Everyone's obsessing about AI transformation… Which tools to use, which processes to automate, which competitors are moving faster…. But James Holden saw what everyone else was missing: it's not about the technology. It's about helping humans flourish alongside it.

After 15 years as a senior BBC Director – leading 100 staff, managing £25 million budgets, sitting on boards – he walked away at 50 to study organisational psychology. Not because the BBC wasn't brilliant. Because he realised his real passion was human behaviour, leading teams through change, helping people fulfil their potential. And the actual work was getting in the way.

Fast forward to 2025. James founded Holden Thinking and immediately faced a surge of demand he hadn't anticipated. Ten CEOs in a workshop room, all wrestling with the same challenge: how to transform their organisations with AI when their people are terrified. A session with 40 global Amazon leaders exploring what flourishing means as technology reshapes roles. NHS senior leaders navigating patient safety, data trust, and workforce resilience whilst AI accelerates change faster than anyone can track.

The pattern was clear. Whilst everyone was deploying technology, nobody was addressing the human side. Leaders knew they needed AI adoption but had no framework for the uncertainty their teams faced. Generic training wasn't working. Pan-organisational rollouts were failing.

A third of employees too embarrassed to admit they don't understand AI. Companies desperately don't want to lose their experts. The early majority realising ”the time is now” but having no idea how to get their teams to the start line? – James was solving all of it through one fundamental insight: it's the uncertainty, not the change, that people struggle with.

This episode tackles the question every leader wrestling with AI faces:
– when your technical capabilities become table stakes.
– when your audience behaviours outstrip employee comfort.
– when the pace of adoption is so extraordinary that three-year plans become obsolete in six months.
Why does flourishing, not just coping, become the competitive advantage nobody else is building?

About Supo:

Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.

For more information about Supo: ⁠www.supo.co.uk

AboutHolden Thinking:

Holden Thinking is a business psychology consultancy founded by James Holden in September 2025, enabling leaders and organisations to thrive through AI-driven change with a focus on culture, wellbeing, and the human side of transformation. After 15 years as a senior BBC Director leading teams of 100+ across marketing, audiences, and insight, James combines psychological insight, leadership experience, and strategic storytelling to help organisations navigate new ways of working as AI reshapes roles and expectations. He works with senior leaders across sectors from global media and technology to frontline public services, delivering workshops, coaching, and culture change advisory work. James holds an MSc in Organisational Psychology with Distinction from City, University of London, and is a member of the Association for Business Psychology.

For more information about Holden Thinking:https://www.linkedin.com/company/holden-thinking/