The Human Context Protocol

Damien Wassel, CEO of Vault Comics, on his transition from academia to publishing and the use of stories as tools for connection and influence. The former academic brings his PhD in Philosophy to underscore his partnerships with globally recognized brands and talent, and publishes multiple best-selling and award-winning comic books and graphic novels.  He argues that in an age of distraction, it is stories that can attract and hold our attention, building community through a shared emotional engagement, even across time. It is the comic and graphic novel’s ability to provoke deep reflection, he says, that reminds us of how it feels to be human in the age of Ai.

Betsy Kauffman, founder and CEO of Cross Impact Coaching on her journey from technology project management to executive leadership coach and consultant. After 25 years leading large-scale technology transformations across Fortune 500 companies, her resulting TED Talk: Four Tips for Honest Conversations at Work has had over 1.6 million views. She tells us how aligning leadership teams for successful AI transformations must include the human element if we are to define goals and secure proper change management. It is the human context in AI decision-making, she says, that can avoid inefficient use of resources and reduced productivity and lead to high-performing, aligned teams. Talent and teamwork, she argues, rather than relying on the advances in technology, are the key to driving strategic success.  She has created a free alignment survey to help leaders and their teams understand whether deeper alignment is what your team needs right now before you head into your next big change initiative. 

Hannah Bauer, founder and CEO of Heartnomics, on her journey from surviving childhood heart disease to leading a firm that helps leaders rebuild trust, alignment, and resilience. A Maxwell leadership faculty member, Lean Six Sigma, Black Belt and Bull Ridge examiner,she explains the importance of balancing love and excellence in leadership, particularly in times of change. She argues that the future of success and leadership is a unique combination of math and meaning, of excellence and heart. In  a world that is overwhelmed with burnout and disengagement, focusing on the psychological safety of your teams, she says, is an essential business strategy.#Business #Leadership

Sangeet Paul Choudary, best-selling author of Platform Revolution and Reshuffle, explains how artificial intelligence is re-stacking the knowledge economy. As AI changes how knowledge is created, distributed, and monetized, it is also reshaping who holds power across industries. Drawing from his work advising Fortune 500 CEOs and global institutions, he explores what this shift means for workers, companies, and the future of competitive advantage.#Economy #Business #ArtifitialIntelligence

As Publicis Groupe celebrates its 100th anniversary, we’re revisiting a timeless conversation with Maurice Lévy — a leader whose legacy is deeply woven into the company’s story.In this wide-ranging interview, Maurice shares the inside story of the Power of One, how Viva Technology is poised to evolve, and why “the blank cheque of trust” is worth more than the paper it’s written on. He speaks candidly about his own “basket of failures” and why you should “stay in bed at home” if you have no passion for the work you do.

Warren Kornblum, a marketing leader and author of Notes from The Brand Stand discusses the importance of “share of heart" in building brands by engendering and building trust.  The former CMO of Toys R Us says that our need for trust, human connection and long-term growth outweighs the need for any short-term focus on efficiency and scale. In this fast-changing world of algorithms and data, he says, we must focus on human-centric leadership and emotional connections in building lasting brand loyalty.#marketing #business #leadership

Carla Michelotti, a legend in advertising and law, discusses the importance of rebooting, staying relevant, and the need to grow new muscles before our “old” brain muscles become atrophied by AI.  Carla has held senior roles at Leo Burnett, BCom3, and the Publicis Groupe and today continues as an advisor to many firms and organizations, including the American Advertising Federation as its Government Affairs Chair, and the as a board member of BBB National Programs. In this conversation, she highlights the impact of AI on the legal and advertising sectors, and the necessity of adapting laws and business models to accommodate AI, truly an alien intelligence. She advocates for increased education and literacy about AI, especially regarding its use in children's AI companion bots, and stresses the importance of maintaining human involvement and particularly the business value that human wisdom has in an AI-driven world.Learn more about the BBB National Programs Center for Industry Self-Regulation (CISR) initiative on guardrails for AI companion bots.https://industryselfregulation.org/incubator/ai

Jess Butcher MBE, CEO and founder of Scrollaware on her transition from tech entrepreneur to social advocate for digital balance. The award-winning consumer tech entrepreneur, (most notably with AR pioneer, Blippar), a Fortune "Most Powerful Female Entrepreneur", BBC's 100 Women and three times TEDx speaker, calls for an urgent, more ethical approach to societal tech-addiction.  She argues that consumers, educators, legislators... and now business must take action to address the rapid society-wide growth of overwhelm, distraction, negativity, polarisation and loneliness . She shares evidence of the growing shoots of digital defiance among Gen Z and Gen Alpha and cites marketers and advertisers from KitKat to Heineken who are already leveraging cultural changes to shift the conversation.  She declares this the next CSR frontier, with the potential for businesses to work together to reprioritise the IRL embodied lives of both their staff and customers. 

Teresa Barreira, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Publicis Sapient on the role of human values in the AI integrated business. The former Chief Marketing Officer of Deloitte Consulting, with senior leadership roles at Accenture and IBM argues that the shift from human-first AI strategies to AI-first approaches is redefining human roles and enhancing productivity in the workplace. But she says it’s the opportunity to build a culture of exploration and learning that AI can offer, by automating up to 90% of tasks and freeing humans to focus on high-value activities. A hybrid work environment is one which places value on human failure and reflection and where humans and AI can collaborate seamlessly.#Business #AI #FutureOfWork

Todd Irwin, founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Fazer on de-positioning, a strategic approach to outperform competitors by solving hero customer pain points better than anyone else. The musician and artist turned brand strategist who has advised Fortune 500 companies, SMEs and startups for three decades, argues for a shift in thinking from differentiation to problem solving, and simply being better. An expert in delivering competitive brand strategies to visionary leaders seeking growth, he argues that creativity is downstream of positioning, and solving problems reminds us that when people grow, brands grow, and when companies grow, we all grow.