How AI Can Eliminate the “Chaos Tax” in Enterprise Software | Karthik Viswanathan (TalAiro)
January 20th, 2026
28 mins 15 secs
Season 2
Tags
About this Episode
In this episode, we’re joined by Karthik Viswanathan. Formerly a product leader at AT&T, Macy’s, and Optum, he’s now the founder of TalAiro, an HR tech startup that is rethinking the operating system for recruiting.
Karthik argues that the hidden failure of the modern tech stack is forcing the user to serve as a “manual integration layer. He explains how the push to "unbundle" features results in a “Chaos Tax”— consuming 40-60% of the workday with fighting disconnected tools rather than doing their jobs.
Beyond that, Karthik also discusses:
- How AI can make work more human: Why the true value isn't in replacing jobs, but automating the "devil's cut" of administrative work.
- The journey from enterprise leader to founder: What building TalAiro from scratch taught Karthik about prioritization after years of leading enterprise product orgs, such as focusing on the 20% of workflows that drive 80% of the value
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karthikvish/
TalAiro: https://www.talairo.ai/
Chapters
00:00: Introduction
00:54: Karthik's product background
02:58: The "chaos tax" and how tool sprawl negatively impacts product efficiency
04:25: Challenges in HR tech
09:26: Working backwards from customer problems to build your digital solution
11:53: How TalAiro differentiates itself as an HR tool
15:03: The role of AI in enhancing human potential
20:59: Karthik's transition from enterprise to startup leader
27:14: Conclusion
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