Talent Smart Podcast

For the past two decades, Lucy has been a member of the Executive Committee at three global law firms. In these roles, she has been instrumental in reorienting the organisational strategy towards client-centricity. Her experience includes leading corporate strategy, reputation management, corporate communications, government relations and product development. Lucy is renowned as an outcomes-based...

In this fascinating insight into the world of Data we uncover what do CEOs often misunderstand and when boards talk about “being data-driven,” what do you think they usually mean and what are they often missing. We talk about a “data knowledge gap” in organisations — how to define that gap, and why is it so dangerous right now. We also ask why do so many organisations still struggle to understand...

Anna Westerhoff-Mason - Building High-Performing Teams in Startup & Scale-Up Environments In this insightful episode, we discuss high-performing teams in startup and scale-up environments and we uncover what does that actually look like day-to-day — not in theory, but in reality.  We unpick the importance of Defining culture early and what should leaders focus on first: values, behaviours, or...

What does it really take to build world-class engineering teams at global scale — and sustain velocity without sacrificing quality? In this episode, we sit down with Lyndsay MacLeod, an award-winning Continuous Improvement leader with 20+ years of experience driving large-scale transformation across engineering, manufacturing and financial services. This isn’t theory. It’s hard-won insight from so...

Claire Talbot – Creating a culture for success We welcomed Claire Talbot. Claire is the VP of IT at Smartest Energy, a people-powered energy company that helps businesses buy, sell and trade energy with confidence. Within this role, she is responsible for the design, development and implementation of their Enterprise information systems, software applications, IT support and infrastructure systems...

Nicholas Smith - "How communication skills define careers"   Nicholas is a highly experienced Chief Operating Officer and Technology Strategy and Transformation Executive, with over 20 years of experience in solving enterprise-wide business and technology problems for large organisations in Financial Services and Central Government. He has a proven track record in driving Operational Excellence, e...

Sarah is a leader in customer experience, consulting, strategy and operations. Identifying opportunities & driving value in large business transformation within operating models, processes, technologies, data, & insights.  She holds a consistent record for delivering results, driving operational excellence & delivering complex transformation programmes, and growing multi-million £ prac...

Andrew Craig is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and founder of a personal finance business - Plain English Finance. His stated mission with the company is "to improve the financial affairs of as many people as possible". In this insightful interview we wanted to know more about what inspired Andrew to write Live Less, Invest & Rest, (plus other two books) and what is the core message he h...

Greg Ward is a proven international business leader with more than 25 years’ experience driving transformational growth, operational excellence and organisational performance across a wide range of industries – including aviation, security, facilities management, construction, manufacturing and engineering. As CEO of PTSG, Greg leads one of the UK’s most innovative and ambitious providers of speci...

Gurps is a global leader within a major bank and motivational speaker, with many years of corporate change management, fitness modelling and body building.   We spoke about his Transformation Mindset and how Gurps spent 9 years sculpting his body with incredible discipline, and how that same mindset influenced the way he approached complex business transformation programmes.   We then discussed wh...

Andrew Gaule has over 25 years’ experience leading technology and business transformation, from dotcom and electric vehicles to today’s AI-driven change. He works with corporates and innovative ventures on strategy, investment, implementation, and takes on fractional senior executive roles to help leadership teams trial and embed AI into core processes and business models. Andrew is the author of...

We were very excited to interview Dennis Akkerman, the founder and managing director of Orbis Business School. He has over two decades of experience in leading major transformations in more than 25 countries. He has worked with multinational companies including; Citibank, HSBC, Shell, and Coca-Cola, as well as entrepreneurs and SMEs. In his first book, The Naked Leader, Dennis shares a unique, str...

Ian Pears is the former VP of Information Security at Carnival Cruises (P&O, Cunard..etc). During 30 years in the Royal Navy, Ian worked extensively in the design, management, and delivery of Information Warfare capability. With two commands served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as supporting Naval operations he also stood up the Royal Navy’s nascent Cyber Defence capability; Ian had a numbe...

Up until very recently, Andy was the New Product Development Director at Dyson. He's a proven senior director with 25+ years of experience driving product development, business transformation, and operational excellence in global technology and innovation-driven organisations. Trusted by the C-suite to lead major transformation initiatives, blending strategic vision with tactical execution to driv...

Craig is currently serving as the Group Director of IT at Hotelplan Group, overseeing technology strategy and operations for some of the UK's most respected travel brands. His leadership has been pivotal in enhancing operational efficiency and delivering exceptional customer experiences. Recognised for his strategic vision and ability to lead Global cross-functional teams, Craig has been instrumen...

Jessica S. Hall is the Chief Growth Officer at OpsCanvas, leading product strategy, market positioning, and go-to-market execution. A seasoned product and design leader, she has extensive experience in guiding companies through digital transformation and building customer-centric products. A TEDx speaker and Co-author of The Product Mindset, Jessica has led multimillion-dollar product redesigns, b...

Director of Digital Product and Business Partnering at HBK - Hottinger Brüel & Kjær, Charlotte Bemand is an accomplished executive with extensive experience working across global FTSE 100 corporations, family-owned enterprises, multinational organisations, and the public sector. She specialises in strategic development, transformation, and scaling delivery, with a focus on new market entry, M&...

Gurdeep currently serves as an advisor to several private equity firms and IT services companies around the world. In addition to his advisory roles, he’s also an investor and strategic partner in an AI startup behind two innovative products: ConnectingYouNow.ai (CYN) and Firebreak.ai. His expertise lies in supporting executive teams to build robust go-to-market strategies and drive consistent bus...

In this episode, Brenden shares his experience in transitioning legacy businesses to digital.  Including the initial impetus for starting the digital transformation. We discussed some of the biggest challenges when transforming a traditionally analogue business into a digital-first organisation. Brenden shares with us how to assess the digital maturity of a legacy business before creating a transf...

Russell is an experienced senior leader with a proven track record of successfully building business, managing change, developing individuals and leading global projects. Expert in transforming struggling operations by redesigning and achieving organisational goals. Holder of the Institute of Directors Certificate in Company Direction and full Member of the IoD. Equipped to deliver effective solut...

Nicola’s career has been within organisations that build or make products; with IT as an enabler and a service. She has worked across multiple sectors including - Oil and Gas, FMCG, Engineering, Utilities and government regulatory bodies. Nicola has been a leader in many types of organisations from the very large enterprises to the very small and a range of sizes and ownership models in between. S...

Neil Fenton is a software entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in creating new software products and systems with a particular focus on identity and access management technologies delivered on a SaaS basis.   In this episode, we cover the biggest challenges in managing multi-country teams, and to overcome them, together with discussing the technological tools and platforms that can be mos...

Jora Gill is CEO and Co-founder of FireBreak, where they spearhead AI and Graph technologies to improve IT project outcomes and mitigate project risks early. He is also CEO and Co-Founder of ConnectingYouNow, where they lead initiatives to improve organisational productivity through a personalised conversational search and analytics platform, with a focus on accessibility. Jora holds a number of n...

Henry is an experienced and successful CxO and change professional, with excellent stakeholder management and inter-personal skills. He has significant years of experience in managing large-scale businesses and technology change programmes (£5m to £800m), especially in the digital space, for a wide variety of UK and European-based Insurance and Media companies and Central Government departments. I...

Amol is a Commercial Growth Leader & Managing Director with 20+ years of experience driving digital transformation across global technology firms, including AND Digital, ThoughtWorks, Slalom, Wipro, and Oracle. He has a passion for leveraging Data and AI to create transformative impact and has consistently built competitive market strategies, executed pioneering go-to-market initiatives, and f...