The Return of Disrupt Dublin with Ben Geoghegan

With the support of Personio, we’re bringing Disrupt back to Dublin with a format built for action: five-minute lightning talks, auto-advancing slides, and zero fluff.

After years of webinars and multitasking, Dublin gets a night where ideas hit hard, conversations move fast, and the network you build matters.

Ahead of the festive break, Bill Banham sat down with Disrupt Dublin co-organizer Ben Geoghegan to unpack why now is the right moment to relaunch, what makes the format so effective, and how a curated mix of voices can shift the future of work. We spotlight an early lineup featuring leaders from Google, Irish Rail, and Mazars; a chartered psychologist from the Royal College of Surgeons; and founders pushing new recruiting tech. Each speaker brings one tight message and one practical move you can test - no drawn-out slides, no corporate spin, just clear ideas with real outcomes.

We also dig into why the crowd is the secret sauce. Senior HR execs, consultants, operators, and technologists share the floor, cross-pollinating approaches to AI, learning design, leadership, culture, well-being, and hiring. That diversity turns quick talks into immediate experiments: pilots you can run with your team, metrics worth tracking, and conversation starters for your leadership table. Expect energy, focus, and dozens of new connections by the time the Personio-hosted event wraps at 8:30.

If you care about building better workplaces in 2026, this preview delivers the what, the why, and the how. Hit play to hear the format breakdown, the themes to watch, and the speakers to meet. Enjoy the show, then subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a quick review so more HR pros and people leaders can find us.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Event Reveal
• 0:42 Why Disrupt Dublin Is Back Now
• 4:30 The Lightning Talk Format Explained
• 7:10 Speaker Lineup And Themes
• 9:33 What Attendees Will Take Away
• 12:20 The Power Of A Mixed Audience
• 14:10 How To Connect With Ben
• 14:30 Closing And Subscribe CTA

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:02

Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's most downloaded and shared podcasts designed for HR pros, talent execs, tech enthusiasts, and business leaders. For hundreds more episodes and what's new in the world of work, subscribe to the show, follow us on social media, and visit hrgazette.com.

SPEAKER_03: 0:24

Welcome to another episode of the HR Chat Show. Hello, listeners. This is your host today, Bill Bannham. And in this special event preview episode, I'm joined by my friend Ben Gagan, co-organiser of Disrupt Dublin, along with yours truly and a wonderful chap called Ivan. In this episode, we're going to talk about why this iconic event is finally returning to the capital of Ireland and why now is exactly the right moment. After a very long pause, in fact, there hasn't been one since before the pandemic, Disrupt Dublin is back and it's happening February 26th, 2026, bringing fast, fearless ideas, unfiltered honesty, and a community that's hungry for fresh thinking about the future of work. This is not a traditional conference listener, though no. It's a five-minute lightning talk, auto-advancing slides, no fluff, no corporate spin, just bold ideas from people who are actually building what comes next. And in this conversation, Ben and I will unpack what makes disrupt different, what attendees can expect on the night, why Dublin's HR business community needs this kind of space again, and how this relaunch sets the tone for workplace conversations in 2026 and beyond. Ben, how are you doing? Welcome to the show. Hi Bill, thanks very much for having me. I know you pretty well. I I think you're a lovely chap, but maybe our listeners don't, because it's been a long time since I've had you on the show. Why don't you just take a minute and reintroduce yourself to our audience?

SPEAKER_02: 1:56

Yeah, so what's a long time since we chatted on the podcast? But um, so Ben Gagan, I used to be an HR guy in large companies and I lived in Ireland for a long time. Uh, when I went back to Australia, I set up my own HR consulting business. Um, did that for a long time and enjoyed that and had great clients and all that sort of thing. Over the years, I enjoyed the the marketing and you know the business development side even more. And ever since that's what I've done. So um through the Get More HR Clients and the podcast, A Better HR Business, I study how consulting firms and HR-related tech firms uh help employers get the best out of the people and how they grow their businesses to make that happen. Um yeah, I'm an Aussie and island and uh still working on the TAN.

SPEAKER_00: 2:41

The HR Chat Podcast is one of the world's most popular shows, offering insights and tips from HR pros, business leaders, industry influencers, and tech experts. World of work topics covered include HR tech, AI, leadership, talent, recruitment, employee engagement, wellness, DEI, and company culture. Check out the latest HR chat episodes on your podcast platform of choice and read the latest articles at hrgazette.com.

SPEAKER_03: 3:09

And as we record this episode today, uh your boys are just about to spank England in the cricket again. And that's going to be three games in a row. That's the series. So we're not gonna talk about that beyond that comment right there because it's not. I don't even know what you're talking about, Bill. But let's let's start the top then. Um why was now the right time to bring Disrupt back to Dublin after such a long gap?

SPEAKER_02: 3:35

Yeah, wow, it was um that I I went, I attended the the events and what just before COVID anyway, and kind of kind of killed it all off, but they were so good. Uh, and there wasn't really anything like that. And I don't know, the world just got so busy and it kind of just fell away. But it's such a great uh event that I I think it was worth bringing back, important to bring back. Um, and also the world went online a lot, so there's a lot of summits and um webinars are everywhere, and I think people probably miss that in-person networking and learning, you know, where you can sit in in your chair and actually ponder the ideas rather than look at your phone and and um drink your coffee and wave at people walking past your desk while you're on a webinar. So I think this is such a powerful way of learning and thinking and and bringing new uh new ideas, new change to the industry, to the sector.

SPEAKER_03: 4:26

Sorry, I miss what you said there. I was I was looking at my phone and drinking my coffee. No, no, no. Uh let's let's let's let's continue to do it. Um so uh it was really nice to get you over to London for an event that we did, I think it was about a year and a half ago, something like that, at Holt International Business School. Um and you did a fantastic job, and I think everybody had a lot of fun. But for listeners who've never been to a disrupt event, how would you explain the format and why do you think it works?

SPEAKER_02: 4:53

Before I do that, you know, it makes me think uh I I flew from Dublin to London to give a five-minute speech. Really, that's what it was. And I think it was worth it. That's a funny thing. I also, once upon a time in my HR career, flew from um the west of Australia to the east of Australia, which is a five-hour flight for a 45-minute worth of 45-minute meeting with a union organizer to stop a strike. But anyway, these things are worth it. Um, it uh the format's amazing. So for people who don't know the disrupt talks, um, you've got five minutes. That's it, tops. And the slides move. Uh, and Bill is very cruel, he makes them move at fifth uh 15 seconds automatically. So you don't click the slide. So it's not one of those things where you say, Oh, I've just got a few more things before I move on to the next slide. Uh uh, it's it's moving on. Uh and the reason that's so important or why it's so interesting or how it's so different is that it's a bit like one of those sort of Japanese haiku poems where you've only got X number of characters or lines to say what you need to say. So you really need to think about what message you're trying to convey, um, the feelings you want to convey or get people to feel, uh, and and do that in a way that's engaging um and gets people thinking and and and also thinking how they can apply it to their business, their life, whatever it may be. Um, so I think that part's really good. That also creates energy. Um, uh Bill, you've done so many of these events, you know it, you've seen the speakers. When you're under that kind of pressure, you you step it up a notch. And we've all been to conferences where you sit in there and just bore it out of your mind where someone's giving a 20-minute speech and they're just droning through the PowerPoint slides, and it's oh gosh, when's this gonna end? You just you don't get that. You've got people who are bouncing ideas off each other, and you can go from well-being, uh, mental health issues to AI tech implementations five minutes later. So I I love that aspect of it for sure.

SPEAKER_03: 6:41

Uh I was very proud of myself. I did a super geeky, I mean super geeky uh disrupt talk in Cambridge recently, about a month ago, as we record this, on um HR lessons we can take from sci-fi. And I opened my talk with um with a terrible joke, as I always like to do. Um how many ears does Captain Picard have? Three, a left ear, a right ear, and a final frontier. So that was the start of my talk there. Um you can so you can tell how seriously I take these things. Um let's talk about the speaker lineup for Dublin, Ben. What excites you most about the mix of voices? We've got some really impressive speakers already confirmed. Um, so from global brands like Google to Irish institutions and founders. Can you maybe walk us through uh some of those speakers and um what's exciting you?

SPEAKER_02: 7:32

Yeah, I mean, it's it's we're still putting together the speaker list, but there's already a collection of amazing um people with ideas and the speaking ability anyway, but the the things that they've achieved and and will be achieving in the future. So it's gonna be really excellent. We've got Kelsey Cates there, she's the global head of learning um experiences at Google, um, Elizabeth Buckley, HR director at um For Mazars, John Kennedy from Irish Rail. Um we've got Dr. Mary Collins, um, she's uh a charter psychologist at and she's at the Royal College of Surgeons. Um Simon Peter Hague, a fascinating guy. Uh I know you know him from the uh, I think it was the London event years ago, but wonderful speaker and really great ideas and so on. Um, Ivan Stepanovich, uh co-founder of Teladria, an amazing um you know recruitment tech company that's that's making waves. And then possibly we'll even hear from one Bill Bannham, editor of the HR Gazette and the HR Chat podcast. Um, maybe we'll get his Captain Picard joke. We don't know. So brace yourselves for that. But like I said, there's still um delicate negotiations underway for other speakers as well. But I love the fact that they're just so varied. You've got tech, you've got professional services, you've got individual thought leaders and um you know consultants, you've got psychologists. Um it's it's just such a great mix. And like I said, with that the format, you know, you're going from one thing to another thing to another thing, it's very disruptive, which is um perfect.

SPEAKER_03: 9:03

Yeah, I'd say if it's disruptive, it's it's it's in line with the brand. Um, listeners, I'm just a backup speaker. People don't need to hear from me, but you know, if if we don't have enough speakers or whenever anybody drops out, I'll be ready there with a corny joke. Uh and I find there we go. I look forward to it. So, Ben, yeah, when when the folks walk out of Disrupt after the final networking session, so things are due to wrap up about 8.30, I think, at the Personio office. And thank you to Personio for being on the show. I'm just gonna say, yeah, Personia, yeah. Um uh they've been they've been very gracious hosts. It's gonna be a fantastic event, it's a great venue. Um, so when people do leave after the final networking session, around 8.30, what what what do you hope that they're saying to themselves and saying to their colleagues uh as they're walking out of that door?

SPEAKER_02: 9:53

I harp on about it, but that format, that five-minute format, I think the audience picks up on that, the energy that comes through through and the ideas, the crafting, and and even the tension of having to craft something in such a short presentation. So there's an energy that comes through the audience. So the speakers and the audience network bounce ideas really quickly, but um, they always, from my experience from attending the events and also speaking, um, and the networking at uh breaks and afterwards, I think they take away there's a lot of connections made, just your classic networking that happens, but probably on a on a bigger scale. Um, but because there's so many varied ideas and formats thrown at you so quickly, your brain is just firing off, all the synapses are firing. And so I think they're thinking of different ways that they can implement what they've learned, or it's got them thinking, they've been hearing about concept A, but that triggers concept B in their mind. I wonder if we could take a different approach in our organization, or maybe they've heard from someone who's explained how they've implemented change or created a whole new culture in a place, and they think I could, I could do that with my leadership team. Um, because there's a lot of senior HR leaders um talking and and attending. Um, so there's a I personally find it exciting because it's a big impact to create change in a lot of large organizations, which has a natural flow and effect. Um, so all sorts of things, but yeah, always a positive um people come away with very positive feelings and and uh and outcomes.

SPEAKER_03: 11:17

You mentioned there in in your answer, Ben, that um uh people come away with ideas to help change, for example, um initiatives within medium and large size organizations. I I'd add to that, yeah, that is the core of the audience. But uh another reason why these disrupt events are fairly unique is it is a community and we do have uh consultants involved, vendors involved, uh folks from other areas, operations, marketing, and whatnot might might want to come along as well. Um by the way, I should just cave out that listeners by saying um the capacity is 120. So if we can't get you in this time, apologies in advance, but we have big plans for Dublin over the next 12 months, so it will happen. Um, but I mean that's that's interesting, isn't it? Because you know, some events it's just those very senior HR folks from big organizations, say, or other events it's more um maybe just recruiters or or vendors and whatnot. Having that kind of mixture in terms of the demographics there, what what does that do in terms of being able to build conversations, create new connections, build out your network?

SPEAKER_02: 12:20

I think it's just so powerful because, for instance, if you're in a large organization, then there's a culture within that organization and it's the way we do things around here. But um, there are always little pockets where they are willing to experiment. I always say to companies, you know, it's best to try and get a project or a pilot thing going if you want to implement some change and see how that can roll out to the wider organization. But when you've got these different people at different levels, uh sectors, even if it's from um the world of AI or leadership development or workplace well-being or just HR um, you know, management areas, all of those things have cross-fertilization opportunities and ways of sharing ideas. You don't just have to be speaking about one pure subject to another person on the same topic to learn from it. I I think that's the power of it, having the the different connections and levels and and subject areas. It all creates that energy that people, you know, it gets their mind racing.

SPEAKER_03: 13:20

You get my mind racing, Mr. Oh, thank you, Bill. Hey, listen, we've got to wrap up. Uh, you and I have got to jump onto a onto a um an organizer's call to talk about disrupt before we um before we do that. How can folks connect with you? So do you want to share your LinkedIn details, uh, your email address, maybe, uh, your URL? Are you super cool and all over Instagram and TikTok and places? Let us know more.

SPEAKER_02: 13:44

Yeah, yeah. Look, just just search TikTok for dancing videos of me. They're they're amazing. Um, but if you're not into those, then LinkedIn is is my number one spot, Ben Gagan. Um, there's three G's in Gagan, so good luck spelling it. But anyway, um, and then the the podcast is a better HR business, and you'll find that on the getmorehr clients.com forward slash podcast. And um, you may even find a wonderful interview with one Bill Bannham there.

SPEAKER_03: 14:10

Excellent. Before we wrap up, just want to just want to say, Ben, uh huge respect for you. I've known you now for a number of years. You're you're a genuine, authentic, really nice guy. Um, and I appreciate your time today. Thank you. Thanks, Bill. You too. Thank you. And listeners, as always, until next time, happy working.

SPEAKER_01: 14:28

Thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show. If you enjoyed this episode, why not subscribe and listen to some of the hundreds of episodes published by HR Gazette? And remember, for what's new in the world of work, subscribe to the show, follow us on social media, and visit hrgazette.com.