CSO Leads

Date: February 9, 2026 Source: Granola Meeting ID: 8c7d06c6-a3c6-4dc9-861a-a9f7321246f9 URL: https://notes.granola.ai/t/8c7d06c6-a3c6-4dc9-861a-a9f7321246f9

Participants:

Summary

Demi discussing potential members growing into CSO roles
- Magic Spoon incident highlighted gaps in Ashwini’s project management
- Technical competency must integrate with operational/planning skills
- Need communication on specific ramp-up blockers to provide targeted support
Casey moving off Lilo as EP, transitioning to IC role
- Pranav taking over EP responsibilities temporarily
- Formal transition timeline needed for clarity

Demi raising concerns about team member client interactions
- Default team members need better preparation for client-facing work
- Quality control needed for all client communications
Recommended approach: CSO review all outgoing communications initially
- Filter messages for 1-2 weeks to establish standards
- Provide feedback on formatting, tone, and technical depth
- Gradually release control as team improves
Pranav’s Lilo approach: handles 80% of communications directly
- Delegates specific responses to Sam/Casey with clear direction
- Maintains quality control through selective handoffs

Default project stalled by slow client CTO (Victor)
- Security-conscious, hasn’t provided system access for data ingestion
- Polyatomic vendor also unable to get responses
- Client aware of delays but no urgency yet
Escalation strategies discussed:
1. Pressure approach: highlight delivery risks and impacts
2. Relationship approach: offer help and find alternative contacts
- Demi keeping detailed documentation of blockers for client updates

Pranav identifying expansion opportunities on Lilo
- Phase 2 ending, client showing interest in additional work
- Planning vision conversations about future roadmap
- Strategy: leverage current success to discuss broader company needs
Recommended approach for expansion discussions:
1. Schedule separate time with senior stakeholders
2. Focus on vision and “what winning looks like”
3. Present 3-5 potential directions for growth
4. Collaborate with Uttam on scoping before formal SOW creation

Uttam frustrated by low AI adoption across teams
- Ashwini could have completed work faster with AI assistance
- Team members not reaching for AI solutions despite being overloaded
Demi’s perspective: needs specific use cases relevant to individual roles
- Works well for documentation, quick guides, V1 drafts
- Treats AI like intern requiring careful context and oversight
Clarence showcasing advanced agent setup:
- Multi-agent orchestration system with specialized roles
- Automated research, analysis, and workflow management
- Significant time investment upfront but major productivity gains

Multiple open positions across delivery teams:
- Several EP slots still unfilled
- Need SL and CSO for strategy team
- At least 4 critical roles to fill
Hiring strategy: accept anyone who passes current interview process
- Uttam has work for 30-40 person cohort
- Each hire enables additional $100k+ revenue generation
Mustafa identified as high-potential candidate for scaling:
- Currently handling 3 EP roles effectively
- Plans to expand to 5 simultaneous projects with automation support

Clarence presenting tax compliance automation project
- Problem: manual filing across thousands of local jurisdictions
- Solution areas:
  1. Jurisdiction data scraping and standardization
  2. Payment batching and workflow optimization
  3. Process digitization and tracking
  4. Notice processing and reconciliation (stretch goal)
Technical approach: agentic scraping with modern headless browsers
- Leverage Brainforge’s automation and agent expertise
- Integrate with Snowflake for data governance and intelligence
Next steps: Uttam creating 3-slide deck by Wednesday for Mike meeting