Workplace Geeks

Hosted by Audiem

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Aug 2026

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Workplace Geeks is the podcast from Audiem, exploring the people, ideas and evidence shaping the future of work. Hosted by Chris Moriarty, each episode features conversations with leading researchers, authors, workplace practitioners and business leaders, uncovering practical insights on workplace experience, organisational performance, technology, leadership and the changing nature of work. From groundbreaking academic research to real-world workplace challenges, Workplace Geeks helps bridge the gap between theory and practice, bringing fresh thinking to the people creating better workplaces and better organisations.

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September 10, 202658 min

Are we still asking the wrong questions? | Workplace Leaders 2026 #3

The workplace profession has spent years debating how often people should come to the office, how much space organisations need and which new technologies might help. But are these the questions that will actually move us forward? In the third episode of our Workplace Leaders series, Chris Moriarty speaks with Loren Cooper Gold, Saskia Lorrenson, Steve Henigan, Chiv De la Hoyde and Chris Coathe. Across five conversations, they explore the distance between workplace data and genuine understanding, the struggle to explain why people should gather in person, and the strange persistence of supposedly new workplace debates. Along the way, they reflect on their own unconventional routes into the profession and offer advice for the people who will lead it next. From an activity-based-working presentation that survived both eight years and a pandemic, to the boardroom calculations still built around a five-day week, this episode asks whether workplace teams need more answers or the courage to reframe the problem. Workplace Leaders is produced by Workplace Geeks in partnership with Rhino Interiors Group. 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

August 27, 2026Episode 550 min

S5 | E5 - We Can’t Solve a How Problem with a Where Solution with Amanda Schneider

For years, much of the workplace debate has focused on one question: where should people work? Amanda Schneider thinks there’s a more important one underneath it. How should work actually work? Amanda is the founder and president of ThinkLab and author of Work for What’s Next . Her research explores what happens when human expectations begin to outgrow the systems and structures built around them. As she puts it, we’re operating with “analog era rules in a digital speed world”. In this conversation, Chris and Amanda explore why generational differences can be more useful as signals than stereotypes, and what Gen Z might reveal about changes that will eventually affect all of us. They get into “phygital” work, the difference between genuinely digital-first experiences and simply digitising old ones, trust across different forms of communication, and why employees increasingly experience manager culture rather than company culture. But one idea keeps bringing the conversation back to workplace strategy: moving people doesn’t necessarily change how work happens. Or, in Amanda’s words, “We can't solve a how problem with a where solution.” Perhaps the next phase of workplace thinking starts there. 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

August 13, 2026Episode 452 min

S5 | E4 - The Headlines, the Hype and the Reality of Work with Brian Elliott

The headlines tell us work is broken. One week it’s return-to-office mandates. The next it’s artificial intelligence. Then it’s another study claiming to have found the answer. But what happens if the headlines are only telling part of the story? In this episode of Workplace Geeks, Chris Moriarty is joined by Brian Elliott , CEO of Work Forward and publisher of the Flex Index , one of the world’s most widely referenced sources of data on workplace flexibility. Together they explore why so many workplace debates become polarised, why leaders need to look beyond the headlines, and how organisations can make better decisions in a world where AI, hybrid working and employee expectations are all evolving at the same time. Along the way, they discuss: Why research should start conversations, not end them What leaders often misunderstand about hybrid working How AI is changing organisations beyond simple productivity gains Why there are very few universal answers in the future of work How organisations can balance flexibility, trust and performance What the best leaders do when the world refuses to stand still If you’ve been following this series, Brian’s conversation builds naturally on the ideas explored with Dave Coplin, Julia Hobsbawm and Margaret Heffernan, shifting the discussion from why work is changing to how organisations can respond. Promo or the RTO L@S report. 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

July 30, 202657 min

From Experimentation to Expertise | Workplace Leaders 2026 #2

Five workplace leaders. Five very different sectors. One surprisingly consistent message: the future belongs to organisations that never stop learning. Sponsored by Rhino Interiors Group , this is the second episode in our special series celebrating the Workplace Leaders Top 50 2026 , bringing together conversations with some of the people shaping workplaces across technology, banking, telecommunications, higher education and health & safety. From Salesforce to Mastercard, VodafoneThree, the University of Salford and Sage, these conversations explore how leaders are adapting to a world where artificial intelligence, hybrid working and changing expectations are rewriting the rules faster than organisations can keep up. Along the way, we get into: How AI is disrupting the traditional route to expertise Why experimentation is becoming a core leadership skill The challenge of developing people in a rapidly changing world How universities are rethinking the purpose of their estates The hidden impacts hybrid working continues to have on organisations Why curiosity, connection and continuous learning matter more than ever The advice today’s leaders would give the next generation Featuring: Elaine Du Preez, Salesforce Catherine Murphy, Mastercard Scott Wilson, VodafoneThree Fiona Stewart, University of Salford Claire Goody, Sage 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

July 16, 2026Episode 351 min

S5 | E3 - Willful Blindness, AI and the Crisis of Leadership with Margaret Heffernan

What makes a good leader? It’s a deceptively simple question. We often talk about vision, communication or decisiveness. But beneath all of those sits something more fundamental: judgement. At a time when organisations have access to more information than ever before, making good decisions should, in theory, be getting easier. Yet leaders are navigating growing uncertainty, increasingly complex organisations and a wave of technologies promising to remove ambiguity altogether. So what happens when certainty itself becomes the goal? In this episode of Workplace Geeks, Chris Moriarty is joined by Margaret Heffernan, entrepreneur, author of Willful Blindness and one of the most thoughtful voices on leadership, decision-making and organisational behaviour. Together they explore why smart people still make poor decisions, how power can distort judgement, why organisations have become increasingly uncomfortable with uncertainty and what leaders risk when they outsource thinking to machines. The conversation also examines the growing role of AI in leadership. Not as a debate about the technology itself, but as a discussion about trust, legitimacy and accountability. If a leader cannot explain how a decision was reached, why should anyone have confidence in it? Along the way, Margaret reflects on creativity, storytelling, learning from failure and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are prepared to challenge your thinking rather than reinforce it. It’s a wide-ranging conversation, but one that continually returns to a simple idea. Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating the conditions to make thoughtful decisions when certainty simply isn’t available. Promo or the RTO L@S report. 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

July 2, 2026Episode 248 min

S5 | E2 - The Nowhere Office, AI and the Future of Work with Julia Hobsbawm

The pandemic felt like a moment of reckoning for work. Almost overnight, organisations were forced to rethink where work happened, how it happened, and the relationship between employers and employees. Long-held assumptions that had survived for decades suddenly looked open to challenge. For a while, it felt as though everything was up for debate. But changing work has proved harder than many expected. Before we'd really settled on what the future of work might look like, AI arrived and introduced a whole new set of opportunities, risks and questions. Alongside geopolitical uncertainty, demographic shifts and changing expectations of work itself, leaders now find themselves navigating a landscape where multiple forces are reshaping organisations at the same time. In this episode of Workplace Geeks, Chris Moriarty is joined by Julia Hobsbawm, author of The Nowhere Office and one of the most thoughtful commentators on the changing nature of work. Together they explore why the debate was never really about offices, how the pandemic accelerated wider questions about work and society, the pushback that followed, and why understanding the future may require us to revisit some of the assumptions we've inherited from the past. It's a wide-ranging conversation covering workplace culture, technology, leadership, AI, organisational design and the challenge of creating organisations that are fit for an increasingly uncertain future. Promo or the RTO L@S report. 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

June 18, 2026Episode 150 min

S5 | E1 - AI is your co-worker. What changes? with Dave Coplin

AI is rapidly moving from something we use to something we work alongside. As tools become more capable, more autonomous and increasingly embedded in our working lives, organisations face a fundamental question: if AI becomes our co-worker, what changes? In the opening episode of Season 5 of Workplace Geeks, Chris Moriarty is joined by author, speaker and technology strategist Dave Coplin to explore the impact AI is having on work, learning and organisational transformation. The conversation goes far beyond the technology itself. Dave argues that many of the challenges organisations face with AI today are remarkably similar to those they faced during the rise of flexible and hybrid working. The technology may have changed, but the human challenges remain familiar. Together they explore why AI can amplify both good and bad behaviours, the growing importance of judgement in a world where knowledge is increasingly abundant, and why the most complicated part of digital transformation is often what Dave describes as "the interface between the keyboard and the chair". This episode explores: Why AI should make us more effective, not just more efficient The difference between knowledge and wisdom in the age of AI Why technology adoption succeeds or fails because of people What organisations can learn from the flexible working revolution How leaders can prepare for a future where AI becomes part of the team Whether you're excited by AI, sceptical about the hype, or trying to work out what it means for your organisation, this is a thoughtful and practical conversation about the future of work. 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

June 4, 2026Episode 158 min

From Blue Coats to Boardrooms | Workplace Leaders 2026 #1 Live from the NEC

Five workplace leaders. Five completely different career journeys. One industry still trying to figure out what the future of work actually looks like. Recorded live at the NEC during Workplace Leaders Top 50 2026, this special episode of Workplace Geeks brings together conversations with some of the people shaping the modern workplace across technology, banking, FM and workplace experience. From a Pontins Blue Coat who ended up leading workplace experience at Lloyds Banking Group, to stories spanning LinkedIn, Pinterest, Hubstar and OCS, this episode explores the human side of workplace leadership and the very different paths people take into the industry. Along the way, we get into: Why “return to office” might be the wrong conversation now The growing pressure on workplaces to earn the commute AI’s impact on how offices are designed and managed Experience-led workplaces and the rise of hospitality thinking Why hybrid working still feels unfinished The challenge of balancing cost, culture, flexibility and performance And what future workplace leaders should actually focus on Featuring: Joe Harris , Hubstar Sarah Tait , Lloyds Banking Group Chloe Baum , LinkedIn Sam Wharton , Pinterest Katherine Horton , OCS Plus a preview of what’s coming up in Series 5 of Workplace Geeks, including our opening episode with Dave Coplin. 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

October 20, 2025Episode 142 min

Workplace Geeks needs you! 🫵🏼 (to take our listener survey)

💬 Take the survey 🗳️ Four seasons, 67 episodes, and countless workplace conversations later, we thought it was time to turn the microphone around. This isn’t a regular episode, but it's an important request, nonetheless. We’re running the first ever Workplace Geeks Listener Survey , and we’d love your input. Whether you’ve listened to every single episode, or only one (you heathen) your feedback will help us understand what you value most about Workplace Geeks, what we could do better, and what you’d like to hear more (or less) of. It takes about five minutes to complete, and you’ll have the chance to enter a ✨🎁 prize draw ✨ to win a box of exclusive Workplace Geeks merch, including some swag we ususally only hand out to guests. Tell us what you think , help us plan the future, and make sure the geekery only gets better. Thank you 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles

October 2, 2025Episode 1345 min

2025 Workplace Leaders Top 50 #4 LIVE! | Emma Armstrong, Paul Hammond, Gurtake Singh & Simon Hilton

The Workplace Event’s Workplace Leaders Top 50 awards are now in their third year, and once again the Geeks were honoured to sit down with winners to hear their stories. Across this four-part mini-series, we’re asking each guest the same questions and then letting the conversation unfold, uncovering how they arrived in the workplace sector, what’s shaped their journey, and what advice they’d share with others. This episode is coming to you LIVE from the swanky London celebration , where Chris joined the party, soaked up the speakers, grabbed some BBQ, and sat down with four more of this year’s inspiring leaders. The collective theme? Career paths. Some expected. Some bizarre. Some accidental. Some not as planned. It’s a common thread in our sector — and maybe every sector — but what shines through is just how many different routes can lead here, and how everyone is united by a shared mission: making work better. In this episode you’ll hear from: Emma Armstrong , Founder at Empro Paul Hammond , Global Workplace Ops at Pinterest Gurtake Singh , Principal at Gensler Simon Hilton , Head of Business at Spica Technologies These are candid conversations full of twists, turns, and personal reflections — showing that there’s no single way into the world of workplace, but plenty of reasons to stay and make a difference. Promo or the RTO L@S report. 📩 Subscribe for new episodes , events and workplace insight from the Geeks community. ⭐️ Enjoying the show? Follow, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people discover us. 💬 Got an idea, guest suggestion, or workplace topic we should explore? Follow Workplace Geeks on LinkedIn Join the conversation using #WorkplaceGeeks Or email us at hello@workplacegeeks.org Workplace Geeks is brought to you by Audiem ⚡️ Helping organisations make better workplace decisions through AI-powered insight and employee feedback. Supported by 2468 Group ☕️ 🎧 Dialogue editing by David Crackles