What it really takes to build fast, without breaking

Fast growth has always carried risk. The difference now is that founders have access to tools that dramatically reduce the cost and time required to build. The question is no longer whether you can move quickly. It is whether you can do so without damaging your culture, judgement, or long-term prospects.

This conversation brought together leaders who have scaled businesses across tech, fintech, marketing and venture: The focus was not hype. It was the practical tension between speed and sustainability. Artificial intelligence is reshaping how teams grow, how funding is raised, and how decisions are made. But it does not remove the need for leadership.

Dom McGregor, Founder, Fearless Adventures
Sam Pearton, Chief Marketing Officer, Polyhedra Network
Boris Diakonov, Co Founder, ANNA
Jo Dalton, Founder, JD&Co
Sabrina Stocker, Founder, Two Comma PR

AI changes the cost of growth

One of the clearest shifts is economic. A decade ago, building a credible tech product required serious capital and a growing team from the outset. Today, founders can move from zero to product with a fraction of the resources.

AI tools, automation platforms and low-code builders allow small teams to achieve what once required dozens of hires. Entire workflows can be streamlined. Marketing execution, coding, customer service, and internal operations can be accelerated dramatically.

The strategic implication is significant. Hiring is no longer the default lever for growth. The first question becomes: does this role need to exist at all? Can it be automated? Can it be augmented? Or can expertise be brought in fractionally rather than permanently?

That shift rewards discipline. It also demands restraint.

Fewer hires, higher standards

In a market where automation reduces entry-level demand, every hire carries more weight. Leaders spoke candidly about the importance of understanding a team member’s potential, not just their current capability.

High-growth environments are dynamic. Roles evolve quickly. Someone who excels in the early stage may not thrive as complexity increases. Equally, individuals who appear slightly ahead of the curve can unlock disproportionate value if given the right runway.

This is not about disposability. It is about realism. Leaders must continuously raise the bar while investing in those with long-term upside. Hiring slowly and embedding carefully has rarely been more important.

The companies that scale well tend to be deliberate about who enters the room. Culture, capability and trajectory matter more than volume.

AI is leverage, not leadership

A recurring point was that AI can scale processes, but it cannot scale judgement. Automating interactions, writing code faster, or producing content at speed does not eliminate the need for vision.

Those who manage AI effectively tend to be deeply competent in their domain. A skilled marketer will extract better results from AI than someone without context. A seasoned engineer will review AI-generated code more effectively than a novice.

In other words, AI amplifies expertise. It does not replace it.

This matters for founders. Relying on automation without strong leadership oversight introduces risk. The goal is not to sprinkle AI across a business and expect explosive growth. It is to remove friction so that leaders can focus on product, customers and opportunity.

Zero to one has never been easier

For early-stage founders, the most profound shift is at the starting line. Moving from idea to prototype has never been more accessible. Tools that generate apps, websites and workflows from simple prompts reduce technical barriers dramatically.

This democratisation changes fundraising dynamics. Rather than raising capital to prove an idea, founders can now prove the idea first. Investors increasingly expect traction, working prototypes and evidence before deploying capital.

That transition favours builders. Founders who are willing to experiment, iterate and get hands-on with emerging tools can test ideas rapidly before committing to scale.

However, speed at the beginning does not remove the need for focus. More shots at the dartboard can improve odds, but conviction remains essential. Building something meaningful still requires belief, stamina and resilience.

Human skills still determine outcomes

As automation expands, the premium on human judgement increases. Knowledge is abundant. Wisdom is scarce.

Founders are surrounded by data, frameworks and tools. The differentiator is the ability to interpret information and make decisive choices. Teams still need leaders who can synthesise insight, prioritise effectively and act with confidence.

The conversation also touched on the emotional dimension of change. Introducing AI into a team can trigger fear. Leaders who handle this transition well frame it as augmentation rather than replacement. They stay curious themselves and lead from the front, demonstrating how new tools can elevate performance.

Resistance to change shortens relevance. Adaptability extends it.

Scaling requires scaling buyers, not just processes

A useful distinction emerged between operational scale and commercial scale. AI can improve efficiency, but it does not automatically increase demand.

Scaling a business ultimately requires scaling revenue, energy and ambition. Automating back-office tasks frees capacity. It does not remove the need to win customers.

Founders who treat AI as a silver bullet risk distraction. Those who use it to buy time for selling, building relationships and refining product tend to benefit most.

Think bigger, build stronger

The final thread was ambition. With barriers lower and tools more accessible, the temptation is to build incremental solutions. Yet the real opportunity lies in tackling meaningful problems at global scale.

Access to technology has levelled the playing field. What remains uneven is mindset. Thinking beyond local markets and lifestyle outcomes requires courage. It also requires conviction strong enough to withstand criticism.

Fast growth without breaking is not about relentless expansion. It is about combining leverage with leadership. It is about using technology to move quickly while preserving the human qualities that make businesses endure.

AI is the new frontier. But the fundamentals remain unchanged. Clarity of purpose, disciplined hiring, commercial focus and resilient leadership still determine whether speed becomes scale, or simply strain.