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.

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.

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.

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!

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.