Episode 7
The Hidden Cost of Bad AI Implementation
Kazik Pietka
Managing Partner, Heveli
The conversation
Milan Savov talks with Kazik Pietka, Managing Partner at Heveli and the co-founder who helped scale Surfer to $15M ARR bootstrapped, about the hidden costs of bad AI adoption. Kazik reflects on leading his first company at 25 and why founders often struggle when a team reaches 70 to 100 people, as departments drift and processes break. He describes the 'AI illusion', where companies rush to adopt AI without preparing their data and processes, which magnifies existing problems and costs more than it saves.
Successful companies treat AI as infrastructure, validate processes first and use it to support teams. Scaling, he says, depends on delegation, alignment and clarity more than on tools.
What came up
Introduction
Who is Kazik Pietka
The reality of leading your first company at 25
The mistakes founders make when promoting managers
Why delegating is painful but necessary
The mindset shift required to scale past 1M ARR
Why founders feel lost when the company hits 70–100 people
How real AI integrations are done inside SaaS
Why AI breaks when companies lack proper data
The real cost of bad AI implementation
What leaders must understand about AI readiness
Kazik’s final advice for SaaS leaders
About the guest
Kazik Pietka
Managing Partner and co-founder at Heveli, and the co-founder who helped scale Surfer to $15M ARR bootstrapped. He works with B2B SaaS leadership teams on operations and AI.
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