Scale Like a CEO

Scaling with AI: Ajay Malik, CEO of Studio X, everyone is a manager of one

• Justin Reinert • Season 1 • Episode 40

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Stop treating skills as the finish line and start treating them as a starting point. That was the spark running through our talk with Ajay Malik, CEO of Studio X, who argues that AI turns every motivated person into a “manager of one.” When knowledge retrieval, drafting, coding, and analysis are augmented by capable models, the real differentiators become chemistry, curiosity, and the ability to ask sharper questions.

We dig into the most common AI pitfalls: inflated expectations that assume mind-reading superintelligence, and deep skepticism that underestimates present-day value. Ajay walks us through a middle path that wins—ship small, verifiable AI workflows that improve quotes, speed cycles, and raise quality. He explains why Studio X favors no-code YAML-based workflows instead of brittle, drag-and-drop UIs, making automation auditable, versionable, and easier to maintain across teams and environments. Along the way, we surface the operating habits that keep scaling companies aligned: repeat the strategy until it feels obvious, hold frequent one-on-ones, and reintroduce roles for the whole team whenever someone new joins.

Hiring looks different in an AI-first organization. Degrees and years matter less than trust, communication, and the courage to iterate. Ajay’s metaphor lands: people aren’t solo musicians anymore—they’re conductors, coordinating AI “sections” to produce better work, faster, while applying human judgment to close the last mile. And the job narrative is changing. Contrary to headlines, he’s seeing Fortune 500 clients hire more because AI raises productivity and expands demand, creating a flywheel that needs more people to implement, support, and serve.

If you’re a founder, operator, or team leader exploring AI adoption, this conversation offers a practical blueprint: build clarity through constant conversation, design workflows that pay back quickly, and hire for the questions people ask—not the tools they’ve memorized. Enjoy the episode, and if this resonated, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review to help others find it.

Ajay:

We will do this like I like we made a policy now more than a few years with that hey skill is no more differentiation because you can use AI. Everybody is a manager of one. Okay. So don't just say that, hey, I don't know this. You can always know this. You have the one of the best employees out there, the AI. Just get all the information. So, you know, I don't know this, I don't have experience in this, I have never done this. This is not my skill set. Those are the questions of the or those are the obsolete questions of the old world.

Speaker 00:

Welcome to Scale Like a CEO, where today's guest is Ajay Malik, CEO of Studio X. A seasoned tech executive with experience at industry giants, including Cisco, Motorola, HPE, Qualcomm, and Google. Ajay brings deep expertise to the conversation. Studio X has been pioneering AI solutions for over seven years, positioning them at the forefront of innovation.

Justin:

Ajay, thank you so much for joining me on Scale like a CEO. Just to get us started, if you wouldn't mind, give us a 90-second intro to you and your business.

Ajay:

All right. I have been working in the industry for quite a bit of time now. Okay. And I have worked for companies like Cisco, Motrola, HP, Qualcomm, Google, and then a current company, Studio X. We have been doing AI for over seven years before it was super hot. Okay. We have been blessed and enjoying the journey.

Justin:

That's great. Jay, what do you see as the biggest problem in your industry and how you're solving it?

Ajay:

Biggest problem. I would say, I don't know, biggest, but what I see is there are two things. Sometimes people come with an expectation that AI is not AI, it's super intelligence. And so they actually think that why it's not reading my mind, right? So that becomes a little bit challenging sometimes to support the expectations, right? And the other challenge is like there are still people who don't believe in AI. So they come from the other side that no, so you have to really convince them. I think these are the two challenges, but those are like, I would say, based on what I see, is like less than 15%. 85% are very open and want to make it happen. In the people who really want to make it happen, in the 85%, right? They sometimes they are thinking world hunger or like very big problems. So what happens is the projects become like too large to manage, right? So they are like, I want this and this and this, right? Rather than biting it into smaller chunks so that they can see the success and ROI. Those are, I would say, the problems in the industry.

Justin:

Okay, right. And you know, what makes you unique in the way that you're helping others?

Ajay:

I hope we are unique. You know, we only are unique as much as what we have seen out there. Okay. There are, I always believe there are people working and doing good and great things around the world all the time. Okay. So we what we have is we have a platform which can be deployed on-premise, okay, completely private lockdown models. And the other part is it can be we support no code workflows. So people can add amazing workflows, AI automation workflows. And our emphasis is not the UI-based typical widgets, and you put drag and drop because those become unreadable after some time if the workflows are complex and you know, then you need specialized skills. And the so the way we do it is kind of YAML files, like the way the CI CD world, the DevOps, the people who have done the workflows and how they use AI APIs. So we have built a platform to do no code workflows much more manageable and much easier to get up and running.

Justin:

Great. That's so great. So you've you know, you've been around, you've ran other companies successfully, and you stepped in as CEO at Studio X at the beginning of this year, is that right? Yes. Okay, great. So I'd love to hear a little bit about even if you know, if it's not Studio X or companies that you've been at before, you know, what are some of the challenges that you've had with growth and scaling when it comes to people, you know, as you continue to add people to the team, what are some challenges that you've worked through? Yes.

Ajay:

So we have been, as I said, this company has been around, and then I was CEO in the previous, and then we changed and like we spin it off at Studio X this year from January 1st. The challenge is always with the people, the number one challenge is are we on the same page? You know, making sure that everybody is on the same page and communicating enough, communicating often and staying aligned. And you know what? And if there is a course correct, communicating the course correct, and then handling the opinion differences and you know, keeping everybody on the same page aligned. That is the main challenge in any business, especially in software or anything.

Justin:

Yeah, that alignment is so key for helping to drive the organization forward, and it can be really challenging. I'm curious if you have any strategies that you found to be successful in creating alignment within an organization.

Ajay:

Talk a lot, chat a lot with all the people. You need to find out, you need to hear their mind, you need to hear them, you need to understand what they are talking about. And you know what? If you don't talk the whole year and then suddenly you go and asking something, you will never get an answer. So, what you need to do it is keep talking throughout the year all the time. You know, make time, spend time with people so that you have the pulse of the organization. It's not about doing a pulse survey every one year or every quarter. That's not alignment. What you have to do it is you have to be available and you have to talk to them so that they know you so much that they feel comfortable sharing their fears. Their fears about organization taking wrong decisions, their fears about future, their fears about themselves not performing, or their fears about AI or any other fear. People have to be comfortable sharing their fear. And once so you talk to them a lot, that is one of the best strategies, and try to do it a lot of one-on-ones, a lot of one-on-ones, you know, keep talking. And that's the only way to find out what people are actually really thinking, and you have to make effort for that.

Justin:

Yeah, there's two things that two key points in there that I think are so important. Number one is that keep talking. Something that I often say is when it comes to messaging your strategy and communicating to the organization, oftentimes leaders think I can say it once, they heard it, and I don't need to say it again. But if you don't, if you don't feel like a broken record, then you're not communicating it enough. So I think that's number one key. And the second that I heard is that if you only get feedback or talk to people once a year, they're not even going to give you the truth because you haven't built that relationship. And so that continuous feedback loop is so critical. I'd love to hear about as you add to the team. So that's another challenge is say you've got a team of 50 people, you know, it's easier to create alignment, but then as you continue to add to the team, sometimes it's challenging to maintain that alignment. So I'm curious how you approach growth as far as adding to the team.

Ajay:

Well, the solution is still again the communication, I will tell you. So when you bring somebody new, you have to make sure you revise and update, hey, what is everybody's role in the organization? They need to know. Okay, and it's difficult when you have the company is like 100, 130 people, right? Or even larger, it's difficult, but you have to communicate enough so that the person and the person who the person will interact, that person knows the role of everybody around, and the people whom you are introducing, you are reintroducing everybody's role to everybody all the time. This is what I role so that if there is a misalignment in your mind that hey, is this my job or this is this I'm supposed to do or not do? That becomes clear every time. So you hire a person X, and then this person X will interact with A, B, C, D, E. You communicate to X and A, B, C, D, E. These are the roles of all the people in this organization group. So that they all understand, oh, yeah, this is what I'm supposed to do. So I will do and interact with X in this way. That communication helps so that the person knows and be transparent, be clear, walk the walk. Okay, don't say like we will do this, like I like we made a policy now more than a few years, which that hey, skill is no more differentiation. Because you can use AI. Everybody is a manager of one, okay? So don't just say that, hey, I don't know this. You can always know this. You have the one of the best employees out there, the AI. Just get all the information. So, you know, I don't know this, I don't have experience in this, I have never done this. This is not my skill set. Those are the questions of the, or those are the obsolete questions of the old world. Okay? Now we have that. You everybody has that capability. Everybody, it's like, you know what? There was a time before Google search. Hey, where what's the nearest pizza shop? Okay, I don't know. Whatever I know, whatever I have seen on driving. No, you do Google search and now you find everything, whether location waste or whatever. And now you have AI, which goes one level further. It's no more just a location search. It's actually semantic. It understands and it gives you answer and it helps you with programming or coding or specs or politics or religion or whatever you want to know. So there is so it's no more like I don't know this. It's like that only means I don't know how to go to Chat GPT or Cloud or Red Rock. That's all it means. And if that's the issue, then we will help you with that.

Justin:

How to go to those websites. I like this idea of you know everyone being a manager of one because you've got AI at your disposal. And to your to your point, it is a great equalizer because everyone has access to so much information at their fingertips now through AI, through the different LLM models that are out there. And so learning how to use them effectively is so key. I'm hearing in that you're talking a bit about curiosity and a learning mindset being important. I'm curious if there are any other traits as you're adding to your team when you're hiring, what are some traits that you're looking for? Very good question.

Ajay:

So, what we are really looking for, I don't care about degrees. I do not care about the past experience. I do not care about I am 19 or 90. Doesn't matter. Nothing matters. These things do not matter. Okay? The only thing that matters in the team is when you interact with the person, hey, do we have chemistry? Do we think we can work together? Do you think you can work with me, work with these people? Do we think we can work with you? And we will be comfortable working together, okay? Because working together is because as everybody is a manager of one skill, it's not the issue. It's like, can we work together? Okay? It's no more that, hey, do you know how to make coffee or do you know how to write in JavaScript? It's not. It's no more. It's about, hey, am I comfortable asking you, hey, can you make coffee for me now? Or can are you comfortable asking me, can you make coffee for me now? And you know what? That if we can have that relationship, I think that's good enough. And if the person has like high desire that curious so that they can ask the AI right questions. Okay? Because asking right questions is important. You know, but I say is like these days it's not about you are no more like the uh musician playing violin or harmonium or guitar or drums. You are an orchestrator, you are the conductor. You use the AI to get things done. But to be a good conductor, you have to understand and ask the right thing so that they play the all the AI does what right work for you, and you can use it. And AI is not at a stage where it's like perfect. So you will have to use your own self to fix it, improve it, and create the right thing. So we are looking for somebody who can who is curious, who is happy, smiley, ready to work together, and is willing to ask the right questions, not afraid to ask questions and spend time and interact with the the one AI. So to get jobs done.

Justin:

Yeah, that's great. So, what does the future look like at Studio X? Future for whom? Like as a company or for people?

Ajay:

Yeah, as a company and for the people who are there. I think future is bright. I am very happy to be here. I'm very excited. We are adding, we have many companies who are Fortune 500 as our clients. Okay. We have we recently signed another company. Their GDP is like they manage assets, which is over a trillion dollar of assets. So we are blessed to find right customers, good, great customers, and I'm happy that they are trusting us. And for people, and I tell you, future-wise, as you you know what people always think AI will take jobs, and AI will, okay? Because AI does have that effect. However, what we are seeing and what we have seen with our customers, because they are using AI, we are using AI. So what has happened is we are able to do more, so we are actually doing more. So in fact, we are doing so much more because we have AI. Now we we are hiring more people because we need to support the need and demand. Okay? So it's like a very counterintuitive that because of AI, we are hiring more people because we need to add more people to support it, use it and to support customers. You know, one of our customers they used to get X number of quotes and information, and quotes were not good enough, or things like they their sales team will work with them and interact with them. And now the because of AI, the quotes are good enough. So now they have more business. So now their business is moving faster. So now they have to do more work, and so the work is increasing because of using AI. So your hiring is increasing. So I think for people, it's a good high growth opportunity. I think we're continuously hiring.

Justin:

So well, that's incredible. And you know, that that increased productivity begets then growth, right? The more productive we are, that means we can then continue to grow and continue to hire. Well, that's really great. Ajay, I've really enjoyed the conversation with you today. If folks want to get in touch with you, what's the best way to do so?

Ajay:

LinkedIn, LinkedIn, I'm active on LinkedIn, they can use it. I I can give you my link, you can share with the team. And of course, I have my own 30mint.com link. That's a booking link. I think I I I would love to if anybody has a question or they are like concerned about their own career or their own company, but they are like, hey, what should I do? What should I learn? Or where do I start? I'm here. We can we can talk and I can if I can give some guidance, I would love to.

Justin:

That's great.