After Dinner Chats

What is the true state of AI adoption in business today? In this unscripted keynote from the Mediaspace.global Leadership Club & Mixer, James Welch (Growth Lead at WPP Choreograph Tech & AI Consulting) breaks down the realities of artificial intelligence using a classic cinematic lens: Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly . From the dangers of AI hallucinations and the impending...

Adam Morgan is the founder of consultancy Eat Big Fish and author of the landmark marketing book Eating the Big Fish . In this episode, host James Welch sits down with Adam to explore why the challenger brand concept is widely known yet deeply misunderstood — and why a challenger mindset is just as powerful inside Uber as it is inside a startup. Adam shares the origin story of his consultancy (bor...

Rigour and standards are the only real competitive advantage left in creative strategy. So why is the industry sprinting away from both? Rob Campbell is a global creative strategist who has deliberately spent his career moving across countries and cultures — from the UK to the US, China, New Zealand, and beyond — to escape the industry bubble and understand what truly makes people and brands tick....

Are AI tools signalling the death of creative agencies as we know them today? On the second anniversary of his consulting business, Spark AI , the regular guest lecturer on the Advanced Diploma for AI in Business at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford , Jules Love joins me to discuss how the agency landscape is shifting fast. He even wrote the book on the subject, SHIFT. Yes, our host James...

In this episode, we dive deep into B2B marketing strategy and the latest consumer behaviour trends with Annabel Venner, former Global Brand Director at Coca-Cola and Hiscox. If you want global marketing insights that challenge the status quo and reveal how to pivot your campaigns for modern audiences, this is a must-listen. Key Takeaways: The New Consumer Thoughtfulness: Why buyers are ditching ge...

In an ad-tech world increasingly driven by AI, human connection remains the most powerful strategy we have. Join us as we explore the future of programmatic curation and supply-side decisioning with Fern Potter, SVP of Strategy & Partnerships at Multilocal. In this episode, Fern explains how streamlining the audience experience is creating viable alternatives to the walled gardens. We also div...

In this episode, host James Welch sits down with original "Maths Man" and analytics pioneer, James Walker. From their early days at JWT to James’s successful exit selling Edge Consulting to Accenture, they discuss the existential shifts in the advertising data landscape. James Walker breaks down why Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) is experiencing a massive resurgence in 2026, why Multi-Touch Attribut...

Host James Welch sits down with Criteo’s Steve Mader, a commerce heavyweight operating at the intersection of retail’s future and global brand strategy. Steve unpacks the critical signals from Amazon Unboxed and reveals how Criteo is simplifying and democratising access to retail media for the world's biggest brands. Tune in for a masterclass on rewiring organisations for e-commerce and why the "m...

20 - Jesh Sukwani : Asia’s Edge, Media’s Future & The Power of Travel Data Host James Welch, a former 24-7 Media innovation captain, grills Global Media and Marketing Transformation Executive Jesh Sukwani—the mastermind who once led Zaxis behind the Great Firewall in China for WPP. Now based in Milan, Jesh shares his winning strategies for future-proofing a CMO’s toolkit. Tune in as they dive...

Welcome to After Dinner Chats: Signals & Sparks, the series where we find the method in the madness and the signal in the deafening noise of data and tech. This week, host James Welch brings in a guest from his own team: WPP's David Spencer. David's the colleague who gets the "weird and wonderful" tech problems, the ones ad agencies don't normally solve, and somehow finds a "springboard for su...

Welcome to "Signals & Sparks," the podcast that finds the method in the madness and the data behind the creative spark. This week, James Welch sits down with Jamie Sergeant , founder of the global marketing agency Crowd. Jamie joins the pod to talk AI, global insights, and... giant penises? (Yes, you read that right.) The Signal in the Noise Jamie's signal is the great AI showdown: USA vs. Chi...

Welcome to the second episode of Season Two, Signals & Sparks! Our 17th guest is the brilliant Dr. Kate Devlin, Professor of AI and Society at King's College London. Kate is a leading expert on how we emotionally engage with technology. She's on a mission to explore the complex, messy, and fascinating relationships we're building with AI, from digital companions to the ethics of resurrecting t...

Welcome to the first episode of Season Two, Signals & Sparks! Our 16th guest is the brilliant Paul Evans, founder of the positioning company, version. Paul is on a mission to transform positioning from a static, 40-year-old marketing concept into a dynamic, data-driven capability fit for the intelligence era. In this episode, we explore: The Signal in the Noise Paul shares two fascinating sign...

After Dinner Chats, Ripped Off Less Ep6: Welch v Welch Welcome to today’s conversation. These conversations started over dinners where James welch gets to introduce everyone at the table. Dinners are always fun. And sometimes useful, but the end of the day doesn’t really matter how it’s fun or useful it’s just the fact that we are all there connecting and making sure that we can all see what’s com...

After Dinner Chats, Ripped Off Less Ep5: Programmatic Trust & Transparency Get ready for a double dose of industry brilliance on the latest #AfterDinnerChats! Episode Five features two incredible leaders tackling trust and transparency from two unique angles. First up, meet Mo Moubayed , the co-founder of Veridoo ! We dive into the world of Out-of-Home advertising and how his team is bringing...

After Dinner Chats, Ripped Off Less Ep4: Humour, Ad Fraud & Business Agility What does it truly mean to get "ripped off less" in business? Is it purely about price, or is it about transparency, ROI, and genuine value? On the 'After Dinner Chats' podcast, several leaders shared their unique approach to this very question, revealing a broad spectrum of what creating value really looks like. For...

After Dinner Chats, Ripped Off Less Ep3: Emotion, Ethics & Escapades in Adland Get ready for a rollercoaster ride through the sharpest minds and funniest misadventures in the world of media and marketing. Episode Three of After Dinner Chats brings you a triple-threat of insight and hilarity with Dilip Shukla, Claire Gleeson-Landry, and Philippa White. First up, Dilip Shukla of Reset Digital wi...

After Dinner Chats, Ripped Off Less Ep2: AI Strategies, AdTech Realities & User Truths Ever wondered what it's like to be a fly on the wall at one of those incredible dinner parties where fascinating minds connect? Well, "After Dinner Chats" (an offshoot of TNDP The Next Dinner Party ) was born precisely for that reason! I wanted to share the fabulous and interesting people who've graced my di...

After Dinner Chats, Ripped Off Less Ep1: Truth, Talent & Transparency Welcome to the After Dinner Chats series, where we connect with fascinating people, always a little bit senior, always a bit shinier than most, to see what’s coming around the corner in the vibrant, and sometimes bewildering, worlds of media, marketing, and ad tech. These episodes will be triple-headers, diving deep into how...