Damian Naughton is the General Manager of ANZ at ElevenLabs, the voice AI company now past US$500 million in ARR, just four years after its 2022 founding. Formerly a regional VP at Slack and an early team member at Sydney's Hyper Anna (acquired by Alteryx), Damian is leading ElevenLabs' new Sydney office and tripling the local team as enterprise demand for voice AI accelerates.
In this episode, Damian and Georgie Healy cover why ElevenLabs is planting a flag in ANZ now and the local customers already on board, including Xero, Employment Hero, Heidi Health, Australia Post, and Andromeda Robotics' aged care companion robot Abby. Damian unpacks the company's high performance culture and the "11x yourself" philosophy, why intrinsic motivation beats top down pressure, and how he co-designs stretch goals with new hires. They get into voice cloning and the ethics behind it, how little audio you actually need to clone a voice, and how ElevenLabs handles consent, safety, and scammers, including a clever "reverse" use case that keeps fraudsters on the line to gather intel for banks. Damian also shares his view that enterprise AI needs to be led by the business rather than tech, why the BPO and consulting worlds are facing real disruption, and his take that tall poppy syndrome is a scourge holding Australian tech back.
Tune in for a candid conversation on voice AI, building a high performing team, and how enterprises should prepare for a near future where your own AI assistant takes action on your behalf.
Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: Your AI Assistant Will Soon Take Action For You
02:17 – AI Hack of the Week: A Michael Caine Voice Butler On The Fridge
04:57 – ElevenLabs Launches in Australia and New Zealand
07:14 – Why Voice AI Is Ready Now (Xero, Employment Hero, Heidi, Andromeda)
10:52 – From Journalist to Voice AI: How AI Is Changing the News
13:40 – Inside Hyper Anna, the Aussie Startup Acquired by Alteryx
15:31 – ElevenLabs' High Performance Culture and the "11x Yourself" Rule
25:38 – The ElevenLabs Founding Story: Two Polish Founders and Bad Dubbing
28:42 – How Will Australia React to Voice AI?
31:24 – Voice Cloning Ethics, Consent, and Celebrity Voices
34:12 – How Little Audio You Need to Clone a Voice
37:17 – Voice AI and Scammers: How ElevenLabs Fights Fraud
42:05 – Can AI Bring Back Music From Artists Who Have Passed?
45:11 – Can Enterprise Companies Actually Adapt to AI?
53:05 – Advice for Heads of AI: Let Business Lead, Not Tech
56:39 – Rapid Fire: Tall Poppy Syndrome, Hiring, and Spicy Takes
1:02:05 – Where to Follow Damian and ElevenLabs
