Shaping the Future of Talent, Together.
Operating at the intersection of people, technology and the future of work.
The challenge.
WHY WE EXIST
“In any given moment, we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety,” Abraham Maslow.
With siloed talent teams desperately trying to deliver more with less, and AI presenting both opportunities and challenges, a new model for talent is needed. However, achieving this requires genuine transformation. Originated from a venture studio, we exist to guide you through uncharted waters, delivering practical solutions and trustworthy advice, no hype.
Pollinate isn’t just re-imagining the future of talent.
We’re engineering it together, with you.
The future of talent.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We're changemakers.
WHO WE ARE
We're a Talent Transformation Venture Studio - a place where the big questions about the future of talent are tackled head-on, and where product thinking creates solutions that connect business strategy, people and technology. We are a human, community driven organisation that combines industry knowledge, technology expertise, operator mindset and long term vision to redesign the future of work.
Discover.
Build.
Enable.
Your diagnostics
Meet the founders
Darren Timmins
Chief Community & Partnerships Officer
Darren is someone who brings people and ideas together - the perfect person to head up the partnerships and community that help unlock what we do and how we do it.
Having built a successful search business, co-founded a PeopleTech platform, and grown a thriving European HR community, Darren has spent years helping talent leaders solve tricky problems with practical solutions.
Stuart Jones
Chief Solutions Officer
Stuart leads on our client-facing solutions, ensuring that their transformation journey is supported in the right way.
With years of experience across agency, RPO and in-house, Stuart brings heaps of practical knowledge – always delivered with a calming reassurance, clarity and without any BS!
Stuart’s deeply inquiring mind coupled with humility and humour, makes Stu a perfect partner for anyone wanting to make a proper step change without it feeling like hard work.
Rachel Dalboth
Chief Ops & Enablement Officer
Rach is our Chief Operating & Enablement Officer - a dynamic force of positive energy who combines natural organisational skills and a focus on translating strategy into action to keep the good ship Pollinate on course.
Rach leverages her extensive experience to create evolving strategies and solutions that meet the needs of our clients, community, partners and the internal business.
Empathetic, humble, and fun, she helps mobilise the Pollinate team and fosters win-win relationships with everyone she encounters.
Chris Heron
Chief Executive Officer
Chris founded Pollinate (then PollenLabs) in 2022 following 20 years of building worktech. In 2025 Chris reached out to his fellow Pollinate co-founders to initiate a new phase of expansion.
Chris is a visionary and a catalyst who makes things happen. He's also a practicing Global Head of Talent Acquisition and Employer Brand for German Robotics giant, KUKA Group.
He uses his extensive network to bring people and expertise together in a way that generates powerful partnerships for good.
Gareth Jones
Chief Product Officer
Gareth leads all things product including our venture studio, working with our founders and supporting our customers and community members in navigating through the noise of technology and the future of work, especially in the age of AI.
Gareth has worked across people, technology and the future of work for most of his career. He brings extensive experience of designing and building solutions to solve problems in the people and talent space.
Our mission
Enablers
Help talent professionals and their teams stay on the right side of change by equipping them with the strategies, skills, and solutions they need to thrive in an AI-accelerated future.
Our vision
Catalysts
Ignite talent alchemy, spark a revolution by blending human and tech capability. Reshape talent career pathways and craft breakthrough product and solutions, fuelling a future where talent functions thrive.
What makes us unique
Product mindset
We solve problems using advanced product management methodologies.
Community
We engage with the community who actually live and breathe the world of talent every day.
Talent focus
We focus on people as they are the most important enabler in business.
Technology
We possess extensive expertise in building and implementing technology that is shaping the future of work.
Operator led
We have practitioner experience and have spent our careers solving real talent problems.