Lucy Adams is a distinguished businesswoman, author, and specialist in Human Resources (HR), known for challenging and reshaping conventional HR practices. After an extensive executive career at major organizations like Serco and the BBC, she now serves as the CEO of Disruptive HR, a high-level consultancy firm dedicated to innovating and improving the profession.
Adams's executive career saw her appointed HR Director of Serco Rail in 1999, followed by Group HR Director for Serco. She made a significant impact during her tenure as HR Director for the BBC from 2009 to 2014, where she led the restructuring of the BBC Executive Board and oversaw high-level succession planning across multiple changes of Director-General. This background provides her with unparalleled, firsthand experience in managing large-scale organizational and leadership transformation.
In 2014, Adams founded and assumed the lead role at Disruptive HR. The firm’s mission is explicitly focused on breaking up tired conventions within the HR profession and creating innovative methods to improve its function. This endeavor reflects her conviction that traditional HR is ill-equipped for the demands of the modern workplace and that a radical rethink is necessary to truly support organizational success.
Her 2017 publication, HR Disrupted: It’s Time for Something Different, was highly well-received and serves as a blueprint for her philosophy. The book not only sets out the traditional problems within HR but also provides a clear sense of how to solve these issues and implement lasting change within an organization. As a speaker, she provides practical, high-level insights on leadership transformation and the necessity of organizational agility.
