The Human Cloud Podcast

In this special episode of the Human Cloud Podcast, we sit down with the organizers behind Freelance Unlocked, Europe’s #1 conference for freelancers and solopreneurs. Held May 14-15 in Berlin, this year’s event arrives at a critical time for the freelance economy. While freelancers face mounting challenges—economic downturns, political uncertainty, and a flood of AI disruption—this conversation is a reminder of what’s possible when freelancers come together to learn, share, and build community.You’ll hear from Marc Clemens, Founder of CodeControl & 9am, Manuel Meurer Founder & CEO of Uplink, Thomas Maas, CEO of Freelancermap, and Jon Younger Founder of Mensch.Work, hosted by Matthew Mottola Human Cloud CEO . Together, they discuss the state of freelancing today, why professionalization matters, and how the power of community and knowledge sharing can carry the freelance economy forward.Key Takeaways:Why now is a defining moment for the freelance economyThe impact of AI, economic pressures, and remote work on freelancersHow community and upskilling reduce risk and drive growthWhat freelancers and platforms must do to increase trust with clientsWhat to expect at Freelance Unlocked 2025 in Berlin

Leaders,In this episode, Brigadier General Michael McGinley and Major Meredith Kirchoff explain how GigEagle is reshaping workforce strategies through talent fluidity and agentic teaming, bridging the civil-military gap, and opening new pathways for Americans to serve. They discuss the platform’s potential to revolutionize how the DoD mobilizes expertise, making national security careers more accessible and adaptable.We also explore the broader vision for national security through collaboration, the cultural shifts needed to integrate flexible workforce models into the military, and how GigEagle is expanding beyond digital talent to quickly deploy experts in high-stakes situations.Finally, we examine how GigEagle is already proving its value, mobilizing talent for emergency response, interpreter roles, and AI development projects. These early successes highlight its potential to transform how the DoD approaches workforce agility and problem-solving. Looking ahead, GigEagle’s vision extends beyond the government. By partnering with 501c3 organizations and industry leaders, the platform aims to create a whole-of-nation collaboration for national security, where top talent seamlessly engages in mission-critical work, driving innovation and resilience in defense operations.

Leaders, What does the future of independent work look like, and how are policies shaping its trajectory? In this episode, we sit down with Liya Palagashvili to unpack the economic trends, policy changes, and workforce dynamics that are shaping the shift toward flexible employment.Liya shares her journey from academia to workforce research, revealing how small businesses and independent professionals have driven the growth of freelancing long before the rise of the gig economy. She also highlights the critical role that data and research play in shaping legislation, dispelling misconceptions about misclassification, and ensuring policies support, rather than restrict, independent workers.We explore:The real numbers behind independent work, including why 80% of freelancers prefer their work arrangements and how older workers and women are fueling its expansion. How laws like California’s AB5 unintentionally hurt freelancers, reducing self-employment and even W-2 jobs in affected states.Why control is at the heart of the policy debate, and how new legislation could create portable benefits and provide clearer guidelines for independent contractor classification.The employer perspective: why businesses hesitate to engage freelancers due to regulatory uncertainty and how policies could encourage innovation rather than stifle it.What’s next for independent work, from policy shifts in Washington to the evolving mindset of businesses navigating the modern workforce. As freelancing and flexible work continue to grow, policymakers, business leaders, and independent professionals must align on solutions that preserve flexibility while ensuring stability.

Leaders, Many companies invest in AI expecting quick wins, only to end up with expensive tools that deliver little impact.Don’t let that happen to you.In this episode, Kenneth Lo, Co-Founder of ZenBiz Services, shares practical strategies to help you apply AI effectively and avoid these common mistakes.With experience in AI, data, and digital marketing, plus a background as a Big Four consultant, startup advisor, and angel investor, Kenneth offers expert insights that cut through the noise.You’ll learn:Why agentic AI  will shape the next phase of automation.Why human oversight is still essential to ensure trust, accuracy, and ethical AI applications.How companies can start small with AI projects to drive real impact and avoid common pitfalls.Why freelancers are leading the charge in adopting AI and how that impacts workforce strategies.The importance of compliance and data security in AI adoption, especially for regulated industries.What businesses need to consider when building AI teams or leveraging external expertise.Kenneth also shares his thoughts on the future of AI in business and why trust, relationships, and human connection will always remain essential, no matter how advanced the technology gets.If you’re looking for practical AI strategies to stay competitive while minimizing risks, this episode is packed with insights you can apply immediately.

Leaders,Freelancing is no longer just a trend—it's becoming a cornerstone of how businesses build teams and drive innovation. But with rapid shifts in technology, AI, and global talent strategies, what does the future of freelancing really look like?In this episode, Nuri Demirci Lopez shares his insights on how freelancing is evolving, the role of AI in shaping talent strategies, and why a mindset shift is crucial for organizations embracing hybrid workforces.A bit about Nuri - he’s a leading expert in how enterprises adopt freelance workforces. He’s also on the cutting edge of how AI can expand from freelance workforces to digital twins. Key highlights:Insights from ProcureCon on how enterprises are approaching freelance strategies.Why AI is transforming talent sourcing and enabling flexible workforce models.The need for better platform standards and global regulations.How organizations can securely integrate freelancers into their operations.The mindset shifts leaders must embrace to stay competitive.For anyone navigating flexible talent models or looking to leverage AI for smarter workforce strategies, this episode is essential.

Leaders, We have three questions for you: What really is the future of work? How will AI impact the future of work? What’s the value of a platform? In this episode, we talk with Brett Martin, a 20+ year serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Brett has seen it all. His fund, Charge Ventures, has been around for over 9 years, invested in over 90 companies, and funded several unicorns. Brett has also been a leader in combining SaaS applications in the future of work, being in both the founder and investor seats. In this episode we’ll learn: Brett views company building as “riding the wave” rather than creating one. Brett’s perspective on the future of work, the types of companies that are needed, and which ones will successfully ride the wave.How entrepreneurs can leverage Generative AI and today’s technology to build the best talent-related companies.A quote from Brett that resonates throughout the episode is: “Great companies ride waves; they don’t create them.” Write this down and keep it close, it's a powerful reminder as you think about your business.In the theme of waves, Brett outlines the current factors shaping the future of work:We’re transitioning from thinking that the goal is “remote” to embracing a distributed, global workforce.  Moving from offshoring as a cost-savings function to treating it as a strategic sourcing channel.The best solutions today are augmenting humans, not replacing them. For example, his startup Fonzi replaces 60% of recruiters' tasks, allowing them to focus more on building relationships.Augmenting humans enables teams to do more with less—in some cases, what once required 20 BDRs can now be accomplished by one digital worker.The challenge of confronting broken systems built on legacy technology. The open question: should we build on top of these systems or start fresh with entirely new solutions?

Leaders, do we need to say more than Steve Rader? If you don’t know Steve, he has been a relentless leader who has pushed for future workforce models across organizations like NASA and beyond. In this episode, we’ll explore how Steve envisions future workforce models applied within large organizations and discuss what current workforce models need to do to adapt to the rapidly evolving technology landscape. In true NASA form, we’ll take an engineering approach to the future of work. As any good engineer does, we’ll start by identifying the first principle and then engineering the solution.What is the first principle of work and the “talent” industry? We need to take it deeper…what is the first business principle? As Steve puts it, it’s okay to admit that the first principle of business is to “make money.” From this first principle, we can identify how the full-time default is in the way of this. Full-time employment, compared to modern models, is slow, inefficient, fixed, and suboptimal for most conditions. A peak into key themes we’ll discuss: The traditional recruitment model is broken. Full stop. From this first principle, we can use white paper thinking to create the recruitment model that works in today’s digital era. Middle management needs to evolve from delegation to orchestration. The reality is that for every 100 traditional middle managers, companies only have 10 now, and these 10 need to navigate modern technology and talent tools to match the production of what once took 100 managers. If enterprises don’t embrace modern workforce models, it’s just a matter of time before startups disrupt them. We covered this in Forbes, How Startups And Small Businesses Signal The Future Of Work.The Platform Community can replace most of what traditional talent leaders have done. Yes, we’re saying HR and Contingent Talent Programs could be replaced by the current talent platform ecosystem. Last, and most important, Steve breaks down what we call “The Holy Trinity To Modern Talent Disruption”. The Holy Trinity guides leaders who need to disrupt traditional talent processes.What the trinity says is this: Leaders must start with the business case. The business case is crucial, as it’s the first principle you always refer back to, benchmark from, and measure against. Then progress to digital leadership. We can also call this digital ownership. This means that leaders go from the business case to the digital and technology-related solutions. This brings in Product, Innovation, Engineering, and technical leaders. Then, leaders progress to talent leadership or talent ownership. This can be HR, TA, or Contingent Talent leaders. All three need each other. How can you apply your Holy Trinity? Listen to find out!

Leaders, The contingent workforce space is evolving, and at the center of this transformation is the need for community, strategy, and problem-solving. In this episode, Dustin Talley shares his journey from intrapreneur at MBO Partners to launching Direct Collective, a peer-based community designed for contingent workforce leaders navigating the complexities of extended workforce programs.Dustin discusses the importance of building relationships, creating value-driven communities, and understanding the challenges companies face when managing flexible talent at scale. He also breaks down key trends shaping workforce strategy, from data-driven decision-making to the growing role of independent workers.Topics covered include: The transition from intrapreneur to entrepreneur in workforce management Why traditional contingent workforce programs focus too much on control instead of innovation The rise of independent workers and how companies are adapting their talent strategies How community-driven solutions help leaders solve real problems rather than just managing spend The evolving role of data, KPIs, and workforce visibility in shaping program successFor leaders working in contingent workforce strategy, procurement, or HR, this conversation provides key insights into building smarter, more agile talent programs.

Leaders, Eight years ago, Jennifer Zick set out to create a new marketing standard. She noticed that marketing was becoming ever more chaotic through growth in new tools, channels, and models. She also saw the rise of marketing executives who could make phenomenal fractional leaders, and noticed fractional leadership already existed for finance and back office management, but not for marketing. So she combined the two; marketing expertise and a fractional model, to offer what is now Authentic, a marketing consultancy that helps growing businesses “Overcome Random Acts of Marketing®.”This episode follows two key paths.  The science of marketing The science of building a differentiated talent platformBoth are crucial for every leader building their team, org, and company. We all know growthis essential, but profitable growth, and actually understanding where your growth comes from, is increasingly difficult. If we gave you $100 dollars today, would you know where to invest that to create $110 dollars tomorrow? If you do, and Google’s SEO change disrupted your search traffic, would you know how to adapt? This brings up the first “aha!” for every leader - According to Jennifer, the purpose of marketing is to consistently answer four key questions:  Who do we want to matter to? Why do we matter to them? Where are they?  How do we get them to trust us? The second “aha!” will be how she built her company through a W-2 talent pool of fractional marketing executives. Two years into building Authentic, she made the difficult decision to transition from a network of 1099 independent contractors to W-2 employees, a move that came with an immediate profit margin hit. So why did she do it? She mentioned three main reasons:  For a higher valuation, as 1099’s aren’t typically included in the valuation To be able to control the client experience, since there is a tough balance of what you can tell independent contractors to do To build a stronger company culture For leaders, marketing is a space to watch as flexible talent models continue to disrupt traditional structures. There are several great platforms paving the way, including Growth Collective (acquired by Toptal), We Are Rosie (Private Equity investment), and Wripple.Key takeaways: Jennifer bootstrapped her way to scale her business.  Jennifer scaled her startup growth by balancing client delivery (50% of her time) and creating content that built a sustainable growth engine (50% of her time). Marketing has seen an explosion of tools, channels, and strategies. The result is that full-time marketing teams can’t keep up with the rise in tools, instead, they stick to what they know, exposing companies to missing out on the new tools or being disrupted if their competitors understand them.  The solution to the rise of this marketing chaos is having fractional marketing expertise - backed by a community of highly qualified specialists - to orchestrate your flexible network of marketing expertise.

A recent panel discussion brought together leading AI experts to explore the latest advancements and their impact on businesses and the workforce. The conversation covered everything from cutting-edge AI models to real-world applications transforming industries. This discussion highlights key insights on how AI shapes the flexible workforce.This is the public version of the webinar. To access the private version, log into your Knowledge Hub or subscribe at https://humancloud.work/knowledge-hub/About The Panelists:Matt Coatney - AI and Digital Product Leader and co-author of theHuman Cloud book. Matt brings 25+ years leading $15–75M business divisions, co-founding four companies, advising numerous startups, and developing and launching over a dozen innovative products. He also built some of the early Deep Learning and Machine Learning courses today's AI founders use.Noah Gale, Co-Founder of Tribe AI, the leading AI talent platform. Fresh off a $3.25 million seed round to match demand, Tribe and Noah are at the forefront of what's possible and viable.Cory Hymel, VP of Research and Innovation at Crowdbotics. From AI research on self-driving vehicles in the early 2000s to founding multiple startups, Cory's at the forefront of Human Computer Interaction with a focus on AI augmentation in software development.Nuri Demirci Lopez, Principal PM at Microsoft. Nuri brings 20+ years of blending technology, customer experience, and digital talent models within enterprise and startup environments. Alongside 2 books, sought after keynote talks, and advising, Nuri leads a best in class customer experience solution that leverages AI, Enterprise grade technology, and truly global flexible workforces.Ready to transform your business? Learn more about how Human Cloud can help connect you with the expertise and solutions you need. Visit Human Cloud today.