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Sam Birchall

Sam Birchall

Fortune

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Hachette’s CEO writes every email himself. He says AI shortcuts are creating a ‘worse C-suite’

Executives are saving hours by letting AI summarize articles and write their emails. But some leaders fear delegating these tasks to AI could come...

13.10.2026 5

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Getting a job at Bending Spoons comes with no bonus, no fancy title, and a warning—800,000 people applied anyway

The $18 billion Italian tech company’s head of people operations explains why it warns recruits its work ‘isn’t for everybody,’ and shares the...

09.10.2026 9

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Europeans are drinking less beer. Heineken’s Europe boss has a plan to avoid a brewing hangover

As Heineken battles falling beer sales, its European president is hoping that cost cuts, a restructure, and a push into alcohol-free beer can help...

08.10.2026 10

Fortune

Sam Birchall

How Siemens Healthineers is helping its international staff feel at home

Liza Follert, head of people attraction for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, explains how employee feedback has shaped Siemens Healthineers’...

08.10.2026 30

Fortune

Sam Birchall

‘Where you come from shouldn’t dictate where you finish’: How Standard Chartered is taking on the banking industry’s class problem

Finance chief Darren Ellis is pushing socio-economic mobility up the agenda at Standard Chartered and, in doing so, is making the bank a more...

08.10.2026 20

Fortune

Sam Birchall

‘Europe needs to shed its naivety’: Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen on Chinese competition and the energy issue that keeps him up at night

The Danish company has pivoted through multiple crises to become the world’s biggest turbine manufacturer. Now, as new competitors emerge and costs...

02.10.2026 50

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Visa and Mastercard handle nearly half of Europe’s card payments. The digital euro aims to change that

The European Central Bank's €1.3 billion bet offers an alternative to the U.S. payments giants, but it faces an uphill battle to win over consumers,...

01.10.2026 20

Fortune

Sam Birchall

America’s scientists are looking abroad. Can European business cash in?

As U.S. research funding comes under pressure, European companies and institutions are seeking to court America’s top STEM talent.

28.09.2026 150

Fortune

Sam Birchall

‘Our industry sees the risks and is concerned’: European tech leaders join calls for AI slowdown

Pip White, head of U.K. and Ireland, Northern Europe, and Israel at Anthropic, is among the tech leaders calling for a global cooperation on...

25.09.2026 150

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Europe’s Fortune 500 2026: Record revenue, shrinking margins, and a new No. 1 country

Now in its fourth year, the Fortune 500 Europe ranks the continent’s biggest companies by revenue.

15.09.2026 10

Fortune

Sam Birchall

After a wave of delistings, can London’s stock market reverse the decline?

The LSE has 900 fewer listings than 10 years ago but its chief executive Julia Hoggett says the doom narrative is wrong. She shares her plans to put...

11.09.2026 10

Fortune

Sam Birchall

A leadership gap looms in Nordic and Benelux boardrooms

Long CEO tenures and a preference for insiders have left half of boardrooms in the Nordic and Benelux countries doubting their CEO's skills match what...

01.09.2026 10

Fortune

Sam Birchall

‘We tend to lead the way’: How Europe become a testing ground for Kraft Heinz

Kraft Heinz accounts for nearly half of Europe's ketchup market and is winning over health-conscious consumers just as weight-loss drugs reshape the...

25.08.2026 40

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Ikea’s real estate arm sponsored a pillow fight in France. Here’s why

One of Europe's largest real estate companies is taking a new approach to boosting footfall across its shopping centers.

24.08.2026 40

Fortune

Sam Birchall

‘They ain’t got no soul’: How Ben & Jerry’s co-founder became his own company’s biggest critic

Ben Cohen is waging a public campaign against the ice cream company that bears his name, accusing its owners of gutting the social mission he built it...

07.08.2026 20

Fortune

Sam Birchall

The NFL’s previous push into Europe lost $400 million. Why it’s trying again

The league's chief marketing officer is taking America's biggest sport across the Atlantic. After decades of failed attempts, this time may be...

04.08.2026 30

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Europe’s social media bans force businesses to rethink how they reach the youngest generation

As France, the U.K., and a growing list of European governments move to prohibit young people’s access to social media platforms, brands are racing...

30.07.2026 30

Fortune

Sam Birchall

WPP’s sweeping restructure could save £500 million—the bigger challenge might be winning over workers

The advertising giant is simplifying its structure as it aims to arrest its decline. Chief people officer Marie-Claire Barker says the harder task is...

24.07.2026 20

Fortune

Sam Birchall

How Nestlé turned a chocolate heist into a masterclass in brand building

When thieves made off with a truckload of KitKats, Nestlé's marketing team decided the best crisis response was to make a joke of it—it’s...

20.07.2026 40

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Esther Perel has a warning for executives: your workforce is suffering from social atrophy and AI is making it worse

Europe's boardrooms have spent the past year fixated on productivity, AI adoption, and the search for growth in a stagnant economy. Esther Perel...

17.07.2026 20

Fortune

Sam Birchall

750 million fans and 2.7 million data points: How IBM’s AI powers Wimbledon from hidden ‘Court 19’

The tennis tournament has become a proving ground for IBM’s tech and is helping business executives overcome their AI fears.

09.07.2026 30

Fortune

Sam Birchall

The new CMO playbook: how marketers are balancing broader remits and tighter budgets

Marketing leaders at Cannes Lions discuss their expanding list of responsibilities, AI’s threat to creativity and the importance of having a CMO on...

26.06.2026 30

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Reddit COO targets 1 billion users as internet’s ‘odd duck’ aims for new heights

Reddit accidentally built one of the world's most valuable archives of human conversation. Now it wants to turn that into a billion-user business

25.06.2026 30

Fortune

Sam Birchall

As marketers grapple with AI, business leaders at Cannes Lions say human creativity and authenticity matter more than ever

At Fortune's Fuel Up in Cannes, marketing leaders from Manchester United Football Club, Uber, Kraft Heinz and content creator Gstaad Guy explored how...

24.06.2026 30

Fortune

Sam Birchall

‘This is the least crazy AI is ever going to be’: the lessons Europe’s execs must take from Anthropic’s shutdown

The challenge for Europe's senior executives is that access to the world's best AI may come at the cost of strategic autonomy, and they need to decide...

23.06.2026 40

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Inside Europe’s most innovative companies

From semiconductors powering the AI boom to 360-year-old manufacturers adapting to the green economy, here are the organizations driving the European...

17.06.2026 60

Fortune

Sam Birchall

The new mandate for CMOs is clear: creativity must deliver growth

The next big growth lever isn't hiding in the finance department. It's creativity, and it's reshaping the role of the CMO while giving marketing a...

16.06.2026 30

Fortune

Sam Birchall

Jamie Laing thinks tomorrow’s Fortune 500 will be built by creators. He might be right

Creator-led brands have been easy to dismiss as novelties built on borrowed fame. But their cultural fluency, agility and proximity to consumers make...

10.06.2026 30

Fortune

Sam birchall

The women running Europe in 2026

Twenty of the leaders celebrated in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list are from Europe. Their roles reveal where power is concentrated across the...

08.06.2026 40

Fortune

Sam birchall

‘Nobody knows what they’re doing’ says Michelle Obama

Never did ‘first lady’ enter Michelle Obama’s aspirational lexicon. Her reflections on resilience, self-doubt, and adapting to the unexpected...

05.06.2026 40

Fortune

Sam birchall

‘Human creativity is under fire’ says WPP

At Cannes Lions, creativity is now seen as a key driver of growth, but leaders are struggling to protect it as idea production becomes cheaper and...

05.06.2026 50

Fortune

Sam birchall

Businesses are declaring war on AI slop. They are fighting a losing battle

Efforts to wipe the web of AI slop has sparked a new technological arms race between the tools generating fake content and the tools trying to catch...

05.06.2026 40

Fortune

Sam birchall

The death of the billboard: Amsterdam’s ad crackdown is part of a much bigger European shift

As cities across Europe take a closer look at the influence advertising has on consumer behavior, brands are having to rethink how they connect with...

05.06.2026 30

Fortune

Sam birchall

How to save the internet—according to Sam Altman’s all-seeing Orb

Europe’s largest corporations are facing an authenticity crisis, and Silicon Valley thinks biometric identity infrastructure may become part of the...

01.06.2026 30

Fortune

Sam birchall