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Sam Garven

Sam Garven

Co-Founder & CEO at Hello Canopy

Founder

I’m a big believer that companies can be a force for good, for their people, communities, and the planet, and it starts with fostering a workplace where people feel valued, respected, and challenged to grow.

I'm the co-founder of Canopy, a platform helping employees report misconduct and psychosocial concerns, and helping businesses resolve and prevent them from happening again.

I love chatting about all things start-ups, impact, and equity - so feel free to connect and reach out ☕

Watch the latest episode Jump to key moments LinkedIn ↗

In their own words

From Sam Garven on Building Safer Workplaces with AI: Say Hello Canopy · In The Blink Of AI
It's not just building in public. It's building as loudly as possible.
▶ Sam Garven on Building Safer Workplaces with AI: Say Hello Canopy

Career

  1. Now Co-Founder & CEO · Hello Canopy
  2. Earlier · Scale-up People & Culture · Zip Co
  3. Earlier · Startup Head of People & Culture · Kinde
  4. Earlier · Startup Founding member · Grapevine

Sources: startuppeoplesummit.com

Key moments

Jump straight to the part of The Truth About AI Agents: Real Wins, Real Failures you want.

  1. 1:05 Beth’s journey from Woolies X to FoBoH: COVID supply chains, failed portals why AI is different
  2. 4:07 Sam’s origin story: unsafe workplaces, no safe way to speak up, and building Hello Canopy
  3. 6:15 Sally’s investor lens: hundreds of agents tested, why she backs Relevance AI
  4. 7:32 Favourite hacks you can steal: Replit, sticky notes → tables, system preferences for style
  5. 12:26 First useful agents: outreach automation, policy-scraping, VC inbound triage
  6. 17:28 What we wish we knew before building: expect errors, keep it simple, chain tasks, onboard like a teammate
  7. 20:07 Designing for reality: data hygiene, human-in-the-loop, guardrails
  8. 22:27 Dream agents: life OS, product-copy deployer, Excel-beating modeller
  9. 25:10 Why women adopt AI less — and why that must change
  10. 30:32 Strengths non-engineers should lean into: empathy, domain expertise, communication

Heard on

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In The Blink Of AI · 15 August 2025 The Truth About AI Agents: Real Wins, Real Failures With Beth Lovell, Sally Yu
▶
In The Blink Of AI · 24 January 2025 Sam Garven on Building Safer Workplaces with AI: Say Hello Canopy

Hello Canopy on Day One

Hello Canopy Canopy helps create safe, fair, and respectful cultures. Where everyone can participate and thrive. We know speaking up about misconduct, burnout, or general workplace… 1 person · 2 episodes →

Connections

Spot something wrong? Suggest a correction Updated 25 September 2026

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