The Human Loop Podcast

What happens when a CEO who's leading a 400 person global business built around AI powered productivity gets dealt a scenario where a meaningful strategic decision he championed, a senior sales leader hire he personally made, has produced mixed results at best, the evidence is strong enough that reversing course is defensible, and there's two weeks until the next board meeting? Sabby unpacks how D...

What happens when a founder who spent 22 years building a £50 million family jewellery business gets dealt a scenario where the revenue number isn't going to hit, the board doesn't know yet, and there's 96 hours to walk into a leadership meeting with a credible plan? Ed draws the Money Card and breaks down his approach in real time. He gets into why owning it straight away comes first, how his dad...

What happens when a hospitality leader who co-founded a startup and now runs workplace experience in financial services gets dealt a scenario where her most credible competitor makes a move that puts them in direct conflict with her strategy? Rachel draws the Strategy Card and breaks down her approach in real time. She gets into why authenticity beats following the noise, how pivoting is only okay...

What happens when a leader who's spent the last five years navigating digital transformation and change management gets dealt a scenario where the revenue number isn't going to hit, the board doesn't know yet, and there's 96 hours to walk into a leadership meeting with a credible plan? Ryan draws the Money Card and breaks down his approach in real time. He gets into why owning it comes first, how...

What happens when the host gets put in the hot seat and has to answer his own decision sprint? Ben breaks down his approach in real time, getting into why he'd never walk into that offsite without making the call first, how his answer at 21 would have been to ignore it completely, and what changed when he learned to ask himself is it skill or will before making a decision on someone's future. The...

What happens when a founder who runs a four day work week AI business gets dealt a scenario where their most credible competitor just made a move that puts them in direct conflict with your strategy, the board is forwarding articles, your team is asking questions, and you've got 10 days to present your position? John Readman, founder of Ask Bosco, an AI powered digital marketing platform, draws th...

What happens when a former Royal Marine turned cybersecurity founder gets dealt a scenario where the revenue number isn't going to hit, the board doesn't know yet, and there's 96 hours to walk into a leadership meeting with a credible plan? Ollie, co-founder of Cybaverse, a 50 person cybersecurity platform that recently closed a £5 million Series A, draws the Money Card and breaks down his approac...

Jack from We Have a Meeting took on the Strategy Card scenario, where a credible competitor makes a move that puts them in direct conflict with your strategy. The signal is undeniable, the noise is deafening, Zac is asking questions, the board is forwarding articles, and you've got 10 days to present your position before at least three of your peers make a move. This episode breaks down exactly wh...

What happens when a leader with decades of experience across military, recruitment, and M&A gets dealt a scenario about reversing a strategic decision that's publicly attached to their name? James breaks down why good money after bad is nonsense, why waiting for a board meeting to make the call only makes things worse, and how experience teaches you to recognize when something's not working before...

What happens when a leader chooses compassion over clarity in a high stakes decision? Phil Hobden, Head of Advocacy at Sage, scored 35% on his Decision Sprint. This episode breaks down exactly why. Ben unpacks Phil's approach to the Trust Card scenario, where someone respected and visible is crossing a line and about to be publicly recognised in five days. The breakdown reveals why his person cent...

What happens when a 40 year recruitment veteran with a reputation for building legendary teams takes on a live Decision Sprint? Gary Goldsmith, founder of multiple training vehicles including RDLC, Proud to be a Pirate, and Pi Cubed, draws the Reversal Card and immediately says it's too easy. He passes. Then gets dealt a scenario about defending a strategic bet that's produced mixed results at bes...

What happens when a leader who topped the leaderboard breaks down their decision in real time? Saeed Bor, founder of Embedded Ops and 15 year recruitment veteran, scored 56% on his Decision Sprint, the highest score on the leaderboard at the time. This episode breaks down exactly why. Ben unpacks Saeed's approach to the Trust Card scenario, where someone respected and visible is crossing a line an...

What happens when a high-performing sales leader who thrives on clarity gets put under pressure with zero direction? Scarlett, an AI-powered influence marketing leader with over a decade of experience across estate agency, recruitment, and tech sales, takes on a live Decision Sprint and draws the Strategy Card. She gets into why psychological safety isn't about freedom, it's about clarity. Why emo...

What happens when a leader who topped the leaderboard unpacks their decision-making process in real time? Ollie Whiting, Group CEO of La Fosse, a £200 million staffing and consulting business, scored 57% on his Decision Sprint, the highest score on the leaderboard at the time. This episode breaks down exactly why. More from Oli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliverwhiting/ Powered By Atherio, Real-t...

John Reynolds, founder of Titan Property Developments and host of Extraordinary Life Stories podcast, sits down for a conversation that goes deep on what it actually means to lead yourself before you lead anyone else. He gets into why leadership is less about experience and more about relationships, what he learned from scaling a £250 million property business before walking away, and how conducti...

Natalie Arendale, MBA, Enterprise Payments & Commercial Leader with 10+ years scaling fintech businesses across APAC and London, takes on a live Decision Sprint and draws the Strategy Card. She gets into what leading a team she'd never met through a global pandemic taught her about intentional leadership, why silence is the worst move when a competitor makes a move in market, and how to keep high-...

Ollie Whiting, Group CEO of La Fosse , a £200 million staffing and consulting business, takes on a live Decision Sprint and draws the People Card. He also gets into what he's learned about leadership over the last five years, why employee ownership changes everything, the role of a meeting chair in surfacing real opinions, and why indecision is more dangerous than a wrong call. Plus, we break down...

What Would You Do If You Knew Someone Was Crossing a Line? Phil Hobden, Head of Advocacy at Sage, takes on a live AI-powered leadership challenge — and draws the Trust Card. The scenario: a respected, visible colleague is crossing a line. A public recognition event is five days away. Do you say something? When? How? His answer unpacks difficult conversations, when to escalate, and why staying sile...

What happens when a leader discovers someone is crossing a line and has five days before they're publicly recognized for their work? In this episode of The Human Loop Podcast, Saeed Bor, founder of Embedded Ops and 15-year recruitment veteran, takes on a live Decision Sprint that tests his values, speed, and leadership instincts under pressure. Plus, Saeed shares a real-world example of a leader h...

What happens when a founder is forced to make a high-stakes leadership decision in real time? In this episode of The Human Loop Podcast, Zach and Jack from We Have A Meeting take on a live leadership challenge designed to test strategic thinking, communication, and decision-making under pressure. The conversation dives into: Why motivation goes beyond money Building high-performing teams through o...

This week on The Human Loop, I'll be sharing key insights from my day at Aibl Live, a leadership and AI event in London attended by CEOs, founders, and business leaders across the UK. What started as a conversation about AI quickly became a conversation about leadership, culture, trust, and the future of work. I break down the “three cliffs” preventing businesses from seeing real ROI from AI adopt...

This week I answer some quick-fire questions on AI, the knowing–doing gap, and why businesses are investing heavily in leadership development but still struggling to see real results. I cover the $366B spent on people each year, why most learning doesn’t translate into performance, and what really happens when it’s time to apply it in the real world. I also share thoughts on how AI is starting to...

In this week’s episode, we unpack some of the best moments from recent shows, exploring what it really means to keep the human in the loop in an AI-driven world. From rethinking how businesses measure value (time vs revenue), to the growing gap in leadership support, we highlight the conversations that matter most right now. We also dive into how AI is reshaping roles, not replacing them, and why...

In this episode, I sit down with Dodge Woodall, a serial entrepreneur and we explore the tension between the rapid rise of AI and the growing loss of human connection. We break down how AI is being used in real life and business, the difference between tools like ChatGPT and Claude, and why understanding this technology is becoming essential to stay relevant. Finally, we unpack the truth about bui...

In this episode, we break down the growing disengagement crisis in the global workforce and why it’s costing businesses trillions. We also get into the real root of the problem: leadership. Why leaders aren’t paying attention, how that’s impacting productivity and retention, and what it means when only a fraction of your workforce is truly engaged. Finally, we unpack what “engagement” actually mea...