In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Kate Hassler, Group Director of Brand and Comms at Access Group—a $9 billion global B2B software company serving 160,000 customers across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. While headlines scream of AI-driven redundancies at tech giants, Access Group took the opposite approach: hiring more people, running company-wide hackathons, and building a culture where AI is simply business as usual. So what does a genuinely human-led AI transformation actually look like from the inside?

➡️ Kate walks through every stage of Access Group's journey—from pockets of shadow AI usage and no formal governance, to enterprise Claude licenses with custom brand skills built in. She reveals the story behind the now-legendary "AI bus" metaphor that united 9,000 employees around a single, simple idea, and explains how structured playtime—not mandates—turned the biggest sceptics into the most vocal champions. She digs into why Access chose to protect junior talent rather than cut it, how one senior designer reinvented himself as an AI strategist, and why the "human at the start, human at the end" principle is what separates meaningful content from AI slop. Whether you're a marketing leader navigating an AI rollout or just trying to get your team over the line, Kate's blueprint is grounded, practical, and genuinely inspiring.

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction: AI and the B2B Marketing Workplace

02:12 - Kate Hassler and Access Group Overview

04:03 - Company-Wide AI as a Strategic Priority

07:26 - The London Bus Metaphor: Origin and Impact

11:04 - Why the Metaphor Has Endured a Year On

12:32 - From Shadow AI to Structured Adoption

14:33 - Copilot, Claude, and the Licensing Journey

17:27 - Building Custom Claude Brand Skills

19:00 - Human at the Start, Human at the End

21:14 - Hackathons, Play, and AI Champions

25:37 - Job Security and Empathy-Led Leadership

28:07 - Splash Maker: A Creative Reinvents as Strategist

32:49 - Biggest Lessons from 12 Months of AI Transformation

36:37 - Junior Talent and the Future Pipeline

Follow Kate Hassler https://linkedin.com/in/kate-hassler https://www.theaccessgroup.com

If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader.

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💬What do you think comes first—getting your team on board with AI, or putting the governance in place? Let us know in the comments below.

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