Sophie Tolley, VP of People and Culture for EMEA at RES, joins Felix to explore what a career in HR actually looks like in 2026, and where it's heading. From how grad roles are being reshaped by AI to the reality of working four days a week while staying ambitious, Sophie shares an honest take on trade-offs, career breaks, and why the organisations cutting entry-level HR roles now are storing up succession gaps for later. They also get into the Gartner HR operating model and what changes when you separate strategic partnering from operations.

Janine Chamberlin, VP Talent Solutions & UK Country Manager at LinkedIn, joins Felix to cut through the doom and gloom around the jobs market. Yes, UK hiring is down 24% on pre-pandemic levels - but the full picture is far more nuanced than the headlines suggest. Janine shares what LinkedIn's data actually shows about where the new jobs are, why small businesses are completely bucking the trend, and why AI fluency paired with human skills is the power couple every employer is looking for. A must-listen for anyone in talent, or anyone advising a young person on what to do next.

Simon Russell, Instant Impact's Head of AI and Data, joins Felix to lift the lid on what large language models actually are, why they're brilliant at conversation but terrible at maths, and what that means for how organisations should be thinking about AI adoption. With 16 years of experience across the Ministry of Defence, EY, and a Google spin-off, Simon breaks down the rise of agentic AI, why the businesses with the best process documentation are pulling ahead, and why "context governance" is about to become the most important organisational competency nobody's heard of yet.

Jonny Friedman, Chief People Officer at Acumetis Global, joins Felix to talk about what happens when you merge five businesses into one across nine countries - all under private equity pressure to deliver double-digit growth. Jonny makes the case for why culture and commercial performance aren't competing priorities, how his team co-created a set of values and behaviours with every level of the organisation, and why radical honesty with your people always beats spin. He also shares his "never leave anybody behind" mantra and why being a father to four boys has shaped everything about how he leads.

Ramneek Sohal, HR Director at Domestic & General, joins Louise to share what she's learned from 20-plus years of walking into businesses with no HR function and building high-performing teams from scratch. From Coca-Cola to Karen Millen to a multi-market regulated business, Ramneek talks through how she diagnoses what each organisation actually needs before hiring a single person, why HR teams burn out from emotional over-ownership rather than workload, and why a charity trustee role might be the best development move any HR leader can make.

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, practical listen for any people leader tired of reactive fixes.

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 about going solo after 13 years in the field and why he built an AI community specifically for reward leaders who want to stop feeling behind and start experimenting.

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 around them, and how she rebuilt her confidence after leaving with no job to go to. An honest and important listen for any people leader.