How FTA Global is reshaping the future of workplace through a culture of ownership, agility, and Human + AI collaboration.
In this insightful interview, Senthil Kumar Hariram, Founder & MD of FTA Global, discusses how he’s building a high-impact, AI-augmented workplace where agility, autonomy, and innovation define success from day one.
In today’s fast-evolving digital ecosystem, where agility and innovation define success, Senthil Kumar Hariram, Founder & Managing Director of FTA Global, is redefining what it means to build a people-first, AI-powered organization from the ground up. With over 18 years of experience across SEO, digital marketing, and AI-led transformation, Senthil has combined technology and human potential to create a performance-driven culture rooted in ownership, learning, and collaboration.
In this exclusive conversation with Amazing Workplaces, Senthil shares how FTA Global’s “Human + AI” ethos shapes employee experiences from day one, the frameworks that keep a fast-growing startup aligned, and how new-age leaders can balance technology-driven efficiency with authentic human connection.
1. You’ve built FTA from the ground up in a few months – how have you shaped what the first employees experience on day one, and what would you like to improve?
Day Zero is about immersion, not orientation. New hires join their pod’s live client dashboards in Notion immediately, seeing how their role aligns with real-time outcomes. We emphasize three pillars: ownership (you’re embedded in client success from hour one), agility (no bureaucracy; just tools and autonomy), and Human+AI synergy (how tools like AICS amplify their impact). What I want to improve next: richer, role-specific learning paths and faster access to playbooks so people go from welcome to billable value even quicker.
2. Starting with Jarvis and AICS already in motion, how do you plan to introduce these tools to your founding team while ensuring they feel supported and confident using them?
Our approach is ‘crawl, walk, run’ with embedded support. We don’t mandate tool adoption overnight. We start by clearly articulating the ‘why’: how these tools augment their expertise (e.g., automating tedious tasks, surfacing insights faster) to free them for higher-value strategy, aligning with our Human+AI ethos. Founding team members pilot features in their core workflows with dedicated tech support. We run weekly ‘Tool Huddles’ for safe spaces to share struggles, hacks, and wins. Confidence comes from seeing tangible time savings or performance lifts and knowing they shaped the tool’s evolution through feedback.
3. How do you handle situations when there’s no clear guideline – what’s your go-to process for figuring things out together?
When the path isn’t obvious, we follow a simple, repeatable approach:
- Clarify the objective: start with the desired business outcome, not the task.
- First-principles & constraints: Strip the problem down to basics and list the constraints (time, budget, technology).
- Hypothesis & small experiment: design the smallest test that validates the hypothesis.
- Assign ownership + timeframe: one owner, clear deadline, expected output.
- Run, measure, learn: evaluate results and capture decisions in Notion.
- Document the playbook: if it worked, formalize a lightweight process; if not, log the learning and next step.
4. Walk us through a recent moment when your small team hit a snag – how was the issue surfaced and resolved?
Example Scenario: A key client’s campaign suddenly dipped below run rate.
- Surfacing: Our real-time Notion tracking flagged the anomaly immediately. The pod lead triggered an impromptu huddle within the hour.
- Resolution: The cross-functional pod (Analytics, Paid Media, Creative) diagnosed the issue collaboratively: a recent platform algorithm change combined with stale ad creative. Analytics quantified the impact, Paid Media proposed bid adjustments, and Creative rapidly prototyped fresh variants using insights from our Quant Model. We deployed changes within 24 hours, monitored closely, and restored performance within 3 days. The fix and learnings were documented in Notion for future reference. This highlighted the power of real-time visibility, cross-functional pods, and swift, aligned action.
5. What does success look like here – in a month or two – for someone stepping into the team now?
Success isn’t just task completion; it’s about impactful integration and ownership:
- Owns their pod contribution: They understand their specific levers within the pod and how they drive the client’s predefined conversion/KPI goals. They proactively flag risks/opportunities using our systems.
- Leverages the ecosystem: They confidently use core tools (Notion, Jarvis/AICS prototypes) and collaborate async within their pod and across functions.
- Embodies FTA culture: They demonstrate initiative, challenge constructively (no bureaucracy!), and contribute to a mindset-driven, creative environment.
- Delivers a measurable outcome: They can point to a specific task, test, or insight they owned that positively influenced a client metric or internal process within their first 60 days.
6. When someone takes on something completely new in a startup – say, sales or ops – how do you support their success in that role?
We support stretch roles through three pillars: structure, shadowing, and feedback.
- Structure: provide a clear 90-day plan and templates (pitch decks, discovery scripts, ops checklists).
- Shadowing & mentoring: pair them with an experienced teammate and schedule live shadow sessions for real calls and processes.
- Regular feedback: By-weekly syncs with the founder or pod lead for coaching, plus measurable KPIs to track progress.
This lets people grow into new functions quickly while keeping risk controlled for the business.
7. In a team this small, what practice have you put in place to keep everyone connected and aligned before hiring 50+ more?
We rely on lightweight rituals and shared systems that scale:
- Async-first updates: daily updates in Notion so everyone sees priorities and blockers without constant meetings.
- Weekly pod deep dives: short synchronous meetings to discuss performance, learnings, and priorities.
- Monthly all-hands: outcomes, wins, and a transparent roadmap review.
- Ritualized retrospectives: quick post-mortems after every campaign cycle to capture improvements.
- Buddy system & champions: every new hire gets a buddy; each function has a champion for tools and process.
As Senthil Kumar Hariram shapes FTA Global’s growth story, his approach reflects a new kind of workplace—one where technology amplifies human potential and innovation thrives through trust, ownership, and continuous learning. It’s a powerful reminder that the future of work will be built by people who adapt, collaborate, and create meaningful impact together.
