The Future Is Human

Can intentional leadership be the missing piece that boosts employee performance? In this episode of The Future Is Human podcast, host Naomi Trickey sits down with Pat Phelan, Chief Revenue Officer at GoCardless for an eye-opening conversation about what’s REALLY required from leaders today. Tune in for his tried and tested strategies on building high-performing teams across global regions, keeping empathy and purpose at the center of both customer and employee experiences and being the guardian of your employees’ careers. In today’s day and age, it can be a real struggle to balance growth with values, but ironically, it’s a non-negotiable to do so. Tune in to find out how you, as a leader, can make it a reality.

What does human leadership look like in a world shaped by pressure, performance, and increasingly powerful technology? In this episode of The Future Is Human, host Ella McCann-Tomlin sits down with Hemant Godhwani, VP of Corporate Finance, Corporate Development, Investor Relations, and Treasury at Mews, to discuss why relationships remain irreplaceable in high-stakes fundraising, how to build authenticity while selling, and why structure matters as startups scale.

What do fun, curiosity and human connection have to do with scaling technology teams successfully? As James Stanier, CTO, Veterinary at Nordhealth reveals in this episode of The Future is Human podcast - everything. Tune in as he and host, Naomi Trickey, explore why hiring for mindset matters more than experience, how to maintain trust and collaboration across remote teams and the critical strategies for keeping your organization human-centered as AI transforms the workplace. It turns out - if the question is how to lead teams that don't just build great products, but grow great people, the answer lies in making fun part of the workplace again.

What if the communities built to keep us safe don't always get it right? And what if the workplaces committed to inclusion don't always go far enough? In this episode of Humans of Mews, host Ella McCann-Tomlin talks with Samir Habbad-Khaira, Customer Onboarding Manager at Mews, about what it means to exist at the intersection of multiple marginalised identities: queer, North African, Muslim-raised and a person of colour. They explore racism within LGBTQ+ spaces, the emotional toll of being both a community member and an activist and why doubling down on inclusion work even when times get tough isn't just an ethical choice - it's how you retain your best people.

Building deeply human teams in an increasingly automated world may sound like an oxymoron - but it isn’t. In fact, it should be #1 on your priority list. In this episode of The Future is Human, host Naomi Trickey welcomes Brandon Sammut, Chief People and AI Transformation Officer at Zapier, to explore why maintaining human connection is your competitive advantage, how to design AI adoption that enhances rather than replaces human creativity and the leadership behaviors that scale culture across 900+ distributed team members. From Zapier's three-pillar impact model (efficiency, quality, employee experience) to practical approaches for remote-first cultures that thrive, this episode unpacks it all.

Becoming a parent changes everything - even the way you work. In this episode of The Future is Human podcast, host, Ella McCann-Tomlin, welcomes Ally Mitchell, Chief of Staff at Mews, to explore how pregnancy, birth, maternity leave and pregnancy loss intersect with career ambition, mental health and organisational culture. Drawing on her 15+ years in people operations, Ally shares raw, vulnerable insights into the isolation of being locked out of your work life while on maternity leave, managing anxiety and perfectionism and what leaders and organisations must do to genuinely support working parents.

Scaling teams in the age of AI may seem like a race in efficiency, but the truth is - teams can’t make it without empathy. In the launch episode of The Future Is Human podcast, host Naomi Trickey sits down with Meri Williams, seasoned CTO and chair of LeadDev, to explore what makes teams truly successful. Listen in for their thoughts on why vulnerability and psychological safety are non-negotiable in intense work environments, how neurodivergence and lived experience reshape leadership and the critical strategies for building diverse teams that outperform homogeneous ones. The takeaway is simple: succeeding in tech is less about the shiny tools at your disposal and WAY more about making care, curiosity and critical thinking (deeply human traits) your competitive advantage.

In a world racing toward automation, what makes us irreplaceable? The Future is Human explores how people and technology can grow together without losing what makes work meaningful: creativity, connection, and vulnerability. Hosted by Naomi Trickey and Ella McCann Tomlin from Mews, this podcast brings authentic, insight-driven conversations with leaders, innovators, and employees who are reimagining workplace culture. From candid stories of scaling organizations without sacrificing humanity to bold perspectives on diversity, AI, and leadership, each episode dives into what it really takes to build human-centered companies at scale. Whether you’re a People & Culture leader, a tech innovator, or simply curious about the future of work, you’ll hear fresh perspectives that challenge binary narratives and offer actionable insights to create workplaces where humans—and businesses—thrive. Because the future of work isn’t humans vs. technology. The future is human.