The Tech Blog Writer Podcast - Inspired Tech Startup Stories & Interviews With Tech Leaders, Entrepreneurs And Innovators

In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Nathan Thomas, Director of Innovation, Ricoh Europe, who oversees innovation across Ricoh Europe. Nathan joined me to unpack new findings from Ricoh’s study of thousands of workers and business leaders across Europe.  We discussed why some countries are advancing in terms of workplace productivity while others struggle to keep pace. Spain, for example, stands out for its high productivity, which Nathan attributes to cultural changes and experiments, such as shorter working weeks and a stronger focus on employee well-being.  Meanwhile, the UK and Ireland lag, with many companies still relying on legacy systems and being slow to adopt new work habits. Nathan highlighted that only about a quarter of UK employees feel adequately equipped to work together efficiently, a statistic that raises fundamental questions about how businesses can better support their people. Our conversation turned to the slow progress many companies face in embracing AI and automation.