Inside the Collective

Inside the Collective | EP03 | Sushma Panchawati | Most Insights Die in a PowerPoint

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0800

In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with Sushma Panchawati, co-founder and CEO of a stealth AI startup and a strategist with nearly two decades in consumer insights and brand strategy.

Sushma reflects on why strategy so often feels like starting from scratch, what causes good insights to die quietly inside organisations, and why AI produces mediocre output in the hands of non-experts but becomes a superpower for people who already know their craft.

She talks about the difference between an insight that's interesting and one that actually changes a decision, why leaders should ask "what do we already know?" before commissioning more data, and how strategists do their best work by holding many lenses at once without drowning in them.

A conversation about signal over noise, expertise over automation, and why the simplest question is often the most useful one.

Inside the Collective is a podcast from The Carrot Collective, exploring the thinking behind how people work.

Inside the Collective | EP02 | May Seow | AI Can Execute, It Can't Tell You Where to Go

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0800

In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with May Seow, who has spent her career building systems across tech, consulting, banking and creative environments.

May reflects on what happens when you use structure to unlock better thinking rather than constrain it. She talks about why leaders are defined by the questions they ask, how small experiments can lead to outsized change, and why the role of technology should be to free people and imagination, not flatten them.

Along the way, she talks about abundance versus scarcity in teams, what separates a healthy creative engine from a shiny but hollow one, why cost-cutting so often fails as a growth move, and how to keep human judgment sharp when AI makes it easy to move fast and sound certain.

A conversation about clarity, curiosity, systems and staying meaningfully human while everything else speeds up.

Inside the Collective is a podcast from The Carrot Collective, exploring the thinking behind how people work.

Inside the Collective | EP01 | Saul Betmead de Chasteigner |The Conversations Leaders Avoid

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0800

Saul Betmead de Chasteigner has worked across agencies, Oxford, the United Nations and leadership programmes designed to help people think more clearly.

In this conversation, he reflects on the deeply personal experience that first drew him to psychology, why he believes every business problem hides a human one, and what it takes to create the kind of trust where people finally say the thing they have been avoiding.

He talks about leadership as earned authority rather than status, why so many organisations get trapped by their own success, what culture does to the way people interpret the world, and how becoming a parent radically sharpened his sense of what actually matters.

It is a rich episode about change, assumptions, perspective and the hard work of helping people see differently.

Inside the Collective | Origin Sessions 06 | Nathan Bell | Agencies Built to Own People Are Breaking

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0800

In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with Nathan Bell, who has spent years inside traditional agencies but is here to talk about why he no longer believes the old model is enough.

Nathan reflects on the limitations of specialist agencies, the moment he realised The Carrot Collective could become a genuine alternative, and why he now sees access to talent as more powerful than ownership of it. Along the way, he talks about what people are actually seeking when they join a collective, why generosity and entrepreneurial energy matter more than passive membership, how the team is solving hard structural problems that most agencies never have to face, and why the only sensible response to AI is to learn, experiment and keep moving.

A conversation about building systems for trust, creating room for better ideas, and shaping a future of creative work that is more flexible, more human and a bit less stuck in the past.
This episode is part of the Origin Sessions, the first six conversations that shaped Inside the Collective before Season 1. Recorded early and released as a set, they capture the show finding its voice.

Inside the Collective | Origin Sessions 05 | Patrick Carr | Safe Content, Same Old Stuff

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0800

In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with Patrick Carr, who has built a career across China, Bangkok and the wider global media industry, working on stories designed to travel without losing their humanity.

Patrick reflects on China's creative rise, the projects that helped audiences see more than headlines, and the commissioning culture that now pushes so much content toward the safe, familiar and easily marketable. He talks candidly about why too many streamers are making the same old stuff, what gets lost when originality is squeezed out, and why the future of good creative work still depends on bridge-building, perspective and values, not just technology.
A conversation about storytelling with heart, and what it takes to keep making work that matters.

This episode is part of the Origin Sessions, the first six conversations that shaped Inside the Collective before Season 1. Recorded early and released as a set, they capture the show finding its voice.

Inside the Collective | Origin Sessions 04 | Grace Clapham | Stop Chasing More, Design Value

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0800

In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with Grace Clapham, a systems thinker, community architect and founder whose work spans technology, social change and conscious business.

Together they explore what it means to reject the traditional career script, build a portfolio life around instinct and reflection, and design communities that create real belonging rather than surface-level engagement. Grace shares what she learned from building communities across regions and platforms, why most brands underestimate the time and care community requires, and how her thinking has shifted from chasing scale to defining value more honestly.
A conversation about leadership not as performance, but as knowing your own pattern, rhythm and signal well enough to lead from it.

This episode is part of the Origin Sessions, the first six conversations that shaped Inside the Collective before Season 1. Recorded early and released as a set, they capture the show finding its voice.

Inside the Collective | Origin Sessions 03 | Kristian Jones | The Logo Isn't the Brand

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0800

In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with Kristian Jones, a creative director, interior architect and experience designer whose work sits in the grey space between brand, space and human behaviour.

Kristian shares how his career evolved from traditional interior design into creating what he calls an "experience signature," the distinct feeling a brand can create across physical, human and digital touch points. They discuss why stores now need to create strong memories rather than just convenience, how workplaces must balance productivity with togetherness, what brands get wrong when they over-design for effect, and why the most memorable spaces often focus on just a few key moments rather than trying to do everything at once.

A conversation about design as empathy, experience as strategy, and why the best spaces leave something with you long after you have walked out.

This episode is part of the Origin Sessions, the first six conversations that shaped Inside the Collective before Season 1. Recorded early and released as a set, they capture the show finding its voice.

Inside the Collective | Origin Sessions 02 | Libbi Rigby | Projects Fail on Trust, Not Design

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0800

In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with Libbi Rigby, strategic development and place advisor, to talk about what it really means to create destinations rather than simply deliver spaces.

Drawing on work across cities, universities and airports, Libbi shares how preparation, trust and translation shape better outcomes in complex development environments. They unpack the three questions she uses to get to the heart of a project, why diplomacy matters, how she navigates difficult stakeholders, and why empathy is not a soft skill but part of the job. The conversation also explores the limits of current policy, the challenge of getting non-tangible value recognised early, and the importance of building environments where people can do their best work.

A conversation about how better places get made and what kind of people help make them possible.

This episode is part of the Origin Sessions, the first six conversations that shaped Inside the Collective before Season 1. Recorded early and released as a set, they capture the show finding its voice.

Inside the Collective | Origin Sessions 01 | Jordi Morillo | Empathy, Craft and Design Leadership

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0800

In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with Jordi Morillo, Head of Design for Digital Platforms at U.S. Bank, for a thoughtful conversation about what design leadership actually asks of people now.

Jordi reflects on why great work alone rarely drives a career, why empathy and collaboration matter as much as craft, and why tools so often become a distraction from the real problem. They explore what makes someone indispensable on a team, how to stay adaptable without losing your principles, and why continuous learning should happen inside work hours rather than at the expense of life outside them.

A conversation about leadership, usefulness, and staying human while the industry keeps changing around you.

This episode is part of the Origin Sessions, the first six conversations that shaped Inside the Collective before Season 1. Recorded early and released as a set, they capture the show finding its voice.