In nearly 15 years, Wade has grown Zapier from a side project at a Missouri hackathon into one of the most capital efficient software companies ever built. Essentially bootstrapped, Zapier now helps millions of customers automate their work by connecting the thousands of apps and tools that businesses use every day.

In this conversation, Darren seeks to understand Wade as a leader: a man who grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri with no entrepreneurial blueprint, who built something genuinely countercultural by trusting what he knew to be true before the evidence arrived. They talk about the “Code Red” Wade declared in March of 2023, the prescient decision to enact a company wide pause that has led to 100% AI adoption across the organization, what it takes to lead people through that kind of change, and the critical distinction between personal and institutional AI adoption.

Find out more about the Trium Group at triumgroup.com

One of One is produced by Darren Gold, Emily Shaw, and Karen Welsh. Engineering by Aja Simpson.