunities with talent growth. You'll also hear his compelling argument for why marketing must sit between product and sales as a strategic amplifier, not just a message distributor, and what marketers need to do to earn their seat at product strategy and sales planning meetings.

Key Topics Covered:

• Self-awareness as the foundation of effective leadership and team development
• Why marketing is product and product is marketing in modern B2B organizations
• The shift from doers to orchestrators in the age of AI agents and digital coworkers
• How every employee will manage AI teammates from day one across finance, HR, creative, and development
• Employee productivity as the most underutilized growth lever for businesses
• Slack's product principles for agent integration: don't make me think and be a great host
• Reducing AI adoption fear by showcasing capability expansion rather than job displacement
• Social dynamics of agent interaction in channels and preserving psychological safety
• Why there is no "right" career path and how to multiply opportunities by crushing your current role
• The changing consumer patterns of information seeking and their impact on business workflows

Episode Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction and setting the stage

02:16 - Knowing thyself: Ryan's journey to leadership self-awareness through family and life experience

05:19 - What makes an amazing marketer in 2026 and bridging the marketing-product divide

08:43 - From doers to orchestrators: how AI agents give every employee a team from day one

11:24 - Designing agents to work like teammates: Slack's approach to intuitive AI integration

14:55 - Addressing AI fear: why productivity gains lead to higher expectations rather than job loss

18:03 - Advice for the next generation entering an AI-transformed workforce

21:49 - Career lesson from delivering papers in 110-degree Chicago heat

24:30 - Final question: why Ryan does what he does and the importance of lasting market impact