Building Better Remote Teams with AI and Lessons from Penbrothers

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[00:00:27] What if building a global team was less about cutting costs and more about unlocking trust, culture and long-term momentum? Well, my guest today brings a refreshingly grounded take on remote hiring. And that take is shaped by decades of living and working across continents. With roots spanning South America, Europe and Asia.

[00:00:57] He has seen first-hand how talent, motivation and belonging travel far better than job titles or office walls. So whether it be from helping international companies build teams in the Philippines to challenging some pretty lazy assumptions about offshore work, his perspective cuts through so much noise out there.

[00:01:21] And that's one of the reasons I invited him on today for a conversation that hopefully will go beyond tools and trends and get into what actually makes distributed teams work, especially when the novelty wears off. So if you're thinking about how do you scale globally without losing the human connection that makes teams thrive, you should get a lot of value from this one. But enough scene setting for me. Let me introduce you to my guest right now.

[00:01:50] So a massive warm welcome to the show. Can you tell everyone listening a little about who you are and what you do? Yeah, thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure. I mean, I'm Neil C. Hughes. Well, I'm not Filipino, as you can clearly see, but I live in the Philippines for 15 years by now. I've been living in Asia for 22. And yeah, I'm Nicholas. I have been around Asia for the longest time, but I was actually born in South America, lived there 10 years, had the opportunity then to live a few years in Germany and Mexico, did my high school there,

[00:02:20] studied in Switzerland and ended up doing an internship in Japan, which ended up being 18 years for a Japanese company. So that's a little bit my career path that brought me to Asia and kept me in Asia. I was doing a lot of research on you before you came on the podcast today. And I think traditionally, many founders still see things like remote hiring mainly as a way to reduce costs. But one of the things that stood out to me is what first showed you that building global teams

[00:02:48] could unlock faster hiring, higher quality talent and stronger motivation, not just savings? Because that's one of the things that stood out to me about you is you see things so differently. And it's refreshing to see this. No, absolutely. And I think it has to do with the reason why I'm in the Philippines or how I ended up in the Philippines. So I was working in Japan for a Japanese company. And we were looking for opportunities of duplicating or replicating the businesses, the core businesses in Japan in Southeast Asia, and Philippines being one of those countries.

[00:03:16] And my experience when I came here the first time in 2005 and onwards is that out of all Southeast Asia, the countries that we tried or that we worked at, Philippines was one of the countries or the country where things were the most seamless, where things were the easiest to set up, to build. It has partially to do with their history. So while it is in Asia, there is a lot of history of the Philippines, which makes it very Western oriented. I've been having been a Spanish colony and then an American colony.

[00:03:45] So it's very easy to get here. It also has to do with the quality of the talent, the warmth of the people, the way we built the teams and the builds integrated themselves with us in the Japanese. So it was that experience building those initial companies here in the Philippines from 2005 and onwards that exposed me to the high quality of the Filipinos and how good they were. And not just that you can build teams to cost safe.

[00:04:13] Of course, you can do that and companies do that, but you can also build teams for different reasons, just operational efficiency, redundancy, having 24-7 operation, being able to also service your clients, for example, as the sun goes from east to west. So there are different reasons. And it all comes back down to the quality of the Filipinos and the exposure I had of building those teams and then living here and keep working with those teams.

[00:04:42] So that all led to me, to me believing strongly that there is more to the Philippines than just cost saving. There's much more to the Philippines. And one of the things I love doing on here is busting a few myths and misconceptions. I think traditionally, when companies scale teams across borders, I think things like speed often clash with quality and culture, or at least that is the perception. So from what you've seen, where do founders most commonly get this wrong?

[00:05:11] It's probably one of your big frustrations that you hear and see a lot. But what are they getting wrong here? I think speed is not the problem as such. The main challenge is more the execution. And I think that holds true for so many things, whatever you're building, projects you're implementing. So you can have an urgency. You might require speed. But if you have a proper plan and a good partner that enables you to execute that plan

[00:05:39] and understand from the get-go, what is it you're looking for? What do you need? What are the must-haves, the nice-to-haves? What is critical? And then execute it. That works. I have seen founders and also other people who really get that done very well. And I have seen others that come with an idea and have this urgency, but have no real plan. And then, let's say, two days later, they pivot. And then they have a different idea. And then they want something else.

[00:06:04] And then it becomes just very difficult to meet that timeline that they were playing with because you keep adjusting to changing requirements, ideas. They wanted an accountant. Oh, no, figure out. Now I want a graphic designer. And you're like, wait a second. That doesn't help. So I think it's really coming with a plan and then executing it and having the right partner, specifically in a country in the Philippines, which has its own idiosyncrasies and difficulties

[00:06:29] and local requirements that you have somebody, unless you want to do it yourself, which, again, makes it more difficult to execute on that plan. And you also built Penbrothers around this very idea that early support shapes long-term success. So just drilling down on that a little, why are the first 90 days so decisive for remote talent? And what tends to happen when companies maybe underestimate that early phase?

[00:06:58] Well, I mean, that idea or what we have been focusing on those first 90 to 180 days, at the end of the day, I think that holds true for any organization when you do HR and you hire people. I mean, if you bring in somebody into your organization, even if it's at your own office, but you don't have any onboarding plan, you have no KPIs or OKRs or whatever matrices you're using for that person to evaluate the person, to explain the person what their job is,

[00:07:28] how you will evaluate them, what you expect from them. That's just a recipe for failure. I mean, it doesn't always have to fail, but it's very likely to fail. Both sides will get frustrated. So we have been focusing on those 90, 180 days onboarding because we believe that if we do that correctly and if we help our clients do that correctly with us as their partner, then success is much more likely. I mean, listen, humans are humans. You can have the best interviews, the best selection process. You will always have a certain percentage that don't work out.

[00:07:58] At the end of the day, they're not the right fit. There is something you missed. You know, things happen. But if you do a good onboarding, if you have the right systems in place and the right review process, then more often than not, you align much quicker and then things should actually, because they align, work out better and smoother. And then the client will be happy. The employee will be happy. Things are happening as expected or close to what is expected.

[00:08:26] So I believe that's the recipe for success. Now, it's not 100% because it's still humans, but it gets you closer to a very good success rate. And I was also reading that your hypercare framework focuses very heavily on onboarding alignment and ongoing support. So for people listening, hearing about you for the first time, tell me a little bit more about this hypercare framework and how that structure change, retention and performance

[00:08:54] compared to maybe traditional remote hiring approaches. Well, I think the different remote hiring, I mean, I don't want to be dismissive. There are different systems or different tools or platforms that are suitable for different needs. And in our case, we built or our goal is to build your remote team, not just for a short-term solution or for a few months, but something that is long-term,

[00:09:22] that you're building a remote team with us in the Philippines that will become a part of your organization that is important. So like any HR kind of onboarding, even if you, as I said before, you do it at home, the better you have that organized, the closer you are to the person, the more you also, we help them bridge that gap between, because it's remote, so you're not here. So the more we help bridge that gap between our client who is overseas and the employee who is with us in the Philippines

[00:09:52] by trying to understand what is a declined ones, what are the expectations, and at the same time explaining this and feeding this in a way translate this to the local talent and vice versa, also gathering information from the local talent, from the local employee. How are you doing? How are you feeling? Do you have any questions? Is there anything that you're not clear about? And bringing this back to the client. So it's the bridging that gap, because at the end of the day, the quicker we make them align and feel that they understand each other,

[00:10:21] the more successful it will be. And what we have realized during our 11 years of doing this is that it really comes to those first 90 to 180 days, not only with the employee, also with the clients, because many of our clients are doing this for the first time or maybe have a remote team, but are doing it for the first time with a Filipino employee or a Filipino talent. So again, we need to bridge that gap because it's the first time for them too. So the more we help close that gap

[00:10:49] that there might be from expectations or knowledge or cultural difference, the more successful it's likely to become. So that's where this hyper framework comes in. And the hyper framework applies to both the employee as well as to the client, like helping the client understand how to work with a Filipino team, what are the idiosyncrasies, how do you treat them, because they're different. They're not the same as an American or as a German or a British or Australian, you call it.

[00:11:19] And one of my big book bears is that culture often gets treated as a secondary concern, not only in distributed teams, but also in tech projects and tech rollouts. And I always think that culture should be at the heart of everything, especially around adoption and acceptance. But I would imagine it's exactly the same for you. Culture's got to matter even more when people are working across different time zones and geographies, etc. Is that right too?

[00:11:48] You know, absolutely. And culture actually in the Philippines is particularly important because Filipinos are, from their, I guess, their history and their culture, they're very culture driven. So it's very important for them to have certain things that make them feel part of the team. For example, touch-ins or a small Christmas basket or being invited to do a Christmas dinner or get-togethers whenever possible. So there are different things.

[00:12:18] And again, this applies to, I guess, many cultures, but in particular, my experience in the Philippines, it's even stronger. So knowing that and applying that and thereby helping to bridge cultural differences is very helpful. But the building that culture is critical and it's not easy because we're doing it remotely. I mean, the client is remote, but then even in the Philippines, a lot of our employees are working remotely. So it's something where we spend a lot of time and energy and it's constantly evolving. It's constantly learning, adjusting,

[00:12:48] applying new things, new ideas, trying new things out to really make sure that we build as much as we can that culture from online gaming to actually physical basketball games that we rent a field to do a tournament. So all those little things, but they come together over time. Love that. And there will be a few people listening that think that, hey, this sounds great, but trust and belonging are even harder to build without a shared office. I think those attitudes have softened

[00:13:17] since the introduction of hybrid working around the world. But what deliberate habits or signals make remote talent feel that they are genuinely part of the mission, part of the team rather than just external contributors? How do you get that balance right? It's not easy, to be very honest. And we work with our clients to try to balance that out, giving that our clients are remote. And sometimes it works better, sometimes it doesn't work. It also has sometimes to do with the capability

[00:13:47] of the clients. I mean, we have clients, for example, who are able and willing to visit once a year or twice a year. So then in that moment, we can bring them all together, do dinners, social gatherings, we can do activities, learning and development, we facilitate that. And then we have others who are not able to do it. They're smaller, they're younger, they're startups. So in that moment, we need to step in and help do our best to facilitate that. For example, our HR team tries to reach out or does reach out to everybody at least once a month

[00:14:17] to check in and make sure they're okay. We call it PB Cafe, very inspiring. So it's a virtual coffee session where everybody gets something delivered to participate and talk about things. And it's not about talking about how you're doing at your work, but how you're doing, you know, what are things, what is happening. So different things. But it's, again, it's a constant evolving thing and it's adjustments have to happen depending on where people are. Like some people, we are able to bring them more sometimes to the office.

[00:14:47] Other people are so remote and are not able to come to the office. They have small kids or elderly parents that they need to watch out for. So then we need to adjust an approach that's slightly different. So it's, that's the complicated part and that's the secret sauce in a way. And as this is a tech podcast, we must mention AI and AI is reshaping how teams work and how roles evolve too. So how do you see AI acting as a force multiplier of sorts

[00:15:16] for distributed teams rather than a threat to jobs? Because it'd be great to bust that myth as well because it's something we keep hearing. Yeah, I actually think AI is interesting. It's a fascinating thing that is happening right now. I have my personal opinion of a little bit of what I'm seeing right now and I have the distinctive, this is my very personal opinion, this is not based on a lot of data that I have crunched and run. But it seems to me from the anecdotal data that I'm seeing in my company and in companies similar to ours

[00:15:45] that AI is a force multiplier, but it's being, what's happening or what seems to be happening is that it's also used as a way to enable and force multiply people in, let's say, the Philippines or South Africa or Colombia or wherever in other countries that before were maybe not competitive compared to a very good software developer in Europe or United States or in Australia. But now you don't need necessarily that

[00:16:14] software developer anymore because you can enable a more junior, more younger, less experienced person with AI to be almost as good. And that's kind of interesting because we see a lot of job openings for tech roles in the Philippines, but at the same time you read about all the tech roles being let go in Europe and in the United States. So jobs are moving and I think partially why they're moving is because AI is a force multiplier. So it's kind of interesting. The other thing about AI that we have seen is,

[00:16:44] again, it affected the roles that I expected to be affected the last or the least, which is all the creative roles. But it seemed that those ones were the first ones who got affected by AI. So it's, and we see that they get less, less people are being hired for those roles because AI can do so much more. But then we have seen other roles being hired from AI training to people who can really crunch all the data that is being generated through AI people who know how to use AI, people who know how to help

[00:17:14] other people to get to learn how to use AI and being a force and using AI as a force multiplier. So some jobs are becoming less but others are being created. So it's interesting to see what's going to happen and how this will shake out. And as we look ahead, how should founders and tech leaders alike be rethinking their global team design, especially as AI will inevitably become more embedded in everyday workflows while still protecting those things that we've both talked about today,

[00:17:44] performance, culture, and human connection. It's a real balance there, isn't there? Yes. And to be very honest, I don't have a good answer for that because I think things are still so new and so changing basically on a monthly basis that this is, this is where really, I think, I think we need to see where this is going and how it's going. I mean, you have some companies that are fully trying to do as much as possible with AI, but then other things don't work properly anymore. So then they have to bring humans back.

[00:18:14] So this back and forth, I think, will continue to happen for quite a while until we have a better understanding on how really to use it. And I think, yeah, and the other thing is AI is evolving so fast that it's almost, I mean, you're constantly catching up. So not sure, to be very honest. It's really interesting. Yeah, it really is work in progress. And for people listening that would love to follow this story and how you're adopting and how it's changing things and the work that you're doing, if anyone wants

[00:18:43] to connect with you or your team or just learn more about Penn Brothers, where would you like to point them? I mean, one is our webpage and the other one is my own LinkedIn profile. I mean, we do a lot of, or I do a lot of posts. I'm quite active there explaining a little bit more about the Philippines, the people in the Philippines, the things that I see that people do also with the Philippines and around the Philippines. So I think there's a lot of good information there as well as in our webpage.

[00:19:13] There's a lot of good information there about the Philippines and remote teams in the Philippines. Well, I'll add a link to your LinkedIn and the website there. I'd urge people listening to look in the show notes, click on any of those and find out more information because we did cover a lot today from the story behind building Penn Brothers, the reality of scaling teams across borders and how culture is a real differentiator here in remote work, but also how AI

[00:19:42] is changing hiring and roles and the future of work, but it is very much work in progress. We're seeing it unfold before our very eyes. So it'll be great to stay in touch with you and see how things continue to evolve and how you're adopting AI in your work. But more than anything, thank you for sharing your story today. No, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. So where does all this leave founders and leaders who are rethinking how they build teams in a world shaped

[00:20:11] by remote work and AI? And one of the big standouts for me in the conversation is the early days, those days that quietly decide success or failure and why culture can show up in the smallest of gestures, but also how technology can amplify people rather than replace them. And yet there are no easy answers, just honest reflections from someone who has spent years learning what works by doing the work.

[00:20:41] And if today's conversation challenged a few assumptions or maybe sparked new questions about how you hire on board and lead across borders, that's exactly the point. How might your own approach to global teams change if you treated culture and care as part of the operating model rather than the afterthought? And yeah, I know this is a tech podcast, but as I always say, technology works best when you bring people together.

[00:21:11] And I've seen too many times how tech projects can be implemented, but not enough time has been spent on the culture side of things and adopting to change, et cetera. But as always, let me know your thoughts. Techtalksnetwork.com You'll find everything you need over there. Other than that, I'll be back again tomorrow, bright and early, same place, same time. I'll speak with you all there. Bye for now. Bye for now. Bye for now.

[00:21:43] Bye for now. Bye for now.