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Since landing her first full time job as a receptionist for a marketing agency in Scotland aged 16, Founder and CEO of SmartPA, Sarra Bejaoui has spent her career reimagining admin. From supporting startups to empowering stakeholders at Google, SmartPA has built a model where technology amplifies human capability rather than replaces it.
In the first of our bi-monthly Q&A series with the team behind the business, Sarra explains how AI, automation and the human brain intersect, and how SmartPA is reshaping a sector long overdue for innovation.
Q: You’ve said that your early work as a receptionist shaped your understanding of service. How does that connect to the sophisticated, tech-driven model you run today?
Sarra: The connection is bigger than people might think. At 16, I obviously wasn’t thinking about automation or global scalability. It was my first ever full-time job and I loved it. All I wanted to do was represent the company in the best way possible, so I was always thinking about how to make someone’s experience seamless, whether that was a client on the phone, or a colleague I was supporting.
What I learned early on is that “admin” is really about enabling other people to perform at their absolute best. Today, technology has developed to the point that it’s able to scale that ability, enabling better, faster, more intuitive support. The human element still leads but tech amplifies it.
Q: What fundamentally differentiates SmartPA from the wider virtual PA market?
Sarra: Most virtual PA models focus on tasks. We focus on systems. We’ve built an approach that is:
- AI-enabled, not AI-replaced
- Data-driven, with measurable output
- Agile and scalable, from startups to enterprise
- Transparent, so clients see the true ROI.
Traditional admin support is one-to-one. Our model is one-to-many because smart use of tech allows a single SmartPA to support more stakeholders without compromising quality. You can’t achieve that with old paradigms.
Q: You talk about the importance of pairing AI with the “human conductor". What does that mean in practical terms?
Sarra: If you think about a smartphone, it doesn’t replace your thinking, it accelerates it. That’s how we see AI. A tool can summarise, schedule, or automate. But a human understands context, priority, tone, and nuance.
AI covers the ground but it’s the human brain that chooses the direction. Our SmartPAs orchestrate those tools to create output that is not only faster, but smarter. That’s where organisations see the real gains.
Q: How is SmartPA using automation to transform traditional PA and admin functions?
Sarra: Many organisations have admin structures that haven’t evolved for decades. They’re rigid and resource-heavy, and they often lack the investment needed to keep skills current.
We come in and identify where automation can create immediate efficiency. Then we redesign workflows so the human resource is focused on high-value work. Once we clean up the process, the support model becomes leaner, more effective and far more cost-efficient.
We’re not replacing people, we’re elevating them and enabling them to identify and focus on whatever their sweet spot is.
Q: What does this look like inside global organisations?
Sarra: Take a tech giant we work with. They employ a lot of incredibly valuable experts. Every hour those employees spend on admin is an hour taken away from innovation and potentially years lost in competitive advantage.
If we can give them back even 5–10% of their time by removing context switching and enable them to focus 100% of their energy where it counts, the operational impact is enormous. Time is a strategic asset and our job is to protect it.
Q: And for startups or early-stage companies?
Sarra: Startups need acceleration, not drag. Their founders and sales leaders need to be focused on generating revenue, testing ideas and building relationships, not trying to balance a diary or manage inbox overload.
SmartPA is a plug-and-play solution. We come in light, cost-effectively, and with immediate impact. As the business scales, our support scales with it.
We’re democratising high-quality admin so it’s not just for enterprise it’s for anyone who wants to grow faster.
Q: You’ve emphasised measurement as a point of difference SmartPA has to other virtual PA agencies. Why is data so essential in admin support now?
Sarra: Admin has always been valuable, but without data, admin is invisible.
We break down time usage by task, stakeholder and function. We show leaders exactly where support is driving performance and where efficiencies are gained.
When you quantify the impact for clients (such as reduced admin hours, improved KPIs, and increased revenue capacity), then support transforms from a cost to a strategic guide.
Q: As AI evolves, what do you see as the next frontier for SmartPA and the sector?
Sarra: I see the future of admin as hybrid where technology is doing the heavy lifting while humans deliver intelligence, empathy and strategic insight.
People often forget that tech innovation requires human upskilling. We’re working to futureproof our sector by building teams specifically focused on automation, workflow optimisation and AI literacy.
Q: What excites you most about where SmartPA is heading next?
Sarra: We’re not just keeping up with the future of work, we’re helping to shape it.
As organisations become more global, more digital and more competitive, the need for smart, tech-driven support will only grow. And we’re right at this intersection of efficiency, empowerment and innovation.
What drives me is knowing that with the right blend of tech and human expertise, we can remove blockers from people’s lives and enable them to produce their best work at scale. We all want to be the best versions of ourselves in all elements of our lives and I really believe that the support we offer businesses helps individuals and teams to feel valued and able to shine.
About SmartPA
SmartPA is a leading provider of transformative business support services, disrupting the industry with our highly skilled teams and proprietary methodology, which is enabled by technology and supported by Generative AI.
We help organisations simplify admin and scale faster by combining process optimisation, simplification and cutting-edge technology.
We deliver measurable ROI and unlock potential by removing administrative burden, allowing our clients to focus on top-line growth while we deliver bottom-line impact through data-led decisions.
Find out more
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