Petra shares a bold claim from neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett: Your brain isn't for thinking. It's busy keeping your heart beating and managing your body's energy budget. Thinking is just a side hustle.

We explore body budget. It's the energy you have available to do things. Simple tasks cost wildly different amounts depending on your mental state. Leaders love providing training but if people are overworked, they can't use it. You're adding another item to an already maxed out budget.

We tackle the cognitive offloading panic. Headlines screamed that AI would turn our brains to mush. But it was one preprint study in a very specific context. We love blaming technology for human faults. Were we all thinking perfectly critically before ChatGPT?

Petra explains why you can't foster growth mindset without safety. We shouldn't glorify people who beat terrible systems. We should fix the systems. Early support and maternal warmth are huge predictors of resilience later.

We discuss why neuroscience matters for business. Your people make or break your company. Most companies spend 50 to 70% of their budget on wages. Understanding how brains actually work isn't academic curiosity. It's strategic necessity.

Your people aren't machines. Their brains are complex prediction engines running on limited energy budgets. Understanding this isn't soft. It's financial. It's the difference between systems that work and systems that accidentally sabotage the outcomes you're paying people to deliver.

What if AI isn't the job-stealing villain we've been told to fear, but actually the key to unlocking workplace happiness?

Join Matt Phelan, Co-CEO of The Happiness Index, and Suvodeep Das, VP of Global Marketing at Pluxee, for a conversation that flips the AI narrative on its head.

Every business leader right now is being squeezed: their core business is under pressure, they're building for an uncertain future, and AI is disrupting everything faster than predicted. But what if we've been asking the wrong question?

Part one explores the mind. Discover how AI acts as a co-pilot for your brain—offering clarity, amplifying purpose, personalising career development, and giving employees something precious back: time itself. The evidence is compelling.

Part two explores the heart. Can technology help us build better relationships, create psychological safety, and enable the specific acknowledgement different brains need? Suvo shares a powerful reframe: "The CEOs who win won't see AI as a cost-cutting tool, but as a capacity-creating one."

From coaching autistic children with AI strategies to understanding why people "job hug" (staying in unhappy roles from fear), this conversation weaves global research, neuroscience, and deeply human stories.

The big reveal? On 26th March, The Happiness Index and Pluxee launch the world's deepest study into workplace engagement and happiness. Be part of it.

Productivity isn't the goal; it's the outcome. And it only happens when people feel brilliantly human.

What if AI isn’t changing your culture... just turning up the volume? 🤯

This week, the "AI Uncle" himself, Dan Södergren, returns for a record third time to unpack the Fifth Industrial Revolution — and why your mindset matters more than your tech stack.

Dan’s message is clear: AI amplifies the leadership culture you already have. If it’s strong, you’ll thrive faster. If it’s flawed, you’ll fail faster.

Drawing on data from Europe’s largest HR leadership survey, Dan shares the three biggest challenges facing leaders right now:

💻 The Shadow AI problem – Over half of companies have no AI policy, so employees are quietly using unsecured systems. A huge risk for trust, security, and retention.

📉 The training crisis – Only 7% of HR leaders feel confident making data-led decisions. Without AI skills, your people are 35% more likely to leave.

🧠 The leadership paradox – Leading “superhuman” teams powered by AI demands new levels of emotional intelligence, agility, and data-driven thinking.

But this isn’t a doom story — it’s an opportunity. Dan explains why curiosity and the ability to “vibe code” are now the real hard skills. And he reminds us: AI won’t replace you — but someone using AI might.

If you want to understand how to lead through this revolution — and keep your people happy, human, and ahead — this is the one to listen to.

What if the biggest challenge facing your business isn't competition, but accidental unfairness built into your systems? 🤯

This week, we're joined by Bertille, a diversity, equity, and inclusion practitioner, to tackle the most complex and important questions of our time: equity in the workplace and the ethical challenge of AI.

Bertille simplifies "equity" to a powerful concept: fairness and equal outcome. She argues that real change is achieved not through visible, temporary programs, but by embedding equity into systems and processes. This often un-glamorous work ensures everything is measurable, objective, and fair.

We dive into the pressing issue of AI and bias in recruitment. Bertille warns that models trained on historical data risk reinforcing systemic inequities. She stresses that the keys to responsible AI use are transparency about how models are trained and understanding what and why you are using them.

Ready to learn how to future-proof your organisation by building fairness and ethical guardrails around your people processes?

Matt Phelan sits down with Madalena Carey, founder of Happiness Business School, to explore a serious question: Why are over 90% of her clients reporting anxiety and burnout linked directly to the labour they do?

This isn’t a chat about faking a smile. Madalena explains the real science that drives the Happiness Business School philosophy. True positive psychology isn't about ignoring negative emotions. It’s about understanding them. We discuss how your brain is wired for risk and why you must remove the organisational roadblocks to truly "optimise" the lives of your people.

It’s simple elegance: Happiness is a performance metric. Madalena shares data from major scientific studies that prove the link: when your people feel good, they are consistently more creative, energetic, and committed.

Curious how one person’s journey inspired a movement to humanise the workplace through data?

Listen in to learn how to change your perspective when you can’t change the toxic culture itself.

The unconventional power of digital detox

In a world of constant notifications and "always on" culture, what if the most strategic thing you can do for your business is to turn everything off? 🤯

This week, we're with Riina Gröhn, Chief People Officer at LIWLIG Group, who shares the story behind her company's unconventional all-employee event called Unplugged to Re-Connect. They took everything normal for a corporate event—laptops, slides, and even phones—and put it all away.

Riina shares the surprising reality of orchestrating an event for over 300 seasoned event professionals, and how they handled everything from waking people up without alarms to creating a phone park for their devices. She reveals the remarkable outcomes, including a 53% increase in employees considering a change to their daily digital habits and a newfound sense of togetherness.

Are you ready to learn how a digital detox can improve your company culture and drive long-term business performance?

In a world full of unknowns, what if we could finally light up a map of global workplace happiness? 🌍

This week, our brand manager Joe takes over as host to grill our co-founder Matt about a groundbreaking new project: the Global Workplace Happiness Report.

For over a decade, The Happiness Index has been gathering data, and now, thanks to new technology, we're ready to create the first-ever global picture of workplace happiness.

This isn't about "toxic positivity" or telling people they should be happy. This is about understanding a subject that we know drives performance and great business outcomes. The goal is simple: reconnect companies and their people so that work is fulfilling and businesses perform better.

We discuss the vision, the daunting technical and logistical challenges, and the incredible global partnerships with companies like Google that are making it all possible.

Ready to be part of the most ambitious workplace happiness study ever? Your voice is needed to make this project a success.

What if the secret to your organisation's success is hidden in a childhood dream? 🤯

This week, we share a truly unique and fascinating story about a young beetle named John—a Liverpool native who just wanted to be happy. This talk uses John’s journey to prove that happiness is not a soft skill; it’s a non-negotiable strategic metric.

We reveal how John’s daughter, Jude, uses world-class research to expose the science of well-being, showing him exactly why his adult life went wrong. This talk introduces the Fab Four drivers of human happiness, straight from our data, proving that fundamentals like Safety, Acknowledgement, Freedom, and Relationships directly impact your business.

(Keep your ears open! See how many cheeky Beatles references you can spot in the story.)

Ready to understand the human science behind peak performance? Tune in to decode the evidence.

In a world of 'hustle culture' and burnout, what if the secret to elite performance isn't grinding harder, but recovering smarter? 🤯

We're joined by James Hewitt, a human performance scientist and former professional athlete. He's here to challenge everything we think we know about productivity and wellbeing.

This isn't about working more. It's about a groundbreaking approach called Regenerative Performance. James unpacks why our traditional, extractive models of work are failing and why a leader’s personal wellbeing is the number one predictor of their organisation's wellbeing. He also reveals how something as simple as a three-to-four-day break can be as effective as a month-long vacation for recovery.

We explore the science behind chronotype bias, the surprising truth about coffee's effect on our brains, and how to use a "regenerative mindset" to thrive under pressure. From sleep to nutrition and even fitness, James provides the playbook for a working life that builds you up instead of burning you out.

Are you ready to stop running on empty and transform your approach to work and life?

This week, we're joined by Mark Dean, a brilliant brain and mind scientist on a mission to end mental ill-health in the workplace. We dive into the fascinating science behind benevolence—not just as a moral virtue, but as a strategic business driver.

Mark shares his powerful insights on how we can use our brains to achieve happiness, even when facing challenges. He introduces the "bus principle" and the power of pausing, teaching us how to watch our thoughts without being controlled by them. He also reveals a stark data point: while most people think sunshine makes us happier, office workers are often unhappier on sunny days, as they yearn to be outside.

Crucially, Mark provides a look into the brain during acts of benevolence. He shares research showing that giving kindness increases our serotonin and dopamine levels, while lowering stress hormones. The latest World Happiness Report confirms this, showing that benevolent acts are 10% higher globally since the pandemic.

Are you ready to understand your brain better, cultivate kindness, and use the science of benevolence to not only improve your well-being but also transform your workplace culture and performance?