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Unfiltered conversations with public and private company CEOs. Navigating the AI shift. How they lead themselves and others. The people who gave them a chance.
Clint Betts: Tatyana, thank you so much for coming on the show. You’re the CEO of A Place for Mom. Tell us what the company does and how your journey led you to becoming CEO.
Tatyana Zlotsky: Absolutely, Clint. Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited for our conversation.
I’ve been with A Place for Mom for nearly seven years and have served as CEO for about two. Before that, I had what I’d describe as a nonlinear career path, which I think is true for a lot of people.
I started at an engineering company that was a subsidiary of Emerson Electric. From there, I moved into a couple of technology startups—companies with roughly $40–50 million in revenue. Then I joined American Express, which was an incredible experience. I spent 10 years there across a variety of roles.
In 2019, I joined A Place for Mom, and I’ve been fortunate to help lead the company through many different chapters since then.
Clint Betts: The work you do is incredible. Tell everyone what A Place for Mom is.
Tatyana Zlotsky: It really is important work.
Our mission is to help family caregivers make confident decisions when it comes to finding care for their senior loved ones.
The statistics in this space are remarkable. As baby boomers continue to age—and this is actually the first year that boomers are turning 80—caregiving has become a real crisis.
The majority of family caregivers are adult daughters. Nearly 70% of caregivers are women. These individuals often find themselves overwhelmed, stressed, and carrying a significant financial burden. I often say they become the second patient because they’re giving so much of themselves to caring for someone else.
What we do is provide a free service to caregivers. Our network providers pay for the service, and we connect families with advisors across the country who help them understand where they are in the caregiving journey.
We assess their situation, determine what type of care may be needed—whether at home or outside the home—and help them find the right solution. Ultimately, we want better outcomes for seniors and less stress for families so they can focus on being parents, children, and loved ones rather than full-time care coordinators.
Clint Betts: You mentioned that boomers are now turning 80. Give us a sense of the scale of this challenge.
Tatyana Zlotsky: Right now, there are about 40 million family caregivers in the United States.
On average, those caregivers spend more than $300,000 over the course of a caregiving journey.
And the reality is that most people have no prior experience making these kinds of decisions. They’re suddenly navigating healthcare, housing, finances, and care options all at once.
As the boomer population continues to age, we expect those numbers to grow significantly. Unless we improve how we support caregivers, the challenges will only become larger.
Clint Betts: What does a typical day look like for you as CEO?
Tatyana Zlotsky: On the personal side, there are three things that are non-negotiable for me now: sleep, exercise, and eating well.
That wasn’t always the case, but I’ve learned how important those things are for sustaining performance over time.
From a work perspective, I spend about 20% of my time with my existing leadership team, about 20% recruiting great talent, another 20% with customers, and the rest with board members, industry leaders, and others who help broaden my perspective.
One thing I’ve learned is that CEOs need external context. If you spend all your time internally, you risk operating in an echo chamber. Customers and outside experts help keep you grounded in reality.
Clint Betts: Everyone seems to be talking about AI. How are you thinking about it?
Tatyana Zlotsky: I’m generally an eternal optimist, and that absolutely applies to AI.
I’m very optimistic about what AI can do for society.
If you look at the performance of the stock market over the last couple of years, despite inflation, political instability, and high interest rates, much of the growth has been driven by technology and AI infrastructure.
I think the economic opportunity is enormous.
For people, I expect this to be a period of transition, much like every major technological shift. But ultimately, I hope we come out of it more productive, better at solving problems, and able to focus more on meaningful work.
I’m especially hopeful about the impact AI can have on healthcare and education.
Clint Betts: There’s also a lot of fear around AI. Some communities are pushing back against AI infrastructure projects and data centers. How do you think about leadership during moments like this?
Tatyana Zlotsky: I think the most important thing leaders can do right now is make decisions.
That has always been important, but it’s even more important in periods of uncertainty.
Leaders need to be comfortable making decisions without perfect information.
I often reference a Colin Powell quote: if you have less than 40% of the information, it’s a guess. If you have more than 70%, you probably waited too long.
The key is learning how to make decisions in that middle range.
Teams get stuck when they wait for certainty that never arrives. In many cases, indecision is a greater risk than making the wrong decision.
The other thing leaders need to do is empower other leaders. I’m one person leading nearly 1,000 employees. The company’s success depends on strong leaders throughout the organization.
That’s one reason we refreshed our company values shortly after I became CEO. Those values help guide decisions at every level.
Clint Betts: What are those values?
Tatyana Zlotsky: We have five.
The first is Mission Over Me.
The second is Embrace Change, which feels especially relevant today.
The third is We Do Hard Things. I was inspired by Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things, and I wanted that mindset reflected in our culture.
The fourth is We Win Together, which emphasizes collaboration and shared success.
The fifth is Winning the Right Way, which reflects our commitment to ethics, integrity, and doing things responsibly.
Those values help shape hiring decisions, strategic choices, and how we serve customers.
Clint Betts: You operate in a business built on compassion and human connection. How do you balance AI-driven efficiency with the need for empathy?
Tatyana Zlotsky: Customer experience comes first.
The average conversation between one of our advisors and a family lasts more than 20 minutes. That’s unusual in today’s world, but these are deeply emotional decisions.
We don’t optimize for shorter calls.
Instead, we train our advisors to be effective coaches who help families navigate difficult situations.
Where AI becomes incredibly valuable is behind the scenes.
We use it to improve collections processes, streamline marketing workflows, optimize sales operations, and automate repetitive tasks.
The way I think about it is this: previously, technology was great at record keeping and rules-based workflows.
Now we’re entering a world of intelligence and generative decision support.
That allows our employees to spend less time on administrative work and more time having meaningful conversations with families.
Clint Betts: Who’s a leader you admire?
Tatyana Zlotsky: I love learning from leaders, so it’s hard to pick just one.
I’m a big fan of the Founders podcast and anything written by Walter Isaacson.
But if I had to choose someone I’m paying particularly close attention to right now, it would be Jensen Huang.
Part of that is because of his immigrant background, which resonates with me personally.
What I admire most is his ability to hold two seemingly contradictory truths at the same time.
He can acknowledge that Nvidia has achieved incredible success while simultaneously focusing on everything that still needs improvement.
That level of honesty, humility, and complexity really resonates with me.
He’s also done an excellent job helping communicate a thoughtful and responsible perspective on AI.
Clint Betts: How do you think about culture in a world of remote, hybrid, and in-person work?
Tatyana Zlotsky: I believe there are tremendous benefits to in-person work.
When I was at American Express, I benefited enormously from mentorship opportunities that happened naturally through proximity.
You’d learn from observing meetings, having hallway conversations, or running into senior leaders unexpectedly.
Those experiences are difficult to replicate virtually.
At the same time, remote work offers tremendous efficiency.
People spend less time commuting and more time focused on meaningful work.
So we’ve taken a balanced approach.
Our corporate team generally comes into the office about three days per week, while many members of our broader organization remain fully remote.
We also make a significant effort to bring people together periodically. We recently brought together more than 70 senior leaders for three days to focus on strategy, culture, values, and alignment.
That face-to-face time is incredibly valuable.
Clint Betts: What do you think the future of senior living looks like?
Tatyana Zlotsky: Boomers want different things than previous generations.
Most people initially want to remain at home, so home care continues to grow rapidly.
At the same time, assisted living offers important benefits that can’t always be replicated at home, especially around socialization and community.
COVID reminded us how important those things are.
I think we’ll see senior living evolve into something much more active and wellness-focused.
We’ll see more experiences happening outside the facility rather than inside it, more emphasis on healthy aging and longevity, and a stronger focus on helping people thrive during the later stages of life.
Clint Betts: How has your immigrant experience influenced your leadership?
Tatyana Zlotsky: Quite a bit.
We’re all products of our experiences.
For me, immigration created a strong sense of resilience. It made me more comfortable with uncertainty and more willing to take risks.
When you move to a new country, don’t speak the language, don’t know anyone, and have to rebuild your life from scratch, uncertainty becomes familiar.
It also instilled a deep sense of gratitude.
My grandparents were a huge influence on me. They immigrated in their 60s, which made the transition especially difficult.
They also inspired my interest in this industry.
Caring for them over a 15-year period was one of the great joys of my life, but it also exposed me to how broken parts of our healthcare system can be.
That experience ultimately led me to A Place for Mom.
Despite all the challenges they faced, my grandparents remained incredibly grateful every day.
That perspective has stayed with me.
Clint Betts: Finally, we end every interview the same way.
At CEO.com, we believe the chances one gives are just as important as the chances one takes.
Who gave you a chance that helped get you where you are today?
Tatyana Zlotsky: I’ve been fortunate to have several people who believed in me before I fully believed in myself.
Tara Walpert Levy was one of the first people who really saw my potential.
Later, at American Express, Julie Fiegenbaum gave me an opportunity I probably wasn’t ready for at the time.
David Rabkin became an incredible sponsor and advocate throughout my career, helping me earn promotions and grow as a leader.
And finally, Larry Kutscher, my predecessor as CEO, has been a tremendous mentor and friend.
He didn’t just believe I could become CEO—he actively helped prepare me for it through a thoughtful succession process.
Without those people and many others, my path would have looked very different.
Today, I try to do the same thing for others: see potential in people before they see it in themselves and give them opportunities that stretch them beyond what they think they’re capable of.
Clint Betts: Tatyana, thank you so much for coming on the show, and thank you for the important work you do. It’s making a real difference.
Tatyana Zlotsky: Thank you so much, Clint. It was a pleasure.