How To Build Accessibility Into Business Systems

AI is rewriting job descriptions, regulators are getting sharper, and accessibility teams are being asked to prove value faster than ever. So we put Neil Milliken in the spotlight to talk about his leap from leading global accessibility at Atos to founding Thrival Holdings, a boutique consultancy built around one simple idea: help organisations create the conditions where people thrive, not just survive. We dig into how AI in accessibility is changing the work without replacing the need for specialists. Neil breaks down why the future looks less like one-person “expert bottlenecks” and more like scalable accessibility governance: embedding accessibility knowledge into design and engineering workflows, using tools responsibly, and backing it all with regression testing so quality does not drift as models and codebases evolve. We also talk candidly about what happens to collaboration when companies downsize and people feel they must protect individual value. Then we zoom out to the policy and business side: the European Accessibility Act, real enforcement signals like French rulings that challenge misleading “percentage accessible” scores, and why compliance timelines rarely flip like a switch. We connect accessibility to ESG and sustainability by treating exclusion like pollution, a framing that helps leaders understand negative externalities, the curb cut effect, and the ROI of inclusive design across procurement, risk management, and reporting. If you care about digital accessibility, WCAG, disability inclusion, and building programs that last through AI and regulatory change, this conversation will give you language and strategy you can use immediately. Subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a review with the one metric you think would finally make accessibility non-negotiable.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh