What does practical AI adoption actually look like inside a growing enterprise software company?

In this episode of the Growth Elevated Leadership Podcast, Julian Castelli sits down with John Peebles, CEO of Administrate, to explore how a former AI skeptic found real business value in Claude Code, agentic coding, and internal workflow automation.

John shares how Administrate’s enterprise onboarding process became increasingly complex as the company moved toward larger customers. With project managers, solution consultants, legacy systems, manual configuration, and “wild spreadsheets” all part of the process, implementation work had become slow, repetitive, and difficult to scale.

Rather than starting with a flashy AI product feature, John focused on a painful internal bottleneck. Using AI, his team helped turn complex configuration decisions into a structured, reviewable workflow that could import setup data in about 30 seconds.

This is a grounded conversation about where AI can create real operational leverage: not by chasing trends, but by solving the manual work teams already know is holding them back.

🔑Key takeaways:

• Why John was initially skeptical of AI

• How Claude Code changed his perspective

• Why coding is powerful because it can be tested

• How internal AI automation can improve speed, quality, and customer experience

• Why CEOs should start with practical workflows before chasing AI hype

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Have you been told that great leaders need to constantly fix their weaknesses?

In this episode of the Growth Elevated Leadership Podcast, Julian Castelli sits down with Michael Guymon, CEO of SQA Services and former leader at SpaceX and Rocket Lab, to challenge that idea.

Michael shares why trying to turn every weakness into a strength is not just inefficient, it is a leadership trap. As companies scale, the role of a CEO shifts dramatically. You cannot do everything yourself, and trying to will slow your growth and burn you out.

Instead, Michael explains why the best leaders build around their gaps by hiring people with complementary strengths. From navigating imposter syndrome to creating a culture that encourages real debate over artificial harmony, this conversation dives into what it actually takes to lead at the next level.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why fixing weaknesses is an uphill battle

• Hiring for strengths and building balanced teams

• The difference between right person and right seat

• Why conflict driven cultures outperform passive teams

• How first time CEOs evolve their leadership style

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Are you a $500/hour executive stuck doing $5/hour work?

Most founders who scale past the $5M mark eventually hit a growth ceiling, not because of product or market, but because they’re still buried in the day-to-day noise of the business.

In this episode of the Growth Elevated Leadership Podcast, Julian Castelli sits down with GetLevrg CEO Jamie Shanks to unpack what he calls the “founder’s trap”.

Jamie is a serial entrepreneur who has trained over 250,000 sellers and built three seven-figure agencies. In this podcast, he shares the framework he uses to help leaders shift from low-value execution to high-impact decision-making by trading $5 tasks for $500 outcomes.

We explore his “Three Ps” framework: Principle, Process, and Platform, and how offshore talent and AI can be combined to remove operational friction and accelerate growth.

Jamie also breaks down his “DSO Zero” strategy, which allowed him to scale a 115-person global team starting with nothing more than a credit card and a disciplined approach to cash flow.

If you’re navigating the messy middle of scaling, or trying to step out of execution and into real leadership, this episode offers a clear, practical blueprint.

👉 Visit us at GrowthElevated.com

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