While digital innovation is overwhelming us daily, we’re exploring where the human spark is in our digital future
Hosted by Diageo, the interactive session, Balancing Tech & Touch, moved beyond theory or the often-heard worries around how tech may replace our jobs. Instead, in this session we rolled up our sleeves and emerged with a clear mandate: to uncover how the human spark enhances our work everyday. This brief captures the energy and actionable insights from our time together.
The Core Insight: Tech Serves Touch
The overarching theme of our session was a fundamental reframe. In many organizations, the management agenda is dominated by digital transformation, often at the expense of human connection. We risk optimizing for efficiency and scale while losing the empathy and creativity that build lasting brands. Forward-thinking leaders flip this script, they see digital tools not as the goal, but as a means to a more human end. A modern creative agency uses AI to rapidly analyse decades of award-winning campaigns, identifying underlying patterns of emotional storytelling. But the tool doesn't create the idea, it serves the human creative team, giving them a rich, data-informed foundation upon which to build their own unique, human-sparked concept. This way, technology handles the data and people handle the magic. While tech lifts the administrative weight, we hold the power of being human and elevate connection, empathy and storytelling.
The How: Play as a Strategic Engine
How do put this philosophy into practice? By putting play to work. We're not talking about foosball tables; we're talking about a strategic, deliberate approach to unlocking creativity. In our session, the moment we set aside our serious marketing hats and dove into a playful activity you could feel the energy shift. Mental barriers crumbled, laughter filled the room, and participants connected on a different level. Together we proved that these light-hearted, purposeful breaks are not a departure from work, they are a vital part of the work itself. Followed by engaging discussions, we discovered that purposeful play isn't a time-out from our goals; it's the fastest way to reach them.
Action Plan to bring the Tech & Touch balance to your work
Run a 'Human Connection' audit
Choose one customer journey or internal process and zoom in on a moment that feels flat, transactional, or overly automated. That’s your opportunity zone. Your mission: implement one small shift, maybe a warmer message, a moment of empathy, a creative gesture, or a question that invites real dialogue. Tiny changes can spark disproportionate impact.
Create space for 'Creative Ignition' time
Block 30 minutes in your team’s calendar for a playful, agenda-free challenge that lifts the energy and loosens the thinking. One participant shared that they regularly play Uno with their team, it’s simple, fun, and surprisingly powerful in resetting the vibe. This isn’t downtime; it's strategic investment in your team’s creativity and cohesion. Watch as it yields fresh perspectives and a renewed sense of energy.
"In the race to digitize, our greatest competitive advantage is our irreplaceable human spark."
Karen Smits
3 Actionable Takeaways
Use Tech AND Touch
Tech gives us speed, scale and precision. Touch gives us intuition, trust and connection.
Enable Play
Purposeful play is non-negotiable strategy for driving innovation and breaking down creative blocks.
The Human Connection
It's a leadership choice: design it, protect it and model it.
Inspired to bring this balance to your team? The session was just the beginning. Explore how just add water can help you embed these principles into your leadership and culture.
