We Need to Talk About...

Sam Gibson-Massey, founder of Hope, joins Louise to unpack what proactive wellbeing really looks like once you strip away the gym passes and free pilates. Drawing on his own burnout and years in big tech talent, Sam makes the case for measurable ROI on wellbeing, why managers are the sandwich generation of work, and why the best company culture is the one that shows up on a bad day. A candid, prac...

Giac Soliman, former Director of Compensation at Monzo and founder of Range, joins Louise to explore what AI can and can't do in the world of compensation and reward. From why pay decisions are too high-stakes to fully automate, to employees turning up with their own ChatGPT salary benchmarks, Giac shares a practical and refreshingly honest take on where the function is heading. He also talks...

Claire Clarke, Director of Hospitality People Services at Moore Kingston Smith, joins Louise for an incredibly open conversation about what it's like to walk into a toxic workplace as an HR leader - and what it takes to walk back out again. Claire shares the red flags she spotted on day one but chose to overlook, why HR professionals are uniquely bad at recognising when the system is broken ar...

Céline Crawford, Director of Operations at Fertifa, joins Louise to talk about why pay gaps stubbornly refuse to close, what transparent salaries actually do in practice, and what proper support around women's health looks like beyond just updating a handbook. Drawing on her own experience of pregnancy loss and her work with organisations of all sizes, Céline shares why psychological safety ma...

Aleksandra Kucza, Senior Global HR Director at ACAMS, joins Louise to talk about why talent reviews are one of the most underrated business processes out there - and how to run them well when your workforce is scattered across the globe. From getting CEO buy-in to tackling proximity bias, Aleksandra shares practical advice on making talent conversations meaningful, why the annual review shouldn&#3...

Tim Mitchell, Chief People Officer at the Institute of Cancer Research, joins Felix to talk about what it takes to build a workplace where different ways of thinking aren't just accepted - they're essential. As a parent of a neurodiverse child and executive sponsor for disability at work, Tim brings both a personal and professional lens to the conversation. They dig into why encouraging mi...

Ellie Evans, seasoned Chef People Officer, joins Louise to challenge whether HR is guilty of over-complicating things - from rebranding part-time work as "fractured roles" to dressing up internal mobility as "talent fluidity". They get into what actually makes change stick, why people management is still the biggest unsolved problem in most organisations, and how apprenticeship...

James Zhang, a global HR professional with a background in mathematics, joins Louise to explore how AI is reshaping the way we think about organisational design, graduate careers, and what makes someone hireable in 2025. From using AI as a mentoring buddy for junior hires to rethinking whether you still need as many managers, James shares a practical and refreshingly honest perspective on what the...

Kameka McLean, Group Head of HR at Walker Crips Investment Management, joins Felix to talk about why HR professionals are burning out in silence - and what needs to change. With burnout among HR professionals reportedly hitting 82% in 2024, Kameka shares her own experience of pushing through when she should have stepped back, the moment she finally prioritised her own wellbeing, and why HR leaders...

Joanna Holmes, HR Director at Wilsons Solicitors, joins Louise to talk about what it's really like to move from big corporate HR into an SME. After 25 years in the profession - including stints at KPMG and B&Q - Joanna shares what she gained from large organisations, why she ultimately craved something different, and the lessons she's learned about getting stuck in, protecting your thi...

Sami Aintaoui, CEO of MBA Group, joins Felix to talk about what it actually looks like when a mid-sized business gets AI adoption right. From running an AI amnesty poll to uncover what tools people were already using, to building AI into their product set and pursuing ISO 42001 accreditation, Sami shares a refreshingly practical take on transformation. They also get into why the org chart is chang...

Isabel Berwick, the Financial Times' Working It editor and author of The Future Proof Career, joins Felix to unpack why workforce happiness has taken such a nosedive. From job hugging and the disengagement crisis to the retreat from 'bring your whole self to work', Isabel shares her take on what's driving the malaise - and what leaders can actually do about it. They also get into the middle manage...

Jasper Joyce, COO of Blenheim Chalcot, joins Felix to discuss what you learn building dozens of companies instead of just one. Jasper shares how they create learning feedback loops across their portfolio, why disciplined operating cadences drive pace, and where defensible moats still exist when AI can replicate software overnight. A masterclass in pattern recognition from seed stage to scale, and...

Jig Ramji, HR Director at Informa, joins Felix to discuss whether the employee-centric shift from Covid is here to stay or regressing. Jig shares why work-life integration matters more than balance, how to actually create psychological safety (not just talk about it), and why leadership outcomes matter more than competencies. A thoughtful conversation about flexible working, consistent leadership,...

John Faulkner-Willcocks, co-founder of Open Org, joins Louise Fraser to discuss how HR leaders can lead AI transformation without prior experience. John explains why top-down AI mandates fail, the hackathon approach that works, and why the best thing you can do is build something yourself and show your team. A practical conversation about creating urgency for change, crowdsourcing solutions, and w...

Rob Quinn, Global Head of Talent and Workforce Planning at Boku, joins Felix to discuss the inflection point when scrappy growth starts breaking things. Rob shares why fast-growing businesses need people who can show humility and vulnerability, how to challenge hiring briefs before they become problems, and why the best leaders make themselves redundant by growing everyone around them. A refreshin...

Jon Busby, Director of Product and Technology at Pretzl, joins Felix to discuss why most AI transformations fail before they start. Leading both a four-brand merger and AI implementation simultaneously, Jon explains why boards focusing on "what AI should we use" miss the point entirely, how his team turned a six-week process into six hours, and why successful businesses using AI won'...

Jennifer Mounce, Chief People Officer at Gentrack Ltd. trained executive coach, joins Felix to explore whether AI can replicate the deeply human practice of coaching. Jennifer explains why coaching helps people find their own answers rather than providing them, where AI augmentation works versus replacement, and the crucial question of keeping coaching safe and ethical when technology enters the p...

Martin Sandhu, co-founder of Nuom & Mindora, joins Felix to discuss what early career professionals should do when traditional entry-level roles are disappearing. Martin shares why the career ladder is dead, how to build a portfolio career instead, and why doing the hard things nobody else wants to do is the secret to standing out. A refreshingly practical conversation about entrepreneurship,...

Vivek Mehrotra, author of a new book on AI orchestration, joins Felix to explore what happens when intelligence becomes abundant and cheap. Moving beyond the "AI will save us" vs "AI will destroy us" debate, Vivek shares why consciousness - not intelligence - is what remains uniquely human, and introduces orchestration patterns (fugue, canon, symphony) for working effectively w...

Goula Charalambous, a veteran HR leader, joins Felix to tackle a question we're not asking enough - how do we build career pathways when AI is automating away traditional junior roles? Goula shares why gut instinct still matters in hiring, the importance of personal brand for both new joiners and managers, and why mental health support is becoming crucial for early-career professionals navigat...

William Ullstein, UK CEO at YouGov, joins Felix to explore the gap between business enthusiasm for AI and consumer scepticism - only 13% of Brits are excited about AI. Will shares how YouGov uses consumer insights to inform their internal rollout, lessons from getting sales tool implementation wrong, and why synthetic audiences might miss the mark when it comes to understanding human behaviour.

Charlie Collard, Chief People Officer at Trinity Bridge, joins Felix to discuss navigating multiple transformations simultaneously - from new ownership and CEO changes to maternity leave and private equity expectations. Charlie shares honest insights on maintaining culture during intense change, the superpower of perspective gained through life transitions, and why discomfort is often a sign you&#...

Emma Cooper, Chief People Officer at System 1 Group, joins Felix to explore what it takes to lead AI adoption across a workforce. From pilot programmes to governance frameworks, Emma shares how System One is empowering teams to experiment with AI tools whilst maintaining security and building genuine excitement for change. A refreshingly honest conversation about bridging product innovation and pe...

Kelly Tucker, founder of HR Star, joins Louise to explore treating people strategy like a product. Drawing from 25 years in HR, Kelly explains why employee engagement works like a subscription model - people subscribe to your organisation and stay when they continuously get value. She discusses avoiding the feedback trap of trying to make everyone happy, supporting multi-generational workforces, a...