Asana CIO | The Playbook for Human x AI Collaboration

Why the Future of Enterprise AI Is Collaboration Over Autonomy

Asana CIO Saket Srivastava joins Liam Lawson to explain why high-performing AI in the enterprise should prioritize collaboration, context, and control—not unchecked autonomy. He breaks down how Asana’s Work Graph supports AI capabilities such as Smart Chat, AI Studio, and AI Teammates, including human-in-the-loop checkpoints and enterprise-grade controls.

The conversation also reframes the modern CIO role as a strategy co-creator, not just a back-office technologist. Saket shares practical guidance on AI transformation, including IT–HR partnership, employee readiness surveys, internal AI councils, and how to balance experimentation with measurable business impact.

They close with a realistic discussion of job displacement, building an AI-first culture, and Saket’s personal motivations and leadership growth areas.

Key Topics Covered:

• Why collaboration, context, and checkpoints matter more than AI autonomy
• How Asana’s Work Graph underpins AI features and workflow intelligence
• What AI Teammates are and where they perform well (and where they don’t)
• Human-in-the-loop design patterns for enterprise AI use cases
• The evolving CIO role from technology owner to strategic co-creator
• IT–HR partnership models for AI transformation and change management
• Employee readiness: assessing excitement, friction, and adoption blockers
• Building an internal AI council, show-and-tells, and grassroots enablement
• Balancing innovation with impact without forcing premature ROI
• Addressing fear, optimism, and learning paths across generations

Episode Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome & setup
01:31 What Asana is & the CIO role
04:39 How the CIO role changed from 2024 → 2025
06:11 What makes a great CIO (three-level framework)
09:15 What are Asana AI Teammates?
12:42 Why autonomy isn’t the goal; context, checkpoints, control
14:48 Asana’s AI suite (Smart Chat, AI Studio, Teammates)
15:04 The Work Graph model & “pyramid of clarity”
18:31 Human-in-the-loop in practice (IT ticketing, campaign strategist)
20:50 Natural-language collaboration & explainability
22:01 Where AI Teammates underperform & the data hurdle
25:30 Change management & the IT–HR partnership
29:08 Baseline survey: excited-but-stuck employees
32:14 Bottom-up innovation + top-down direction
33:39 AI council, show-and-tells, and grassroots adoption
36:12 Balancing innovation with impact (don’t kill experiments with ROI)
37:24 Addressing fear vs. optimism; why leaning in matters
40:08 Generational readiness & learning paths
43:03 The future of work: augmentation over dystopia
44:31 Saket beyond tech; problem-solving DNA
46:45 Strengths & what he’d improve as a leader
48:59 Why Saket does what he does

About the Guest:

Saket Srivastava is the Chief Information Officer at Asana. In this episode, he shares a practical perspective on enterprise AI strategy, responsible deployment with human oversight, and how leaders can guide organizations through change while building durable, measurable adoption.

About the Company:

Asana is a work management platform focused on helping teams coordinate, plan, and execute work with clarity. Saket discusses how Asana’s Work Graph supports AI-powered capabilities designed to improve collaboration and decision-making across workflows.