Jarra Borman: Director of Strategy & Growth at Zeald and Outrun Global

Host Paul Spain sits down with Jarra Borman, Director of Strategy & Growth at Zeald and Outrun Global. Jarra's career has spanned radio broadcasting, digital transformation, and the rise of remote global teams. He experienced the disruptive shift from traditional to digital media during his time at Yellow, before helping drive Zeald's growth and co-founding Outrun Global, a business helping New Zealand companies boost productivity through remote staffing and emerging technologies, including AI.

Along the way, Jarra discusses the personal challenges that forced a rethink of his approach to work, what New Zealand businesses can learn about leveraging global talent and automation, and why now is the time to rethink not just the tools we use, but how we work altogether.

Special thanks to our show partners One New Zealand, Outrun Global and Gorilla Technology. Hosted by Paul Spain, CEO and Futurist at Gorilla Technology.

Episode summary & key quotes from the full conversation

From kiwifruit orchards to the breakfast show

Jarra grew up around Tauranga, where his father worked as a foreman on kiwifruit orchards. A summer job suggested by his mother led him into radio, and he ended up co-hosting More FM's breakfast show, which became the number one show on the country's number one metropolitan station. He later bought and ran his own station.

“It was hard work. There was a dedication to having to get there, to work those hours, and then you'd do it all again the next day.”

Watching the first big industry get “nailed by digital”

In 2011 Jarra moved to Yellow, right as the phone book business was being upended by the internet and Google. He describes it as the first major traditional media business to be completely disrupted by digital, and the lesson it taught him about staying customer-led rather than product-led.

“It was the first big traditional media type of business that got nailed by digital. The phone book was being decimated by the internet, and Google specifically.”

Joining Zeald, and the organic start of Outrun Global

From Yellow, Jarra joined web and digital marketing company Zeald in 2016. Zeald's use of offshore contractors for cost and quality reasons grew into a formal practice, which eventually became its own business: Outrun Global.

“We started going down that path, looking at contractors offshore, and found that the quality was actually really good. Eventually we formalised it, and it became Outrun Global.”

A health scare that forced a rethink of how work gets done

Jarra shares a serious back injury, first sustained in 2019, that at one point left him unable to walk and recovering in bed, joining video calls with the camera off. Rebuilding his workload while unable to physically be at a desk forced him to rethink work as a set of tasks and activities that could be redesigned, delegated or automated, rather than a fixed role.

“I was literally lying in bed using a laptop, joining video calls without the video on. No one needs to see that. It forced me to look at my job as a set of activities and tasks, not just a role.”

Where AI helps, and where it needs a human standing next to it

Jarra is direct about being both encouraged and unsettled by how capable AI tools have become for tasks like content generation and workflow automation. His view is that businesses need to be deliberate about where AI is deployed, particularly anywhere it touches customer experience directly.

“It kind of scares me, honestly, anyone that understands the power of the technology should feel that way a bit. You've got to be really intentional with where you deploy AI, especially anywhere there's a customer experience on the line.”

New Zealand's productivity problem, and remote teams as part of the answer

Outrun Global itself now operates fully remote, with no office. Jarra argues New Zealand lags Australia in embracing remote and global team structures, and sees this as a meaningful lever on the country's broader productivity challenge.

“We're really behind in New Zealand, to be perfectly blunt. Australia has embraced remote working and global teams a lot more than we have, and I think it's a real answer to our productivity problem.”

His one tip for listeners

Asked to leave listeners with a single piece of advice, Jarra's answer circles back to where the conversation started: understand your business as a set of activities and tasks first, before deciding what to automate, delegate or hire out.

“If you're a business owner or manager, you should be looking at your business as a set of activities and tasks, not just roles. That's the starting point for everything else.”