Agency Unlocked exists to help organizations design environments where people can act independently and in alignment with strategy and values. When skilled professionals are trusted, enabled, and given clarity, they deliver more than just output – they create impact, strengthen culture, pioneer innovation, and build durable trust.
High performance comes from architecting the right systems for your people – rewards, data, governance, and operating norms – that enable people to do their best work.
Designing for the Future of Work
Organizations today face increasing complexity – global operations, constant transformation, regulatory change, and the rapid introduction of AI. In this environment, it’s healthy (and necessary) to periodically revisit foundational people infrastructure.
At the center of this is the exchange of value between employer and employee. Time is the only true currency, and people continuously assess what they give versus what they receive. The most tangible and measurable part of that exchange is compensation, which is why it is the natural starting point.
When compensation and incentives are well designed, they become a powerful lever that directly influences performance, trust, and ultimately capitalized value.
Full-Spectrum, Commercially Grounded Advisory
Compensation & Incentives: Pay philosophy, incentives, equity, cost modeling, governance
People Analytics & Decision-Making: Workforce analytics, dashboards, insight for leaders
Operations & AI Enablement: Data foundations, process discipline, readiness for automation
Business Transformation: Org design, operating rhythms, change support
Pre-IPO / M&A Readiness: Workforce structuring, cost clarity, defensibility
Employee Lifecycle Support: Hire → perform → reward → develop → retain
Strategic Operator Experience
I bring 16+ years of experience leading full-spectrum People & Culture functions across global finance, crypto, and technology environments. I’ve worked at scale, through growth and contraction, and under real commercial and regulatory pressure.
Eric Smith
Founder, Agency Unlocked
Morgan Stanley
Built deep expertise in compensation, workforce analytics, and decision support at scale – learning what strong systems look like when precision and governance matter.
BitMEX
Applied that discipline in a high-velocity, high-uncertainty environment – managing cost, incentives, restructures, and leadership change.
Animoca Brands
Led global people strategy through rapid growth, multi-jurisdiction complexity, token and equity incentives, and operational transformation.
Flexible Engagement, Built Around Your Context
Engagement models:
- Advisory retainers
- Targeted diagnostics or design sprints
- Fractional leadership and support for existing teams
- Board and executive advisory roles
Typical entry points:
- Compensation diagnostics
- EU Pay Transparency readiness assessments
- People operations across the employee lifecycle
- Workforce analytics and executive decision-support dashboards