It had been nearly two years since we were last on retreat together in Greece, which, in a company like ours, feels like a very long time.
Last week, we brought Human Made back together again, this time on the Croatian coast, surrounded by mountains, sea air, and the kind of setting that invites both reflection and energy in equal measure. As a remote company, these moments are not incidental to how we work, they are fundamental to it, giving us the opportunity to reconnect in ways that simply are not possible through a screen and to strengthen the relationships that sustain us throughout the rest of the year.
There is always a moment, usually quite early on, where you can feel the shift happen, where conversations begin to flow more easily, where familiarity replaces distance, and where the company, which normally exists across time zones and Slack threads, becomes something tangible again.
Ready, steady, Croatia!
Bringing a global team together in one place is no small undertaking, and it takes a remarkable amount of coordination, care, and attention to detail to make it happen in a way that feels effortless once we arrive.
I want to start by recognising everyone who contributed to making this retreat possible – in particular our retreat organisers Zoe, Leyla, Hannah, and Fatima – because events like this do not come together by accident, and the experience we all had last week is the result of a huge amount of unseen work.
What continues to stand out to me each time we do this is just how quickly people settle into being together, how conversations that might take weeks to unfold remotely instead happen within minutes, and how connections form naturally across teams, disciplines, and experiences.
There is a sense of ease that emerges, and with it, a level of understanding and collaboration that carries forward long after the retreat itself has ended.
Finding our retreat flow
Every retreat develops its own character, shaped as much by the people as by the moment we find ourselves in as a company, and in Croatia there was a clear sense of exploration running throughout the week.
This year, that exploration centred around AI, not just as a topic, but as something actively being tested, questioned, and understood across the entire organisation. What was particularly striking was the breadth of experience, from those in the agency who are already deeply embedded in using these tools to reshape their work, to those who are only just beginning to understand what might be possible.
What was encouraging, and genuinely exciting, was how quickly that gap began to close once we were all in the same space.
People shared openly, demonstrated how they approach problems, and helped each other unlock new ways of thinking about their day-to-day work, often in ways that felt immediately practical rather than theoretical. You could see confidence building in real time, not just within engineering, but across every discipline, as people realised that these tools are not confined to one role or one way of working.
The AI hackathon we ran across part of the week brought all of this together in a way that felt both energising and revealing, as teams formed around ideas, experimented freely, and pushed into new territory without the expectation that everything needed to be fully formed or successful.
What mattered was the willingness to engage, to try, and to learn from each other, because that is ultimately where meaningful progress begins.
The value of being together
We often talk about the benefits of being a remote-first company, and there are many, but being together in person serves as a powerful reminder of what underpins all of it.
There is a natural flow to in-person conversation that is difficult to replicate elsewhere, where ideas evolve more quickly, context is shared more easily, and collaboration becomes something dynamic rather than structured. More than that, it allows people to understand each other beyond their roles, to build trust, and to develop the kind of relationships that make working together not just more effective, but more enjoyable.
That sense of connection is not something that stays behind when the retreat ends, it becomes part of how we work moving forward, shaping the way we communicate, collaborate, and support each other throughout the year.
The moments that matter
Alongside the work, there were countless moments that captured the spirit of what these retreats are about, from shared meals and late-night conversations to the energy of a pub quiz, the celebration of HM’s birthday out on the water, and the quieter interactions that often leave the most lasting impression.
There were people stepping outside their comfort zones, others discovering new confidence in sharing their ideas, and many simply enjoying the opportunity to spend time together in a way that is rarely possible in our day-to-day work.
These moments may seem small in isolation, but collectively they form the foundation of our culture, not as something defined in words, but as something experienced and carried forward by everyone who is part of it.
Looking ahead
Each time we come together, I’m reminded of what makes Human Made what it is, which is not just the work we do, but the way in which we approach it, with openness, curiosity, and a genuine willingness to learn from one another.
Croatia gave us the space to reconnect, to explore new ideas, and to strengthen the relationships that make our work possible, and it is that combination that continues to define us as a company.
Thank you to everyone who made it what it was.
Now we take that shared experience, that energy, and that momentum, and carry it forward into everything that comes next.