CIPD

As use of artificial intelligence moves beyond experimentation, are organisations starting to see real value – or struggling to turn promise into impact? As AI experimentation gives way to scaled adoption, the pressure is on to achieve tangible returns while managing new risks for people, jobs and organisational culture.

Join Nigel Cassidy and this month’s guests – Graeme Burns, AI People and Communications Leader at Nationwide Building Society; Ben Redshaw, Director and Founder at Orchard Tree Consulting; and Hayfa Mohdzaini, Senior Policy and Practice Adviser - Technology at CIPD – as they explore what AI maturity looks like in practice, where organisations are getting stuck and the critical role people professionals play in embedding AI responsibly and effectively.

In this episode, we explore:

What AI maturity means in practice and the common components of AI maturity
How can organisations realistically and meaningfully assess their current level of AI maturity
What role can people professionals play in helping build the culture, capabilities and organisational readiness needed to scale AI effectively.

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Explore content supported by the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme
Guide: How people professionals can develop, deploy and use AI in an ethical, legal and sustainable way
HR People Pod - Ep43: Inside Davos - AI, work and the future of identity - with Allyn Bailey
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Why are HR professionals still feeling forced to hide their disabilities just to get hired? Could an AI version of your CEO really replace human leadership — and what happens when technology starts delivering the messages people most need to hear from a real person? And when engagement is falling and productivity remains stubbornly low, are organisations solving the wrong problems altogether?

CIPD Director of Profession David D’Souza is joined by Clair Staines, Chief People Officer at POWWR, David Balls, Principal Consultant at Helix People Solutions, and Cheryl Samuels, People and Culture Director in the NHS and co-founder of #InclusiveHR.

Recorded: 17 April 2026

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Explore more from this episode:

CIPD announces Neil Carberry as new Chief Executive

Guide: Recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition

Resources: AI in the workplace
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How do you take culture from something leaders instinctively talk about to something they can genuinely understand, measure and act on? What can one of the largest behavioural studies of its kind tell us about the link between culture and business outcomes? And if traditional measures like engagement only tell part of the story where should people professionals look for a clearer view on what’s really driving performance?

CIPD Director of Profession David D’Souza is joined by Hani Nabeel, Chief Behavioural Scientist at iPsychTec and author of Culture Analytics: An evidence-based approach to company culture, to explore the evidence behind culture and performance.

Recorded: 20 February 2026

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Explore more from this episode:

Book: Culture Analytics: An evidence-based approach to company culture – Hani Nabeel

Your next listen:

CIPD Podcast 220: Do leaders establish culture, or are they a product of it?

HR People Pod – Ep39: Rewriting the rules on workplace conflict – with David Liddle

HR People Pod – Ep37: Leading under pressure – with Professor Kevin Fong
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Why are so many employers still hiding salary details when candidates increasingly expect pay transparency? While technical capability might win a promotion, are organisations doing enough to prepare managers for the pressure that comes with leadership? And when performance improvement plans (PIPs) are so often seen as a step towards the exit, can they still be a credible tool for improvement?

CIPD Director of Profession David D’Souza, is joined by Sally Hopper, Director of People at London Fire Brigade, and David Blackburn, Managing Director of David R. Blackburn Consulting.

Recorded: 20 March 2026

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Explore more from this episode:
CIPD – Tracking law changes: Employment Rights Act 2025

Your next listen:
HR People Pod – Ep37: Leading under pressure – with Professor Kevin Fong
CIPD Podcast – Episode 194: Is pay transparency good for business
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As organisations face mounting cost pressures and AI absorbs many entry-level responsibilities, there is a growing risk that entry-level pathways will disappear by default rather than by design. But what are the unintended consequences of hollowing out the roles where future capability, judgement and innovation are built?

Join Nigel Cassidy and this month’s guests — Orianne Wightman, Emerging Talent Director at Arm; Craig Pattison, Founder of Elevate Executive Coaching; and Lizzie Crowley, Senior Skills Policy Adviser at CIPD — as they examine how organisations must redesign work, opportunity and progression, before capability gaps begin to surface in talent pipelines, performance and long-term organisational resilience.

In this episode, we explore:
- Why shrinking entry-level opportunities – and the erosion of the first rungs of the career ladder – could become a critical organisational risk
- The consequences when organisations stop creating and developing talent and instead become net consumers of talent
- How organisations must redesign roles, routes into work and progression pathways to protect future capability and sustain healthy talent pipelines
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