Early in my career, at PolyGram Ireland, I was part of the team that supported the launch of what became a global number one selling boyband. Success was never inevitable. It came from the work of many people, most of whom the public never saw.

A launch like that depends on a chain of people doing their part well: A&R, label management, marketing, retail, media and the artists themselves. Each link matters. A brilliant record without the right retail plan goes nowhere. A great campaign without the product in the shops is wasted. My job was to keep my part of that chain strong and to make it easy for the people on either side of me.

What stayed with me is that nobody wins alone. The success people see rests on a great deal of shared, unglamorous work. Timing mattered enormously, because release schedules, retail, press and promotion all had to land together. And the teams that moved quickest were the ones where people knew they could rely on each other.

In 2026 the way teams work is changing again. AI tools now sit alongside people in most organisations, and many leaders are asking what that means for roles, skills and collaboration.

I think the fundamentals have stayed the same. Tools can speed up parts of the chain, but they cannot replace the trust, judgement and coordination that make a launch succeed. The organisations that do best will be the ones that use new tools to strengthen teamwork, not to work around it.

Whether it is a record release, a festival or a new product, the people behind the scenes still make the difference. I was proud to be one of them then, and that is still how I like to work now.