Welcome to the first podcast for 2015! In this podcast Chief Executive Peter Cheese explains the key themes the CIPD will be focusing on in the coming year and introduces 4 important thinkers discussing what they think is significant and cutting edge for the profession right now. First we speak to Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at the Warwick Business School, about the science of human behaviour and its relevance to HR issues. Next we hear from James Rule, Director of HR Solution Effectiveness at Thomson Reuters who describes a scheme called ‘partnering for performance’ that embodies the idea of aligning talent within the business with opportunity and how they have used technology to achieve this. We also hear from Arnab Banerjee, an HR Transformation and Technology expert, who describes the ways technology can optimise HR and his predictions for what will happen in this space. Finally we hear from Rita Gunther McGrath, a Professor at Columbia Business School, who outlines why she believes that businesses should stop focusing on sustaining a competitive advantage and instead work towards identifying different opportunities and working in an agile way to take advantage of these opportunities.