Denise Mathews
Open to People Ops & Head of People roles

Hi, I'm Denise Mathews.

People Ops Leader Who Builds the Tools Too

I've spent 6+ years inside early-stage startups doing the work that makes companies actually run — hiring, onboarding, cross-functional coordination, and keeping the wheels on when everything is moving fast.

Then I discovered what AI agents could really do. Not the hype — the real stuff. Automating the scheduling, the status checks, the reporting, the follow-ups. Building tools that actually work instead of buying software nobody uses.

Now I bring both worlds together: deep People Ops experience combined with hands-on AI engineering skills. I can design your hiring process AND build the AI system that runs it. I can create your onboarding program AND ship the portal your new hires will actually use on day one.

Full-Cycle Recruiting
AI Agent Design
Onboarding Systems
Process Automation
Payroll & Benefits
People Analytics
Employee Experience
Startup Operations
See What I Build Get in Touch
scroll
AI-Powered People Ops for Startups That Scale I don't just run People Operations — I build AI agent systems that make hiring, onboarding, and talent processes 10x more efficient.
6+
Years in Startup Ops
6
Custom AI Agents Built
10+
Hrs/Week Automated
MY APPROACH

People Ops Meets AI Engineering

Most People teams drown in admin. I build intelligent systems that handle the repetitive work so the team can focus on what matters — the humans.

Talent Acquisition

AI-assisted sourcing, structured interview systems, and automated candidate pipelines that give startups enterprise-grade hiring without the enterprise price tag.

Onboarding & Enablement

Custom onboarding portals, automated day-1 workflows, and AI-generated role-specific guides that get new hires productive in days, not weeks.

Process Automation

From payroll tracking to performance review cycles to employee check-ins — I automate the operational backbone so nothing falls through the cracks.

AI Agent Teams

Custom-built AI agents that handle recruiting coordination, interview scheduling, offer letter generation, and cross-team alignment — your 24/7 People Ops support crew.

People Analytics

Dashboards and reporting that turn people data into decisions — headcount planning, attrition signals, time-to-hire metrics, and engagement trends.

Culture & Compliance

Building handbook foundations, feedback systems, and lightweight compliance tracking that keep the team aligned as headcount grows from 5 to 50.

REAL WORK

Systems I've Actually Built

Not concepts — live, deployed systems solving real People Ops problems at startups.

01
AI Agents People Ops

6-Agent AI People Operations Team

A fully custom AI delegation system with six specialized agents — each handling a distinct area of People Ops: recruiting coordination, employee communications, onboarding workflows, analytics reporting, policy drafting, and cross-team alignment. One human operator, six AI agents, zero bottlenecks.

Replaces 2-3 FTE of coordination work
Persistent memory across all sessions
Delegation chains between agents
Claude API Custom Workflows Memory Systems Slack Integration
You
Recruit
Analytics
Comms
Onboard
Policy
Strategy
02
Internal Tool Hiring

Talent Portal Suite

End-to-end candidate experience: branded application portal, structured interview debrief tool, onboarding hub, and automated rejection flows. Professional hiring without a $500/month ATS.

Complete hiring infrastructure built for a crypto forensics startup. Candidate portal, onboarding, and interview debrief — all custom, all live.
HTML/CSS/JS Supabase Cloudflare Pages
Candidate Portal Onboarding Interview Debrief
03
Internal Tool Operations

Payroll & People Dashboards

Custom internal tools for payroll tracking, contractor management, and talent funnel analytics. Real-time visibility without paying for software that does 10x more than you need.

Built lightweight, client-owned infrastructure. Zero monthly SaaS fees. Full data ownership from day one.
HTML/CSS/JS Chart.js localStorage
Live Demo
04
Automation AI

People Ops Automation Stack

Automated workflows that eliminate the manual grind of people operations: check-in sequences, progress reports, multi-channel notifications, and AI-written weekly digests.

Daily automated employee check-ins (Slack + Email)
AI-generated weekly team progress reports
Multi-channel notifications on cron schedule
Expense and contractor payment tracking
Node.js Google Apps Script Slack API cron
10+ hrs/week automated
05
AI Agent Slack Bot

AI-Powered Slack CRM Bot

Built a Python-based Slack bot with AI capabilities — manages leads, automates outreach, logs activity to Google Sheets, and sends drafted emails. Shows how AI agents can handle repetitive people-facing workflows.

Full CRM in Slack: /add-lead, /draft-email, /summary commands. Google Sheets as the single source of truth. 13 automated tests.
Python FastAPI Slack Bolt Google APIs
EXPERIENCE

Where I've Done This Before

6+ years embedding in startups at the intersection of people operations, recruiting, and now AI.

AI Operations Lead & Tool Builder

Independent / Multiple Startups
2025 — Present
  • Built and deployed a 6-agent AI delegation system that replaces 2-3 FTE of coordination work
  • Created full Talent Portal Suite (application, onboarding, interview debrief) for crypto forensics startup
  • Designed and shipped AI-powered automation stack saving 10+ hours/week of manual People Ops work
  • Published AI Agent Starter Kit — educational resource on building AI agent systems
AI Agents Claude API Supabase Cloudflare

Executive Assistant & People Operations

Early-Stage Startups (Pre-seed to Series A)
2019 — 2025
  • Managed full-cycle recruiting: sourcing, screening, interview scheduling, and offer coordination
  • Built onboarding processes and employee handbooks from scratch for multiple companies
  • Ran cross-functional project coordination between engineering, product, and operations
  • Handled payroll administration, contractor management, and benefits coordination
  • Created internal tools and SOPs that enabled teams to scale from 5 to 30+ people
Recruiting Onboarding Payroll Process Design

Why hire a People Ops person who builds AI systems?

1
You get two roles for one hire. People leader + technical builder. I don't just identify process gaps — I build the systems to fix them. Same day.
2
AI isn't a buzzword for me — it's my workflow. I've built and deployed real AI agent systems. I know what actually works vs. what's just a demo.
3
Startups need speed, not process theater. I've been in the trenches at pre-seed through Series A. I know what a 10-person team actually needs vs. what a 500-person playbook says.
4
I save you money from day one. Custom tools on infrastructure you own. No $300/month SaaS subscriptions. No vendor lock-in. Just systems that work.
CONTACT

Let's Build Your
People Team.

Whether you're hiring your first 10 people or scaling past 50, I'd love to talk about how AI-powered People Ops can help your startup move faster.

Email
denisemathews03@gmail.com
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/denmath
YouTube
AI & Tech With Denise