Michael Batko
CEO at Hourglass AI
Michael Batko is the CEO of Hourglass AI (thehourglass.ai), where he's building AI automation for Australian businesses, helping companies move past the AI hype and put it to work across their operations.
Before Hourglass, Michael was CEO of Startmate, the most ambitious accelerator in Australia and New Zealand and its most active venture capital investor, where he significantly expanded the organisation's operations and revenue. He started his career in corporate finance and consulting (American Express, PwC and KPMG) before moving into startups, helping grow two of Australia's largest marketplaces: Mad Paws (pet sitters) and Expert360 (independent consultants).
Michael's experience spans operations, business analytics and financial modelling, and he's passionate about supporting founders and building at the frontier of AI. He holds a CEMS Master's in International Management and a BSc in Economics and Management.
In their own words
Founders have two problems. One is a product problem, and the other one is a distribution problem. And both those problems can be solved by customer conversations.
It's somebody who just won't stop doing what they're doing, even though a billion people are going to tell them it's a bad idea.
Career
- Now CEO · Hourglass AI
- 2018–2025 CEO (joined as Head of Operations) · Startmate
- 2015–2017 · Scale-up Early team member (talent marketplace) · Expert360
- From 2015 · Startup First hire · Mad Paws
- Earlier Consultant · PwC
- Earlier Consultant · KPMG
- Earlier Corporate role (London) · American Express
Sources: batko.ai
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From Hourglass AI
Key moments
Jump straight to the part of Why Your First Hire Isn't an Engineer Anymore — Michael Batko, ex-Startmate CEO you want.
- 0:46 Why James launched the show, and why Batko is guest #1
- 2:00 The first hire has flipped: go-to-market before engineers
- 3:49 Where real software engineers still matter (and the "vibe-coding" ceiling)
- 9:01 What "AI-native" actually means — building your personal, then company, "brain"
- 12:06 Agent hierarchies: one agent / one job, and the AI chief of staff
- 14:50 Getting AI into a traditional business: permission to play + an AI policy (and the IP-leak risk)
- 17:25 Quick wins: process-mapping by voice, and the dictation tool that changes the game
- 20:54 Your first 5–10 hires: attitude over skill, hungry over proven, junior over senior
- 25:58 Team size, layoffs, "AI-washing", and the shrinking PM-to-engineer ratio
- 34:55 The one skill AI can't replace: people management
Heard on
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▶ Hourglass AI on Day One
Hourglass AI builds AI automation for Australian businesses, helping companies move past the AI hype and put it to work across their operations. 1 person · 5 episodes → Connections
James MacDonaldHost, Building Tech Teams 
Cheryl MackHost, First Cheque 
Maxine MinterHost, First Cheque 
Adam SpencerHost, Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem 
Wayne GerardFounder, Partner Ventures, Partner Ventures (Prtnr) 
Petr AdámekCEO, Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) 
Peter DevineFormer CEO, Uniseed, Uniseed 
Rohit BhargavaFounder & Director, Playbook Media, Playbook Media Spot something wrong? Suggest a correction Updated 25 September 2026
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