Speak to the human

Millions of us use AI at work every day without really knowing what we’re doing.

Mostly we’re just figuring it out as we go – often without feeling in control.

It can be hard to know if it’s going to change your life – or end the world.

But what can you actually do about that? That’s what this episode explores.

Jamie Bartlett writes and broadcasts on technology and its impact on the rest of us. His books include The Dark Net and The People vs Tech, longlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize, and he wrote and presented the global hit podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen.

His new book, How to Talk to AI (And How Not To), is for all of us who feel out of our depth. It’s out now, published by Penguin.

In this episode James and Jamie talk about:

• Why this isn’t really about technology – it’s about communication
• How AI breaks our ability to rely on fluency as a sign of competence
• How your human biases affect what you get from AI
• Why it’s wise to be sceptical when AI agrees with you
• Simple exercises to try – like deliberately making AI lie to you, so you spot when it happens by accident
• Why generating more stuff isn’t the same as getting more done
• The value of asking “do I even need AI for this?” before “how do I get AI to do it for me?”
• Where Jamie thinks AI could genuinely change things for the better

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

Most organisations are treating AI as a technology challenge. But the real impact depends on people: how they use it, what they use it for – and whether they engage with it at all.

In this episode, social psychologist Dr Guy Champniss shares findings from his new research into what he calls “adoption quality” – a framework for understanding why organisations are struggling to realise AI’s potential, the impact it has on how employees feel and behave, and what leaders can do to respond.

Based on a survey of more than 1,200 employees in the UK and US, the research found that only 41% are in a good position to use AI effectively. The biggest barriers aren’t technical – they’re psychological. And the most powerful barrier of all is something people rarely talk about: the threat to their professional identity.

James and Guy discuss:

• Why AI adoption is a behaviour change challenge, not just a technology challenge
• The factors that shape adoption quality – and why many organisations are focusing on the wrong ones
• Psychological barriers to AI use, including the hidden role of professional identity and social belonging
• How getting this wrong affects happiness, motivation and connection at work
• What organisations can do to make AI use identity-enhancing rather than identity-threatening
• How individuals can take a more critical, mindful approach to AI in their own work

Guy’s full report, Unlocking High Quality AI Adoption in the Workplace, is available to download from his website: https://www.meltwater-consulting.com/aqs-report

This is the first episode hosted by James Woodman. Episodes 1–23 were hosted by Sarah Abramson.

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

Listening – really listening – to people who work at the ‘chalk face’ is the most powerful way to build trust and achieve positive outcomes for an organisation. Nadine Anderson’s story is a brilliant illustration of this. As an expert in organisational development, and the People, Culture and Engagement Lead at Westminster City Council, she has applied a people-first approach to shape a values-driven strategy grounded in what staff actually think and need.

In this episode, Nadine shares how she created a meaningful employee listening exercise within Westminster’s Housing service, and how she used this to make a real difference. Westminster is a diverse borough with complex needs – affluence alongside deprivation – and with housing officers who care deeply about their work. By enabling employees to share ideas, reflect on how organisational values could best be realised, and be properly involved in shaping future strategy, Nadine has built a more trusting culture and achieved better outcomes for residents of the borough.

Sarah and Nadine discuss:

• How Nadine developed an employee listening exercise.
• How to align organisational values with real lived experiences.
• Why apparently small or simple changes – such as replacing carpets, or having cover on reception desks – can make a huge difference.
• How Nadine used Copilot to process a huge volume of feedback, identifying themes, grouping comments, and supporting prioritisation of action points.
• Nadine’s next steps – how she’s running colleague-led ‘activation workshops’ to connect people across functions and improve collaboration and outcomes.

Since the podcast was recorded, new research shows that life expectancy differs by 15 years - not 18 - in some Westminster neighbourhoods.  

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon, a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com. 

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

Working in frontline bomb disposal and special operations in the British Army for nearly two decades has given Ben Sawyer a vivid, profound perspective on how to face and manage fear, and what risk really means. 

Having moved into the corporate world, now Head of Continuous Improvement at British Gas, Ben brings a blend of insights into operational strategy, empowerment and leadership.

In this conversation, we explore what fear looks like in real life, from extreme sports to bomb disposal, and how our brains interpret risk depending on whether we feel in control. Ben shares experiences from bomb disposal and army training that shed light on human responses to fear and risk.

We discuss;

• What fear is (both physiological and emotional). 
• Why perceived risk can feel as powerful as actual risk, and the role of control.
• How exposure and training can help build confidence over time, including the concept of ‘fear inoculation’.
• The sense of belonging, identity and culture that exists in a military environment, and the experience of transitioning to a civilian, corporate role.
• Building a culture of continuous improvement through mindset and empowerment.
• A brief foray into the concept of ‘moral injury’ – what it is and how people experience it.

We refer to a chapter by Ben Sawyer and Liz Sawyer in the book Paradox and Power in Caring Leadership.

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon, a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com. 

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

How do decisions get made in organisations? And what does it look like to support the decision-making process really effectively? And how might human behaviour be accounted for?

Clym Stock-Williams is Head of Operational Excellence in the Offshore Wind Division at the renewable energy company Vattenfall. In this episode, Clym explains how effective decision systems align people, data, processes and technology with organisational strategy. And we explore how to design for human thinking and behaviour. 

Sarah and Clym discuss:

• How Clym’s background gives him a way to combine different approaches in supporting decision-making: thinking about human behaviour alongside data, technology and engineering processes. 
• What operational excellence means – delivering outcomes by aligning resources, people, processes, incentives and technology with the organisational strategy.
• Designing systems by starting from the value you’re trying to create, then mapping backwards to consider what needs to happen for that value to be realised.
• How to provide decision-makers with the appropriate level of detail for different types of decisions.
• The concept of ‘black box’ services – how much do people actually need to know?
• The role of trust and transparency in building systems that work.
• How behavioural science is shaping Clym’s approach to systems design and operational excellence.

Clym is expressing his own views, rather than representing the position of Vattenfall.

Episode Resources

Find Clym at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clym-stock-williams-68007212/ 

During the discussion, we refer to the following:

Joseph Paris / Operational Excellence:

Joseph Paris, State of Readiness

Operational Excellence Collection

David Rock / SCARF:

Rock, David (2008) "SCARF: a brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others", NeuroLeadership Journal, 1

Rock, David and Cox, Christine (2012) "SCARF® in 2012: updating the social neuroscience of collaborating with others", NeuroLeadership Journal, 4

Scarf Model Motivate Your Employees

Scarf Assessment

Susan Michie, UCL / The Behaviour Change Wheel:

The Behaviour Change Wheel

UCL Behaviour Change/ Training

Human Behaviour Change Project / Webinars

Progressive Disclosure / Design Principles:

Progressive Disclosure

User Centred Design

Nonviolent communication:

What is NVC

Paul Gibbons:

The Science of Organizational Change

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon, a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com. 

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

What if preconceptions about disability could be turned upside down… to create much better ways to enable inclusion, tap into people’s talents, and open up opportunities? 

Martyn Sibley is an entrepreneur, activist, and founder of Purple Goat marketing agency, and The Purple Collective. He is a brilliant thinker, who prompts interesting questions about what we might all be overlooking by not enabling genuine inclusion.

Purple Goat is uniquely a disability-led, disability-focused marketing agency, with a mission to represent and empower the disabled community, and to drive innovative, inclusive marketing. It supports companies in opening up commercial opportunities with a market in front of them that is often overlooked – with the ‘Purple Pound’ potentially worth up to £300 billion.

Martyn’s perspective is incredibly thought-provoking. Sarah and Martyn discuss:

• The personal story behind Martyn’s work.
• Understanding the social model of disability – that it’s about barriers which create exclusion: Environmental barriers (such as steps for a wheelchair user); Attitudinal barriers (bias, assumptions, etc); and Procedural barriers (such as inaccessible recruitment processes).
• Challenging the stereotypes of disability – from pity to ‘superhero’ narratives – instead advocating for person-centred thinking.
• Inclusion as a commercial opportunity – not just being the ‘right thing’ to do but also with market growth among a huge potential consumer base.
• Innovative approaches such as Martyn’s plans for Inclusion Solution Labs through The Purple Collective, bringing together brands and innovators too co-create new solutions.

Episode Resources:

• https://martynsibley.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyn-sibley-1227b411/ 
• https://www.purplegoatagency.com/ 
• https://purplecollectiveglobal.com/about 

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com. 

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

How do you help people navigate change at work? The success of any change – large or small – comes down to what people feel, think and do. So, understanding and responding to those human needs and voices is indispensable.

In this episode, our host Sarah Abramson talks to Charlotte Bolton, a learning, development and culture consultant and coach, about the human side of transformative change. Charlotte shares insights from her experience leading global L&D initiatives and supporting organisations through mergers and change projects.

Charlotte explores practical ways leaders and teams can create space to listen to perspectives, build trust, and influence decision makers. If you’re managing change in your organisation, or helping others through it, this conversation is all about how to make the journey more human.

We cover:

• Creating psychological safety: Why consistency, honesty, and listening matter. 
• Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn? Understanding emotional responses to change and how they show up at work. 
• The leader’s role: Building habits for self-awareness and regulation to lead others effectively. 
• Influencing at the top: How to speak the language of decision makers and align with strategic priorities. 
• Culture and transformation: How to engage people during mergers and big shifts, and why clarity and role modelling are key. 
• L&D’s contribution: Shifting behaviours and creating space for unlearning and new habits.

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com. 

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

Why does the drive for productivity so often miss the point? The relentless focus on rules, compliance and systems risks a disconnect from the experience of real people.

In this episode, Sarah is joined by Christine Armstrong of Armstrong and Partners. Christine works with business leaders to help them understand trends in the world of work, within their organisations and beyond, through research and practical strategies.

We explore why strategies fail when organisations don’t put people at the heart of them. Christine shares research and stories about hybrid working, burnout, and the surprising ways AI is reshaping confidence and power inside organisations.

It’s a conversation about finding joy, rediscovering human connection and making work better.

We cover…

• Why productivity initiatives often crush the human energy they’re meant to harness.
• Why joy and human connection aren’t ‘nice-to-haves’ but the real engine of better work.
• Attitudes and trends around hybrid working, and why ‘flexibility’ and ‘predictability’ both matter to people.
• How AI is shifting traditional power structures inside organisations.
• The surprising value of deep listening, and how three minutes of attention can transform relationships.

Episode resources:

• Armstrong and Partners https://www.armstrongpartners.co.uk/ 
• Find Christine on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechristinearmstrong/ 

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com. 

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

AI is changing work fast, but the story is still about people. So what are the opportunities for everyone, from personal development to boardroom strategy? And why does imagination, curiosity and play matter more than ever? 

Sarah is joined by Jeremy (Jez) Bassinder, Partner and GenAI Consulting Lead for UK and Ireland at IBM. Jez is excited by the opportunities that GenAI is opening up, but he’s also clear that the very things that make us human matter more than ever. 

He shares why and how organisations need to bring together different people with experience across technology, strategy, learning and more to develop cross-functional ways of thinking about AI-enabled organisational change.

Together we explore:

• The story of the Luddites and what it reveals about human attitudes and fear of change.
• How imagination, play and inclusivity can help us weave AI into the fabric of work – without losing what makes us human.
• How organisational strategy needs cross-functional teams, from the top level down, to bring together technical insight with strategic thinking.
• Why confidence and culture are so critical.
• Helping people become more confident in their own use of the tools and technologies.
• Implications of AI for inclusivity and democratisation of technology.
• What learning and development teams can do to help people experiment safely.
• What education might look like in an AI-enabled world.

Resources:

• Jez on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremybassinder/ 
• Jez’s TedX talk on ‘Weaving people and digital minds’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWGAx-YKPOo 
• The Cook Book Shelves blog:
  • thecookbookshelves.food.blog/blog
  • https://www.instagram.com/thecookbookshelves 

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com. 

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com

What are the implications of GenAI for learning and development? What’s really happening at the moment… and how do we make sense of it, while staying grounded in something that feels like human reality?

In this episode, Sarah talks with Ross Stevenson, founder and Chief Learning Strategist of Steal These Thoughts. Ross has spent nearly 20 years in L&D, and helps organisations bridge future skills and new technology adoption. He’s known for his no-nonsense approach, sharp insights and regular newsletter that unpicks technology trends in the L&D space.

Ross combines a reassuring understanding of the tech itself alongside pragmatic, human-centred thinking. Together we explore:

• How the role of L&D is evolving – and doing so differently in different contexts.
• Why most teams are still experimenting rather than embedding AI.
• How psychology, confidence and culture shape adoption of GenAI.
• Why we need to start with business problems which GenAI can help us solve, rather than starting with solutions in search of problems.
• Keeping - and elevating - human creativity and critical thinking as we develop better ways to use GenAI.

Resources:

Steal These Thoughts https://stealthesethoughts.com/ 

Find Ross on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rstevensonuk/ 

Speak to the human is a podcast by Acteon a communication and learning agency that harnesses behavioural insights to help organisations connect with their people and deliver positive change. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com. 

Everything an organisation achieves comes down to what its people actually do. Speak to the Human explores how people think, behave, and make decisions at work.

Through real stories and practical conversations, each episode investigates the human behaviours that drive outcomes – and how organisations can respond.

Hosted by James Woodman from Acteon, a Cambridge-based consultancy specialising in communication, learning, and behaviour change in organisations. Find out more at acteoncommunication.com