Don't Stop Us Now AI Edition

Hosted by Claire Hatton & Greta Thomas

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226

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Artificial Intelligence is the most transformative technology since the harnessing of electricity according to former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. A world where personal AI agents anticipate our every need and are our closest companions is potentially just around the corner. And that’s where Don’t Stop Us Now AI Edition comes in. Convinced about the mammoth impact of AI, we’re going all in on AI for the foreseeable future. Together with leading experts, we’ll explore how your job may change or what new skills you may want to develop to stay relevant. We’ll bring you the smartest of AI tools and tips you can try out now, and our impressive guests will paint vivid, and sometimes mind blowing, pictures of how their industries will change in the coming years. Keep listening for all you need to know and actionable insights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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June 7, 202618 min

Pawns or Players? The Future of AI - Claire and Greta

Until now, we've approached AI on the show as something we all need to experiment with, adapt to, and lean into. Today, we are taking a different approach. This is the episode where we share our frank views on where the world is at with AI development, and why the governance gap between what's being built and how it's being governed keeps us awake at night. We're not here to alarm you but we do think this is a conversation we all need to be a part of. The good news is that plenty of others think this is important too.We talk about Pope Leo XIV's remarkable encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the fact that he invited Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah to speak alongside him at its launch. What Olah said is under-reported yet very significant. And now, the very morning after we recorded this, Anthropic has published a major blog piece on where AI model development is heading and they also included clear calls for a global slow down on frontier model development: “If it were possible to effectively slow the development of this technology to give ourselves more time to deal with its immense implications, we think that would likely be a good thing.” The timing of this significant post just emphasises to us what an important window of time we are in right now. In this episode you’ll hear:The astonishing AI city simulation that raises uncomfortable questions about autonomous agents left to their own devicesWhy voices from inside the AI industry itself are now calling loudly for oversight and regulationWhat the Pope's encyclical says about power, purpose, and who AI should serveWhy the state of Illinois just passed what many are calling America's strongest AI safety legislation yet, and Simple, concrete ways each of us can make our voices countThis is the episode for those who want agency and to be pawns engaged citizens of the world. Useful LinksPope Leo XIV’s Encyclical letterAnthropic’s June 4th blog Emergence AI Agent Experiment Info Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 13, 202636 min

The CEO Power AI User - Joseph Lyons

If you've ever wondered what it actually looks like when a CEO goes all in on AI, not just in their business but in their own daily work, then you are going to love this week’s conversation.Our guest is Joseph Lyons, CEO of ELMO Software, an HR and workforce management platform used across thousands of organisations. Joseph is a seasoned executive with many years at major tech companies including a stint as a regional Managing Director at accounting software powerhouse Xero.Joseph is genuinely one of the most hands-on AI leaders we've spoken to. As you’ll hear, he uses AI for everything from synthesising board papers to interrogating hundreds of customer calls for strategic insight. He describes having AI as like having a personal chief of staff that never sleeps. In this episode Joseph also shares:How he and his team use AI as a "red hat" to challenge their strategic thinkingWhy his AI human coach turned out to be 25 years his juniorThe executive productivity agent built by his HR team, andWhat ELMO is doing to make AI adoption the norm, not the exception.Joseph also has some refreshingly practical advice for time-poor, busy leaders on how to actually get started using AI.In short, Joseph is very generous in sharing with us how he works with AI in his day to day role. Whether you're a CEO, a senior leader, or simply someone who wants to understand how AI is reshaping the way executives work, we’re confident you’ll take a lot from this conversation. Enjoy this episode with the savvy and forward-thinking Joseph Lyons.Useful linksELMO Software websiteJoseph on LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 28, 202646 min

Your Job, Redesigned - Helena Turpin

Most of us can see that AI is reshaping our working lives. But what if you could actually see the data on exactly which parts of your job are heading for automation, and which skills you should be doubling down on right now because AI can’t do them better than you? That's precisely what this week’s guest, Helena Turpin, and her company GoFIGR have built. Helena is the co-founder and CEO of GoFIGR, a workforce intelligence company that helps organisations make smarter and more human decisions about their future workforce.In this episode, Helena shares what she's seeing inside organisations right now and what typically surprises leaders when they see their GoFIGR data for the first time.Happily, there's also a genuinely optimistic strand running through this conversation. Helena makes a compelling case for redesigning roles around what humans do best and how we’ve imagined and constructed roles before, and that now it’s time for us to do this again. In this episode you'll also learn:The sobering percentage of tasks across typical HR roles that are likely to be impacted by AIExamples of the uniquely human skills where humans will continue to do a better job than AI The three AI adoption scenarios Helena models for organisations, and how even those opting to go ‘light on’ with AI will still be far more impacted than they realise Why imagination may just be the key to how our roles will look in future, and . . .How GoFIGR’s free assessment tool disaggregates your role into individual tasks and shows you which tasks AI will automate or lead on, and which skills you should focus on building.Helena's perspective is grounded, data-led and surprisingly optimistic. She believes the future of work is ours to create, and this conversation will help you feel more equipped to do exactly that.Useful LinksGoFIGR free AI Impact Assessment tool: Helena Turpin on LinkedInGoFIGR websiteHelena's Substack newsletter on the future of jobs and work Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 7, 202625 min

AI Agent Landscape Decoded - Claire & Greta

Are you hearing about AI agents everywhere right now? Whether it's their presence in the software you use daily, special purpose or task “agents”, or customer service “agents”, it's safe to say they are the topic 'du jour'. In this week’s episode, we segment this confusing landscape and cut through the hype to help you make more sense of it all.After weeks of interviewing guests across different corners of the agentic AI world, we realised the market has become genuinely bewildering, even for us! Vendors are slapping the word "agent" on almost anything, and it's getting harder to tell what's substantive and what's marketing.Listen in to hear about the simple framework we've developed to bring clarity to the whole ecosystem. It maps out the key choices facing any business considering agents, the questions you should be asking, and where the real risks are quietly hiding.Regardless of whether your organisation is ready to start experimenting with agents or not, this episode will help you take the first steps when you are ready. As they say, when you can see something clearly, your decisions become easier.In this episode you’ll learn:The four very different ways to bring agents into your organisation — and why the question isn't "which is best?"Why some of the SaaS tools you already pay for might quietly be putting you in a "hostage situation"What a team of Harvard, MIT and Stanford researchers just uncovered about one of the most hyped agent platforms on the marketThe layer of the agent ecosystem where the real cyber security risks liveFour sharp questions to ask any vendor before letting their agent anywhere near your data and systemsEnjoy this practical and jargon-light guide to a topic that isn't going away anytime soon.Useful LinksMcKinsey / Quantum Black report: Seizing the agentic AI advantageCapgemini report - ‘Rise of Agentic AI’ MIT Sloan & BCG Report - Leading in the age of AI Agents (useful for Governance and structuring once you’ve made agentic decisions) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

March 12, 202637 min

AI on the Org Chart - Patrick Forth

What does it actually mean to have a colleague who never sleeps, never calls in sick, and can hold thousands of conversations at once? Not in theory but right now, in real organisations?Our guest this week is Patrick Forth, an Group Executive Director at FutureSecure AI, a company that builds what they call AI co-workers: sophisticated agentic systems that sit on org charts, have names and personas, and are managed much like human employees. Patrick shares what some of the AI co-workers they’ve built so far actually do in enterprises today and what it takes to get them working inside organisations.In this episode you'll hear:About the AI co-worker managing thousands of scheduling conversations on WhatsAppWhy their AI co-workers focus on complex, high-return use cases rather than simple automation Patrick's take on the job loss debateHow one organisation puts humans and AI co-workers on the same org chart just in different colours, and Whether AI co-workers should be treated like software or like colleagues.If you want a glimpse into the possible future of your workplace and colleagues then enjoy this episode with someone who’s at the coalface helping companies choose use cases and deploying AI co-workers right nowUseful LinksFutureSecure AI website Patrick Forth on LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

February 23, 202649 min

What Happens When AI Does Your Shopping - Katja Forbes

AI shopping agents aren't just on the horizon, they're here, already transacting, and already raising some important questions.In this episode, we speak with Katja Forbes an award winning customer experience futurist, business strategist, and keynote speaker recognised for her insights into the intersection of AI, design, and human behaviour. She is also the author of Machine Customers: The Evolution Has Begun, a book about what happens when your best customer is no longer human.In this fascinating conversation we cover everything from what's already happening with agentic commerce right now, to an incredible story out of China that reveals just how fast consumer behaviour can be reshaped at massive scale.In this episode you'll hear:•   Why the shopping agents built by the retailers you already use may not be working in your interest •   What it means that AI agents now have access to their own credit cards and the guardrails (or lack thereof) around them•   How some of the world’s largest businesses are already using AI to handle a significant share of their procurement •   The practical steps marketers and business owners should be taking right now, before agentic commerce becomes the norm, and . . .•   Why your website could become largely irrelevant  and what that means for how you show up to both humans and machines.Katja also shares a candid look at the environmental and ethical questions we need to be asking as frictionless purchasing increasingly becomes a reality. This conversation is set to change how you think about your next online purchase and, if you’re in marketing or procurement or e-commerce, then this is one you simply cannot miss. Enjoy this episode with the passionate and ahead-of-the-curve, Katja Forbes.Useful LinksKatja Forbes websiteKatja Forbes on LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

February 6, 202636 min

Where Luxury Travel Meets AI - Sean Seah

Most conversations about AI implementation come from consultants selling solutions or vendors pitching tools. This one doesn't.Sean Seah is SVP of Strategy, Technology and Innovation at Langham Hospitality Group, where he's leading AI adoption across a global luxury hotel portfolio. With over two decades in digital transformation at Microsoft, HSBC, and Zuji, Sean brings a rare perspective as he's living inside the messy reality of making it actually work.What emerges from our conversation is a refreshingly practical playbook for AI implementation. Sean reveals why the "boring stuff" nobody discusses—data infrastructure, change management, measurement frameworks—determines whether AI delivers business value or not. He advocates starting small, proving value in weeks rather than years, and letting success create momentum for long term transformation.We explore how Sean balances short-term wins with long-term strategic vision, how he thinks about his AI strategy in a global context, and why luxury hospitality, with its complex blend of human service and operational efficiency offers surprisingly universal lessons for AI implementation across industries.In this episode:How Sean's approach to long term tech transformation includes the necessity that it must deliver short term value as well.Why one of Langham's first major AI investments is customer facing and how it’s faringExamples of how they practically trained their AI agents and staff, andHow Sean’s ensured Langhams isn’t reliant on any one large language modelWhatever sector you’re in, Sean's boots-on-the-ground experience offers a practical roadmap for leaders navigating the gap between AI potential and AI reality.Enjoy this episode!  Useful Links:Sean Seah on LinkedinLangham Hospitality Group Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January 13, 202629 min

NAIL your 2026 Planning

Happy New Year to you dear listener! Have you ever felt that familiar January anxiety either because you’re feeling guilty that you don’t have a perfect set of goals for the new year or because you’re second-guessing if your goals are ambitious enough, structured enough, or even the right ones? If that’s you then this episode is for you. (Happens to us every year!) They say it takes one to know one 😂so as 2026 began, we both wanted to help ourselves (and hopefully help you too) get the year off to a great start. We got busy on our laptops and in this episode, we share our personal experiments where we used AI to reflect on 2025, as well as help us set meaningful goals for the year ahead.We road-tested ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.The results were super interesting . . . and helpful. One model delivered a remarkably accurate summary of Greta's entire year (likely because she'd used it most consistently), while another coached Claire through building a custom Project that will track her goals throughout 2026. In this episode we discuss:The tension between letting AI lead your thinking versus using it as a thought partnerHow to set up an AI project (or GPT, Gem etc.)  that coaches you through goal-setting How you can quickly create vision boards and mind maps, and . . . How AI may just change how you frame and think about your entire year. Whether you're a seasoned AI user or just getting started, listen now for  practical approaches you can try out right away. Wishing you an intentional, productive and fulfilling 2026!Useful LinksClaude – Anthropic's AI assistantChatGPT – OpenAI's AI assistant (try "show me my year" for your personalised review)Google Gemini – Google's AI assistant (find Nano Banana here by looking in the prompt window on the bottom left and clicking on ‘tools’ then choose ‘create images’.``)Notebook LM - Google’s interesting AI tool that will allow you to create a Mindmap, an audio episode, presentations, flashcards, and many other forms of content from uploaded files. Definitely worth a play. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

December 19, 202545 min

Agents Explained - Dominick Ng

If you've heard the term 'AI agents' but aren't quite sure what they actually are or how they could help you at work, this is the episode for you.Our guest is Dominick Ng, Director of Engineering at Relevance AI, a platform that helps businesses build and deploy AI agents. Before joining the startup world, Dom spent nine years at Google, rising from software engineer to senior manager. He also holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics and won a Fulbright Scholarship to UC Berkeley.What makes Dom such a brilliant guide for this topic is his ability to explain complex technology in human terms. As he puts it, agents are fundamentally about adding human-like decision making to automation — handling the qualitative judgments that previously only people could make.In this conversation you'll hear:•   A clear explanation of what agents actually are and why they're different from previous automation•   Real examples of agents creating entirely new business possibilities that couldn't exist before•   How to address privacy and security concerns when handing tasks to agents•   Dom's advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed by all of thisDom is refreshingly honest about both the opportunities and the concerns he has about AI's impact. His perspective on how humans and AI can work together — and the 'spark' that makes human creativity irreplaceable — is genuinely hopeful without being naive.If you've been curious about agents but not sure where to start, this is the conversation you can thank us for later.As this is our final episode of the year, we want to wish all our listeners Season's Greetings. Thank you for listening throughout the year, and we wish you a kind and fulfilling new year ahead.Enjoy this episode with the ever-curious and articulate Dominick Ng... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

December 3, 202527 min

Amplify Your Leadership with AI - Claire and Greta

Recently we spoke with a group of CEOs who said they felt confident leading their organisation's AI investments. Yet when we asked how often they actually used AI, only one third of the group used it daily.This disconnect is everywhere. Around boardroom tables and in senior leadership meetings, executives aren't using AI consistently. The latest data backs this up: most people still aren't using AI daily and that's a problem given how fast AI is changing and improving.If you're not using AI regularly; learning from it and about it as you go; how can you effectively contribute to, or lead, your organisation's AI strategy?So in this episode, we get super practical to help leaders become power users. We share five specific ways we use AI to amplify our own leadership work and impact, including practical tips on how exactly you do this. Our use cases range from handling difficult conversations to tackling the strategic challenges that keep us awake at night.We also reveal which AI model significantly outperformed the others for a particularly valuable leadership task and why one very specific technique of using AI as a thought partner has become indispensable in our own work.Enjoy this super practical episode with ideas we know you’ll want to start using immediately. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.