PotentialU

Nine tech start-ups showcased their groundbreaking ideas to rail industry leaders at the Future Labs EXPO🚆. Hosted by Lara Lewington, the event highlighted solutions developed during a 12-week accelerator program. Finalists were chosen from nearly 500 applicants and received mentorship from experts in publicly-owned DfT Operator train companies: London North Eastern Railway, Southeastern Railway, TransPennine Express and Northern. This guidance helped them tackle key challenges in customer experience, performance improvement, operational excellence, and talent development. Two finalists received special recognition at Future Labs EXPO: 🏆 PotentialU which aids frontline leaders in understanding team strengths and areas for growth won the Collaboration Award. 🏆 Treeva, known for capturing renewable energy from turbulent airflow was voted as ‘People’s Choice.’ Richard Harrison, Chief Financial Officer of DfT Operator, said: "Future Labs is a great example of how operators are working together to drive forward innovation to improve performance and provide a better experience for customers." The nine finalists were; ChatAI, Cleancore Intelligence, 1Huddle, Cognition24, Zing Data, Treeva, Moonbility, PotentialU and iqast - intelligent forecasting software. Also a huge thank you and congratulations to Daniel Taylor, our Innovation Lead here at Southeastern, for mentoring throughout the programme. Read the full story here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dU4MRvqK.

Nine tech start-ups showcased their groundbreaking ideas to rail industry leaders at the Future Labs EXPO.🚆 Hosted by Lara Lewington, the event highlighted solutions developed during a 12-week accelerator program. Finalists were chosen from nearly 500 applicants and received mentorship from experts in publicly-owned DfT Operator Limited train companies: London North Eastern Railway, Southeastern Railway, TransPennine Express and us. This guidance helped them tackle key challenges in customer experience, performance improvement, operational excellence, and talent development. Two finalists received special recognition at Future Labs EXPO: 🏆 PotentialU which aids frontline leaders in understanding team strengths and areas for growth won the Collaboration Award. 🏆 Treeva, known for capturing renewable energy from turbulent airflow was voted as ‘People’s Choice.’ Richard Harrison, Chief Financial Officer of DfT Operator Limited, said: "Future Labs is a great example of how operators are working together to drive forward innovation to improve performance and provide a better experience for customers." The nine finalists were; Chatai, Cleancore Intelligence, 1Huddle, Cognition24, Zing Data, Treeva, Moonbility, PotentialU, Iqast, and Cognition24. Also a huge thank you and congratulations to Christine Lefroy-Owen, our Innovation Manager here at Northern, for mentoring throughout the program! 💙 Read the full story here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eUcx-ZU3

🚀 Thrilled to announce that PotentialU has won the Future Labs Collaboration Award! 🏆 Last Thursday in London at 30 Euston Square, the wonderful moderator, BBC presenter and tech journalist, Lara Lewington, presented us with the award celebrating the incredible journey of innovation and teamwork that led to our partnership with London North Eastern Railway, Northern, Southeastern Railway, and TransPennine Express over the past 12 weeks. With PotentialU, we focused on solving a pressing challenge for frontline leaders: empowering them with personalized, real-time insights to drive career growth and operational excellence. 💡 Highlights from our pilot include: 👉 90% engagement rate, far exceeding industry benchmarks. 👉 Transformative tools like AI-driven coaching for team management, career development, and interview preparation. 👉 Feedback from participants: "This was the most useful development plan for a team member I have seen yet!" This recognition is a testament to the power of co-creation, combining technology, industry expertise, and the voices of frontline employees. A heartfelt thanks to our partners at the four companies, our mentor Silva Miftari, Reena Grewal, and the L Marks team our partners and investors who made this possible. And to the amazing startup founders who were part of the accelerator and have become friends. 🙏 Together, we’re redefining what’s possible for frontline employees in the rail industry and beyond. Onwards and upwards! 🌟 #FutureLabs #CollaborationAward #Innovation #FrontlineLeaders

Today's shoutout goes to our friends at Stakkd who are reinventing the way HR professionals find the right HR tech for their business. PotentialU is now part of the new database among other solutions focusing on frontline employees. Glad to be here and thanks to Jessie Schofer, Frazer Carroll, and the team! 👇

A few weeks ago the nine pioneering startups of Future Labs had a chance to showcase their progress in the 12-week lab at Midpoint by presenting to Innovation Leads at London North Eastern Railway, Northern, TransPennine Express, and Southeastern Railway. They joined Comms teams for interviews, toured LNER operations, and participated in a scavenger hunt at King’s Cross Station, exploring rail tech, passenger experience, and collaboration. Startups formed teams to create “super-solutions” for real rail challenges, presented their solutions, and scored on creativity and teamwork, with prizes for top performers. This blend of tech and hands-on activities showcased each startup’s potential to shape rail travel's future. One of those participants was the AI coaching app PotentialU Learn more here >>> https://lnkd.in/eVfZFizS

1️⃣💡Idea for an app to inspire frontline employees = 40 years of combined experience across sectors. 2️⃣👨🏽💻👩🏽💻🧑💻 Taking the idea and building an app = 6 months of work and 💵💵💵 of investment. 3️⃣ Getting real time feedback on how using the app makes frontline employees feel = Priceless 😍😍😍👇🏽

"He approached me and said 'hi, my name is Dave, are you having a bad day?' "I said ‘yeah, just a bit’. He went ‘OK’, we can sit and talk until it feels better." This is the beautiful BBC News ❤️ 💍 story of Dave, Northern train driver, and Charlotte, a nurse who was struggling with her mental health at a train station back in 2019. Of course, not every one of these thousands of daily interactions leads to a partnership. Yet the role of frontline employees caring about customers can't be emphasized enough. This week, we listened to many frontline employees in the UK rail industry as part of our ongoing #FutureLabs pilot with London North Eastern Railway, Northern, Southeastern Railway, and TransPennine Express. They are out there every single day taking care of others. Let's take better care of them and their growth and career ambitions as well. We're on that journey together. On and off the trains 🚆

The team is on the move!🌏 ✈ While Chet is on a trip to Hongkong and China, Stefanie and Bidjan will be in London and York this week to work with and listen to our clients 👇

Learn more about our work with L Marks and Future Labs below. 👇🏽

If you are in the DC area, join our co-founder Bidjan Nashat and many other speakers on October 11 to strengthen #sustainability in #business through partnerships 👇🏽 University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business