Mike Daniels, Founder

I founded The Behavioural Architects Australia in 2012, as a founding partner of the global group. I have worked widely across private and public sectors, applying behavioural insights and strategic thinking to Customer Experience, Innovation, Brand Strategy, Communications Strategy and Advertising, Public Safety and Digital Outcomes. I started the business from the base of an enjoyable career in advertising as a Strategic Planner and Head of Planning at leading agencies in the UK, Australia and USA.

Throughout my career I have always seen behaviour change as my principal professional responsibility and found in behavioural science an exciting and powerful toolkit with which to understand and subsequently to change behaviour. I greatly enjoy getting to the root cause of any behavioural challenge; my view is that the better we explain what drives behaviour the better we are able to develop powerful solutions to change behaviour.

Jarrod Calabria, Managing Partner

I joined The Behavioural Architects in 2017 looking to immerse myself in the world of behavioural science. Previously, I spent two years at Blaze Research, developing skills as a researcher and strategist for some of Australia’s leading brands.

During my time at The Behavioural Architects, I’ve worked closely with our public and private sector clients to create behaviour change strategy, deliver campaigns, design toolkits, and ultimately achieve growth. Developing positive community outcomes whether it be planning for bushfire or adopting more sustainable behaviours I’ve found immensely rewarding.

With a background in visual and graphic design, I love to develop creative solutions to our clients problems and use human-centred design techniques to put people at the heart of any business challenge. I studied Psychology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, completing an Honours thesis in Forensic Psychology.

Dr Alice Hsieh, Managing Partner

I joined The Behavioural Architects in March 2016, with a genuine desire to make a positive impact on individuals and organisations. Since joining, I have led many significant behaviour change programs, notably in the areas of transport, education, financial services, and telecommunications. This has included fascinating behavioural challenges such as encouraging people to use public and active transport, reducing fare evasion on public transport, improving the student experience at universities, and helping people to make better financial decisions.

Prior to embarking on my career in Behavioural Science, I worked at one of Australia’s leading providers of integrated human resource service, providing expertise in the areas of talent management and organisational development.

I hold a professional Doctorate in Organisational Psychology, an Honours degree in Psychology, and a Master of Research. Behavioural Science reminds me why I wanted to study psychology in the first place and why human behaviour is so fascinating. I believe that Behavioural Science has tremendous potential in solving some of today’s most challenging problems and I am always excited by the opportunity to work with clients to apply Behavioural Science to understand and influence behaviour.

Sam Paul, Managing Director

I joined TBA in 2017 with a background in organisational psychology. This includes significant specialist expertise in change management, behavioural science, employee engagement and wellbeing, Randomised Controlled Trials, customer strategy, the Human-Centred-Design process and quantitative research. I have worked closely with many private and public organisations to advise how to apply behavioural insights to facilitate change amongst employees and customers.

I have both academic and applied knowledge of behavioural science, with an MSc in Organisational Psychology, two theses on behavioural economics, and experience as a consultant and quantitative researcher. I have given keynote speeches on behavioural science and am a guest speaker at Monash University. I also have a BSc in Psychology and Physiology and am a member of the British Psychology Society.

I enjoy unravelling the complexity of human decision-making, to enable us to better understand behaviour and design interventions which create behaviour change.

Rhys Sinnott, Partner Operations

I joined The Behavioural Architects in 2019. For one of my first projects I spent time travelling around rural Victoria interviewing farmers to gain an understanding of their social networks in relation to Wild Dog Control. This revealed some amazing insights and resulted in a few adventures that were very different to my previous 20+ years in advertising and marketing.

I wish that I’d joined a company like The Behavioural Architects much earlier in my career. The ability to apply science to developing a client's strategy was so often the missing key ingredient.

My passion today is helping support the team and drive the business, enabling our experienced team carry out its amazing behavioural change work for our clients.

Alice Browne, Partner

I joined The Behavioural Architects in 2020, having spent eight years working predominantly in social and communications research. Prior to joining TBA I spent 1 1/2 years at Hall & Partners where I delivered brand and communications projects for clients across the tourism, finance and public sectors. Previously I worked in local government where I led a hugely diverse range of projects partnering with academics, place makers, marketers, environmentalists, health professionals and energy specialists to scope community need, support the design of initiatives, prioritise spend and evaluate projects.

I studied Gerontology and Social Research at the University of Southampton. This enabled me to develop strong analytical skills and a passion for work that has a real and tangible impact on people's lives. My interest in behavioural science has built over the years as there have been more and more examples of how impactful it can be - it is such an exciting field to be working in!

Darcy Bennett, Behavioural Strategy Director

I joined The Behavioural Architects in early 2020 as a quantitative specialist, having spent much of 2019 interning and then working in finance and consulting at Roy Morgan. Since joining I have worked across a variety of qualitative and quantitative projects for clients from the FMCG, technology, finance, government, education, and pharmaceutical sectors.

I have a BA in Psychology and an MSc in Applied Psychology with First Class Honours from the University of Melbourne, which gave me a strong theoretical grounding, and the skills to effectively apply insights from behavioural science and psychology to complex behaviour change challenges.

I love that my work means I engage daily with the most recent knowledge from behavioural science, to bring this across from academia, and apply it to the complex behavioural challenges of our clients.

Olivia Vermeesch, Senior Behavioural Strategy Manager

I joined The Behavioural Architects in July 2021, after interning here while completing my master’s in applied psychology. Since joining, I’ve worked across a wide variety of quantitative and qualitative projects in several key areas, including transport, education, and retail.

I completed a BA in Psychology and an MSc in Applied Psychology at the University of Melbourne, which provided me with a strong understanding of the key theories and experiments underpinning behavioural science, as well as solid skills in designing interventions to promote behavioural change.

My interest in behavioural science developed after a university lecture on heuristics and biases – I found it fascinating that our behaviour and decision making could be influenced by so many small factors we aren’t consciously aware of. I love having the opportunity to apply this, every day, to both smaller and larger challenges, and help clients understand the power of behavioural science.

Jasmine Palmisani – Behavioural Strategy Manager

I joined The Behavioural Architects in June 2022, after graduating from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Psychology.

Research has always been of interest to me, and having the opportunity to provide businesses with behavioural science led insights and optimisations has become a truly integral part of what research means to me and solidifies my choice of study and career.

During my time at The Behavioural Architects, I have worked on projects ranging from transport and financial services to culture and communications strategy - where behavioural science has allowed me to contribute to the positive impact behaviour change can have on the future of our society.

Georgie Daniels – Senior Behavioural Strategy Manager

I joined The Behavioural Architects in 2022 as a Senior Manager in Operations, then moved into a Senior Behavioural Strategy Manager role. Prior to joining, I spent two years at Fiftyfive5 where I led and supported research projects for clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Uber, Swisse Vitamins and more. Before this, I worked at Kantar Insights where I specialised in communications development and creative evaluation.

I completed a double major in English and Theatre Studies, and Gender Studies at The University of Melbourne, from which my fascination for people and their behaviour was truly inspired. This gave me a great foundation for combining critical analysis with thought-provoking creativity, an important skill for this particular job!

What I love most about behavioural science is that it is an ever-evolving discipline. I am constantly learning via the inspiring outputs we produce and how we can facilitate positive behaviour change. What an amazing thing to be a part of and to work in the day-to-day!

Sophie Ainsworh, Behavioural Strategy Manager

I joined The Behavioural Architects in 2020 in the London office, where I spent two years working on several interesting projects before relocating to Sydney in 2023.

During this time, I have worked on projects that have covered different qual and quant methodologies, sectors and countries. Project highlights have included exploring the future of tracking well-being with technology and decoding the triggers to purchasing.

My interest in research and human behaviour truly began at St Andrews University, where I studied Psychology and Management and carried out my dissertation studying the impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on undergraduate wellbeing.

I have since been fascinated by behavioural science and working in a role which can unpack and positively influence behaviour and decision making for clients.

Lara Chapman – Behavioural Strategy Director

I joined The Behavioural Architects in September 2021, amidst the world-transforming lockdowns. Witnessing the rapid shifts in human behaviour during such a pivotal period was a catalyst in thinking differently about human behaviour.

Before joining The Behavioural Architects, I was a senior researcher at Ergo Strategy. There, I had the opportunity to work with some of Australia's biggest brands across various sectors, including finance, FMCG, real estate, telecommunications, and airlines. Whether it was conducting large U&A studies, developing pricing strategies and market segmentation, investigating customer value, or fostering innovation and concept development, each project gave me a deeper look into the dynamic world of consumer behaviour.

What I enjoy most about our work at The Behavioural Architects are the unique problems we get to help solve. Cutting through market research complexity to deliver relevant business outcomes and real behavioural change.

Isabel Wauchope, Behavioural Strategy Manager

I joined The Behavioural Architects in November 2021 after moving to Australia from the United Kingdom. Since then, I have worked on exciting behavioural science led, strategic projects including looking at frictionless app design, student retention strategy and train station optimisation.

Prior to joining The Behavioural Architects, I spent two years at Differentology where I worked on quantitative research projects for media sector clients like News UK, BritBox, BBC and ITV.

I studied English Literature at Newcastle University and completed a Creative Writing MA there shortly after whilst also working in a care role for three years. An avid interest in human behaviour is always what made reading and writing so fulfilling and is what led me to research. I never imagined I’d be able to tie this interest into a career, but behavioural science led research allows exactly that and takes it one step further by giving us the tools to influence positive behaviour change.