Ep. 605 - Applied AI Labs COO Mike Fedorov - Autopilot Is the Enemy of Excellence

Most operators never learn to fight autopilot, the quiet enemy of excellence.

In this episode, Lindsay Smith sits down with Mike Fedorov, COO of Applied AI Labs. With 26 years in operations and supply chain, as a former Accenture Director and Mars operations leader, Mike built his reputation staying on-site, in the detail, close to where the work breaks.

He shares his philosophy that a COO's first job is to keep the lights on, and the second is to keep them on better, explaining why flat structures are replacing layers of management, how AI works best as a coordination layer, and the defining power of mentorship in his career.

Sponsored by:

STS Capital Partners - Your expert guides on the journey to an Extraordinary Exit™. To learn more about STS Capital Partners and how they achieve maximum value by Selling to Strategics™, complete the inquiry form here: https://stscapital.com/coo-alliance/

Timestemped Highlights

00:00 The Future of Flat Organizational Structures

01:44 What Applied AI Labs Does

02:38 The COO's Real Job: Keep the Lights On, and Better

05:11 A COO Who Watches Two Operations at Once

08:08 Scaling After Excelling: The Contractor Approach

09:18 Why Flat Structures Are Replacing Layers of Management