Building AI-Driven Teams, Scalable Services, and a Global Career with Tom Kelly of Braze

I am thrilled to have Tom Kelly, a global tech leader and angel investor, works as the senior director of account management at Braze.  With deep expertise in customer success, AI adoption, and GTM strategy, Tom builds high-performing teams and invests in the next wave of startups shaping the future of tech.

In this episode, Tom Kelly, Senior Director at Braze and angel investor, shares his journey from physics and hedge funds to building global technical account teams. Tom dives into launching a new services arm inside a high-growth SaaS company, how to scale AI adoption across teams, and why distribution is the ultimate moat in today’s product-rich world. He unpacks early-stage GTM mistakes, what he looks for as an angel investor, and how he’s building an “AI ETF” through OpenAI, Anthropic, and XAI. Tom also shares why he moved to Dubai, the power of community, and the underrated impact of personal reinvention, and much more!

Timestamps

01:30 – Tom’s unconventional start in tech from a physics and hedge fund background.

04:00 – Early career at CrowdVision and exposure to AI and machine learning in crowd tracking.

06:20 – Joining Braze: From generalist customer success to building the London office.

08:45 – Wearing multiple hats in the early days of Braze’s CS team.

10:15 – Evolution into Technical Account Management (TAM) and co-founding the TAM team.

12:00 – Finding product-market fit for TAM services and rapid scale-up.

14:30 – Global TAM growth: Expansion into APAC, Dubai, London, and the U.S.

16:00 – The importance of leadership support and internal advocates when launching services.

18:15 – Making early customers your biggest advocates to accelerate adoption.

20:00 – KPIs beyond CSAT: Using OKRs effectively to track TAM performance.

23:00 – Mistakes with OKRs and how TAM team restructured them to be metrics-driven.

25:30 – How Tom led AI adoption across his 35-person TAM team.

28:00 – Hackathons and AI showcases to encourage AI culture internally.

30:00 – Klarna's AI workforce experiment: Layoffs, savings, and human comeback.

33:00 – Distribution as the new moat in a world where everyone can build with AI.

35:30 – Why early-stage companies rely on network and personal brand for GTM.

37:15 – The shift to regional, vertical SaaS businesses and specialized solutions.

39:00 – Should students still study computer science in an AI-first world?

41:30 – Most underrated skill in services: Empathy and personalized ROI communication.

44:00 – Tom’s angel investing thesis: Founder passion, resilience, and baked-in distribution.

46:00 – Investing in OpenAI, Anthropic, XAI: Building an “AI ETF” portfolio.

48:00 – Why Tom moved from London to Dubai and how it transformed his lifestyle.

51:00 – Building new networks in Dubai: GCC Club, OPUS, wellness, and low alcohol lifestyle.

Tom’s Links 

LDN– https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomkelly91/