280 - Being Async-First, Building an AI Ops Squad, & the “Embarrassing V1 Method”: Chase Warrington (Doist)
Fri Feb 06 2026
Chase Warrington, Head of Operations at Doist, joined us on The Modern People Leader to break down how async-first work enables faster decision-making, stronger culture, and scalable operations. We talked about building trust without offices, the systems and rituals behind Doist’s execution velocity, and why async workflows are foundational to effective AI adoption.
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Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode280
Sponsor Links:
🔗 Try AskChartHop at ChartHop.com/AI
🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl
🔗 Go deeper on Viva's AI Journey in Roundtable with Jani (only 10 seats)
MPL Links:
🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build.
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(07:30) Chase’s Origin Story
(11:15) What Doist Does: Productivity Tools, Todoist, and Async-First Principles
(14:45) Why Async Work Changes How Leaders Think, Decide, and Scale
(17:28) Independent Decision-Making as a Non-Negotiable at Doist
(20:44) The Doist Operating System: Squads, Quarterly Cycles, and Decision Frameworks
(23:17) Rituals That Power Execution: Async Standups, Demos, Retros, and Dashboards
(26:30) Communication as Infrastructure: Async Guidelines, Transparency, and Trust
(30:45) How Async Enables Better AI Adoption and an Organizational “Brain”
(33:44) Inside Doist’s AI Ops Squad: Redesigning Planning, Search, and Workflows with AI
(38:17) Vibe Coding, Non-Engineers, and the Rise of AI-Enabled Builders
(47:22) Partnering with Head of People Nadia Vatalidis and Scaling People Systems
(53:30) The Biggest Misconception About Remote and Async Culture
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Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.
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Chase Warrington, Head of Operations at Doist, joined us on The Modern People Leader to break down how async-first work enables faster decision-making, stronger culture, and scalable operations. We talked about building trust without offices, the systems and rituals behind Doist’s execution velocity, and why async workflows are foundational to effective AI adoption. ---- Downloadable PDF with top takeaways: https://modernpeopleleader.kit.com/episode280 Sponsor Links: 🔗 Try AskChartHop at ChartHop.com/AI 🔗 Learn more about Tilt at hellotilt.com/mpl 🔗 Go deeper on Viva's AI Journey in Roundtable with Jani (only 10 seats) MPL Links: 🔗 Go sign up for MPL Build. ---- (07:30) Chase’s Origin Story (11:15) What Doist Does: Productivity Tools, Todoist, and Async-First Principles (14:45) Why Async Work Changes How Leaders Think, Decide, and Scale (17:28) Independent Decision-Making as a Non-Negotiable at Doist (20:44) The Doist Operating System: Squads, Quarterly Cycles, and Decision Frameworks (23:17) Rituals That Power Execution: Async Standups, Demos, Retros, and Dashboards (26:30) Communication as Infrastructure: Async Guidelines, Transparency, and Trust (30:45) How Async Enables Better AI Adoption and an Organizational “Brain” (33:44) Inside Doist’s AI Ops Squad: Redesigning Planning, Search, and Workflows with AI (38:17) Vibe Coding, Non-Engineers, and the Rise of AI-Enabled Builders (47:22) Partnering with Head of People Nadia Vatalidis and Scaling People Systems (53:30) The Biggest Misconception About Remote and Async Culture ---- 📬 Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get episode recaps 💡 Follow The Modern People Leader on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Daniel Huerta on LinkedIn 😊 Follow Stephen Huerta on LinkedIn ---- Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more.