The Future of In-House Creative Leadership

This time I am joined by Gareth Chilton, a seasoned professional specializing in the integration of AI within creative operations. Gareth is the founder of ManMachine, a consultancy specializing in MarTech for Creative Operations.With over 20 years of experience in business transformation and two successful exits in the digital and MarTech sectors, Gareth helps organizations integrate people, process, and technology to optimize their MarTech stacks and operational efficiency. His expertise spans diverse marketing and consumer tech sectors, working with both startups and blue-chip clients globally.As an advisor for the Inside Out Community, Gareth provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of creative operations, emphasizing the integration of AI and automation to enhance creative workflows.We offer a FREE Insider membership with access to our job board, learning resources and community updates - all designed to support you in your in-house leadership journey. If you’re curious more info is here: https://theinsideout.community/insider/

Lauren Pleydell-Pearce is Chief Creative Officer at PwC UK, where she leads a multidisciplinary team of strategists and designers to solve complex challenges for their clients across brand, experience, and innovation.For nearly two decades, Lauren has led creative teams at agencies and directed design for major brands like Audi, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Spotify, The Old Vic, and Volvo.Her journey from agency to leading creative at a consulting firm gives her a unique insight into how to integrate design and creativity into business strategy.Lauren is the author of PwC’s Growth Through Experience 2025 report — a fascinating look at how brands can unlock business growth with emotionally intelligent experiences. Download the report here: https://www.pwcresearch.com/uc/images/GrowthThroughExperience_2025.pdfI will be diving into the findings to see what this all means for in-house creative leaders, and how we can shape the next generation of brand experiences by balancing emotional intelligence with artificial intelligence.----We offer a FREE Insider membership with access to our job board, learning resources and community updates — all designed to support you in your in-house leadership journey.If you’re curious more info is here https://theinsideout.community/insider/

In this episode I am joined by Nicola Wardell, Managing Director of Specsavers Creative. Nicola brings over 20 years of experience leading creative, brand, and marketing teams for some of the world’s best-known brands. At Specsavers, she heads the in-house agency, driving creative strategy and award-winning campaigns that have helped shape the brand’s distinctive voice.Before joining Specsavers in 2020, Nicola was Chief Client Officer at Havas and previously held senior leadership roles at GREY London, where she led on major clients including United Biscuits, GSK, and Pringles. Her career also includes directing internal and external teams to deliver a major brand re-launch for Airmiles, and agency-side roles with clients such as Gillette, Coca-Cola Enterprises, and Greene King.Nicola is known for her collaborative leadership style, passion for mentoring, and commitment to building inclusive, high-performing teams. Her expertise in delivering impactful campaigns and nurturing creative talent has made her a respected leader in the industry.---We offer a FREE Insider membership with access to our job board, learning resources and community updates — all designed to support you in your in-house leadership journey.If you’re curious more info is here https://theinsideout.community/insider/

This time, I’m joined by Lee Barnsley, Design Excellence Director at Reckitt — the company behind some of the world’s most recognised and trusted brands, including Dettol, Durex, Finish, Vanish and Nurofen.At Reckitt, Lee is leading the transformation of design — building a global Design Excellence function that combines creativity, strategy, and technology to drive innovation, elevate brand experiences, and create measurable business impact. His mission is to make design not just beautiful, but influential as a driver of growth and differentiation across Reckitt’s global portfolio.Before joining Reckitt, Lee held senior creative roles across global agencies, partnering with brands such as Nestlé, Mondelez, Unilever, and Heineken. His international career has taken him across Europe, Asia, and Australia, shaping his belief that great design happens at the intersection of cultural insight, empathy, and innovation.---We offer a FREE Insider membership with access to our job board, learning resources and community updates — all designed to support you in your in-house leadership journey.If you’re curious more info is here https://theinsideout.community/insider/

It’s a slightly different episode this time, but I thought you might enjoy hearing the common themes that have come up for our Inside Out® members this year, the macro trends and challenges I have been observing and….my predictions for 2026!Access our Pathway by signing up to our FREE Insider membership here https://theinsideout.community/membership/Have a great festive break and thank you for listening! 🎄

Carol Feeley, Head of Creative at Ocado Retail, leads a team of over 30 creatives spanning motion, copy, design, and beyond. With over 15 years of experience, she has crafted award-winning campaigns for brands like Innocent Drinks, Disney, and Warner Bros. Carol is a trained coach and an advocate for inclusive creative leadership. She’s known for her slightly rebellious nature, always pushing boundaries to deliver unexpected and impactful work.----We offer a FREE Insider membership with access to our job board, learning resources and community updates — all designed to support you in your in-house leadership journey.If you’re curious more info is here https://theinsideout.community/insider/

Mali Okoi-Obuli is the founder of OURHouse, a global creative production house built for brands that think beyond borders. With hubs spanning London to Lagos, Miami to Madrid, OURHouse champions creative production that is more open, more creative, and more diverse — collaborating across cultures to make creativity limitless. Before launching OURHouse, Mali was Global Senior Manager and Executive Producer at adidas, overseeing global campaigns for football, adidas by Stella McCartney, training, sportswear, and more. She is passionate about reframing production as a strategic, creative force — protecting ideas, solving problems, and driving cultural impact at every stage of execution.-----We offer a FREE Insider membership with access to our job board, learning resources and community updates — all designed to support you in your in-house leadership journey.If you’re curious more info is here https://theinsideout.community/insider/

Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death, shares insights from his journey in creativity that transformed a water brand into a cultural phenomenon. He discusses how treating the brand as a character drives engagement and creativity. Andy reveals the importance of humor and high-volume testing in marketing, as well as the advantages of in-house teams for faster production and brand control. He emphasizes the balance between risk and audience expectations while exploring how AI can enhance, not replace, human creativity.

Luke Scheybeler (Skybehler), a renowned creative leader and brand strategist, best known as co-founder of the global sportswear brands Rapha and Tracksmith. At Rapha, he shaped the iconic aesthetic and storytelling that redefined cycling culture, before going on to launch Tracksmith, a premium running brand rooted in tradition and performance. Beyond founding brands, Luke has held creative leadership roles with the Swiss porivate bank Pic-tay Group and Publicis Sapient.In the last few years Luke has founded a number of businesses as Chief Creative Officer/CMO.Luke believes creativity thrives when CEOs and creatives work hand-in-hand. With a career dedicated to building brands with cultural narratives, Luke continues to explore how creativity drives business, brand, technology and culture.-----Download our Inside Out® Pathway - A guide to in-house creative leadership development and growth.The Inside Out Pathway is a starting point for in-house creative leaders to be able to navigate themselves and their teams to get creativity closer to the C-Suite.https://theinsideout.community/resources/the-inside-out-pathway

I joined Nish on his CreativeOps Podcast earlier this year. to deep dive on our Pathway model. (If want to know a bit more about Nish Patel then check out episode 19. )You can download our Inside Out® Pathway for free here - https://theinsideout.community/resources/the-inside-out-pathwayThe Inside Out Pathway is a starting point for in-house creative leaders to be able to navigate themselves and their teams to get creativity closer to the C-Suite.