Recruiting Future with Matt Alder - What's Next For Talent Acquisition, HR & Hiring?

Hiring should be about finding the right person. Too often, though, the tools and methods organizations use actually work against them. Job postings filter candidates out for lacking skills they could easily and quickly learn. Competency checklists based on someone else's philosophy of what leadership looks like rather than what actually works inside their organization. Assessment tools that aren't scientifically validated or that screen for average profiles when the role needs something entirely different. The funnel narrows before employers even realize it. And when a poor fit does get through, the individual can spend months or years struggling against expectations that were never clearly defined. So how should organizations rethink the way they assess and select talent? My guest this week is Dr. Stephanie Puckett, founder of SynergyMind Consulting. In our conversation, she draws on 20 years of experience in organizational psychology to reveal where hiring processes quietly break down and the implications for both employers and employees when they do. In the interview, we discuss: The most common mistakes employers make in hiring Unintentional restriction of talent pools Skill and competency transfer The danger of using tools with no scientific validation The critical role of talent acquisition teams Data science versus psychology Finding confirmation bias in big datasets The importance of realistic job previews How will hiring develop in the next 2 to 3 years Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The pressure on talent functions right now is intense. Budgets are tight, teams are stretched, and the mandate to do more with less has pushed many organizations to automate at speed without stopping to redesign what they were automating.  These automated decisions are attracting real legal and regulatory attention. Actions previously seen as simple process steps are now potentially being viewed from a legal perspective as consequential decisions. At the same time, there's a growing recognition that AI could be truly catalytic, forcing the kind of fundamental change that talent functions have needed for years.  So how do leaders navigate the constraints while seizing that opportunity? My guest this week is Kyle Lagunas, Founder of Kyle and Co. In our conversation, Kyle unpacks what defensibility really means in practice, why talent teams need to shift from risk avoidance to risk readiness, and how AI is catalyzing long-overdue transformation. In the interview, we discuss: Credibility under constraint Risk averse or risk avoidance? What does defensibility look like? The AI balance between execution and judgement Human-in-the-loop needs to be designed, not assumed. Are we holding machines to a higher standard than we hold humans to? The importance of rigour in pilot programs Building AI literacy What does the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify

AI tools are changing the pace at which organizations filter and rank candidates. However, matching someone to a job description and actually predicting whether they'll perform well in the role are two very different things. Most hiring processes have never been validated against real performance outcomes, and organizations often don't have a clear, measurable definition of what success looks like in a role. Without that foundation, even the most sophisticated AI is just automating something that was never evidence-based in the first place.  So what would it actually take to build hiring processes that genuinely predict performance? My guest this week is Jennifer Yugo, Managing Director and owner of Corvirtus, and an organizational psychologist specializing in evidence-based hiring. In our conversation, she explains the science behind predicting job performance and why most hiring processes are far from where they need to be. In the interview, we discuss: Matching candidates vs predicting performance Why most hiring lacks evidence Defining what success really looks like and identifying performance indicators Do some AI hiring tools stand up to scrutiny? The risks of automating bad decisions Questions TA leaders should ask vendors Are we going to see a reckoning for hiring technology? What might the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The assurance and audit profession is facing a talent crisis. Fewer graduates are choosing it as a career, and the perception of what auditors actually do hasn't kept pace with reality. At the same time, AI is fundamentally reshaping the work itself, automating repetitive tasks and opening up entirely new service areas around cyber risk and sustainability. The profession needs different skills, different mindsets, and a completely different value proposition for the next generation of talent. So how do you transform a workforce of over a hundred thousand people while simultaneously making the profession attractive to a generation that wants purpose, flexibility, and career agility? My guest this week is Sandra Oliver, Global Assurance Talent Leader at EY. In our conversation, she shares how EY is reskilling auditors at scale, bridging generational divides around technology adoption, and repositioning audit careers as a launchpad for business leadership. In the interview, we discuss: Attracting Gen Z to the audit profession AI's impact on day-to-day audit work Upskilling 130,000 professionals in AI Bridging the generational technology gap Reverse mentoring between junior and senior staff. Purpose and meaningful work as talent drivers How will audit careers evolve over the next five years? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The talent market is full of contradictions right now. There are many people looking for jobs, but for many organisations, finding the right talent remains difficult. Caution dominates on both sides, with candidates asking harder questions about stability and culture while businesses are slowing down decision-making around headcount. AI is promising to transform recruiting, but most organizations are still working out where it fits. Through all of this, talent acquisition is clearly evolving. The best teams are thinking about workforce planning, internal mobility, and skills rather than just filling requisitions. However, many of them are still measuring themselves on time-to-hire and cost-per-hire, metrics which capture efficiency but say nothing about real business impact. So what comes next for TA, and how should teams measure what actually matters? My guest this week is Bharat Siyani, VP of People and Culture at Elmo Software. In our conversation, he explains what a broader set of success metrics looks like, where AI genuinely helps versus where humans must lead, and how he sees TA's role changing over the next few years. In the interview, we discuss: The contradictions in today’s talent market Finding the signal in the noise The importance of understanding nuance in recruiting What should AI do and what should humans do? How should organizations measure the impact of TA? Efficiency metrics versus value metrics Assessing tech talent at a time of high layoffs Skills and outcomes versus job titles TA’s role in shaping the workforce What does the future of the TA team look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify. A full transcript will appear here shortly.

Job boards have been connecting candidates with employers for over thirty years, but the relationship that made them work is fundamentally breaking down. Candidates are getting frustrated by applying for roles that may already be filled or have been taken off the market, while employers are receiving hundreds of identical, AI-generated applications they can't meaningfully evaluate. The Job Boards sitting between them are trapped in business models that reward volume over quality, which only makes the problem worse. The result is a trust crisis that threatens the entire ecosystem. When neither side believes the process is fair, the whole system starts to unravel. So what would it actually take for job boards to rebuild that trust and stay relevant? My guest this week is Lou Goodman, a job board strategy expert who recently partnered with Jobiqo to produce a major new report on the future of job boards. In our conversation, she explains why the industry is stuck repeating the same patterns, what job boards can learn from other platform businesses, and whether evolution or extinction is the more likely outcome. In the interview, we discuss: Why job boards still matter in today's market The trust crisis threatening the ecosystem. How AI is amplifying weaknesses rather than fixing them Procedural justice and why fairness matters more than outcomes The shift from quantity to quality Where job boards can add value in the process Why short-term fixes become long-term patterns Lessons from other two-sided platform businesses What is the future for job boards? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Round Up December 2025 If you’ve not listened to Roundup before, it’s a short review of the episodes that I’ve published in the last month to make sure you don’t miss out on the valuable insights that my guests are sharing. This month Round Up returns to its live format, and this is a recording of my live conversation with Mervyn Dinnen about six of the episodes published in January 2026 Episodes featured in this Round Up: EP 758: Extracting Real Value From AI In TA Ep 759: Career Sites and the Growing AI Gap Ep 760 Co-Creating The Future Of TA Ep 761: What Happens When Recruiters Embrace AI? Ep 762: Moving From AI Hype To AI Value Ep 764: Rewiring Organizations For AI Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

There's a significant disconnect playing out in organizations right now. Leaders understand AI is probably the most transformative technology of their lifetimes. They're making bold announcements and setting ambitious targets. Yet they're not providing the structures, ownership, or vision needed to drive real change. The result? Small pilots, incremental efficiency gains, and nowhere near the transformation everyone keeps talking about. The issue isn't the technology. Organizations simply aren't wired for transformative change, particularly when it cuts across departments and functions. Nobody owns it, and there's no clear model for what the future should look like. The implications for talent, skills, and how we think about work are enormous. What does it actually take to rewire an organization for the AI era? My guest this week is Stephen Wunker, co-author of "AI and the Octopus Organization". In our conversation, he shares what's really happening, what's holding companies back, and what this means for talent professionals. In the interview, we discuss: The gap between what CEOs are saying and what is actually happening What is holding AI transformation back Distributed innovation What is an “Octopus Organization”? The role of human judgement and the need for more critical thinking Examples of companies that are succeeding Talent and culture What will happen to the adoption rate? Where will we be in two years' time? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify. A full transcript will appear here shortly.

Bias in hiring has been a topic of discussion for decades, yet our understanding of what actually happens within recruiting processes remains surprisingly limited. Most research focuses on single types of bias in isolation, making it impossible to build a complete picture. Meanwhile, the arrival of AI tools is intensifying the scrutiny of hiring decisions, demanding a level of accountability that many organizations simply aren't prepared for. TA leaders often assume they know where bias exists in their processes. But what if those assumptions are wrong? What if the patterns are more complex and counterintuitive than anyone expected? My guest this week is Bas van de Haterd, Co-founder of the TA Audit Institute. In our conversation, he shares findings from new research that challenges conventional thinking about where bias actually occurs and reveals how much we still don't know. In the interview, we discuss: Research methodology and sample size How this research compares to previous academic research What was measured and what was not measured What do the results tell us about bias in the hiring process? Is bias universal, institutional, or personal? Are employers doing better at removing bias than they think? Using data to drive targeted change Lessons learned and advice to TA Leaders. What’s the future direction of the research? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The constant noise around AI has created a strange situation in talent acquisition. On one side, relentless hype has made many TA leaders deeply skeptical, reluctant to invest in technology that feels oversold. On the other side, some employers have pushed through the fog and are getting genuine, measurable results from AI agents in their hiring processes. The gap between these two groups is widening fast. So how do you separate what actually works from what's just marketing? What does effective AI agent implementation really look like in practice, and what value is it driving for the employers embracing it My guest this week is Max Legardez Coquin, Founder and CEO at Maki. I saw Maki’s technology in action at UNLEASH last year and was genuinely impressed by what they're delivering for a variety of enterprise employers. In our conversation, Max explains how using AI to develop a scientific approach to hiring is driving tangible value in terms of quality, speed, efficiency, and a vastly improved candidate experience. In the interview, we discuss: Making recruiting a science Capturing signals to make better hiring decisions AI agents, the case studies that show they are working What do candidates think about this level of automation? Using compound intelligence to drive predictive hiring Advice to TA Leaders on recruiting transformation Will adoption rates increase this year? What does the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

There are now tasks in recruiting where AI genuinely outperforms humans. Holding multiple evaluation criteria in mind while scanning hundreds of applications, spotting relevant experience described in unexpected ways, and ensuring no qualified candidate gets overlooked through fatigue, overwhelm, or shortcuts. These aren't things recruiters actually do badly, but there are things humans can’t physically do at scale that the current market requires For many recruiters, that reality feels threatening. However, those who embrace AI as a partner rather than a replacement find they have more time for meaningful candidate conversations. Hiring managers get better-matched shortlists. Candidates finally feel seen and understood. Everyone wins. My guest this week is Dr Ali Raza, CEO at Bytespark.ai. Ali is a former academic turned recruiting AI pioneer. In our conversation, he uses his hands-on experiences to explain exactly what AI does better than humans in the screening process, and why recruiters who adapt will thrive rather than disappear. In the interview, we discuss: Quality candidates are being drowned out in a sea of applications Where AI will always be better than humans Mixing the best of AI and the best of human recruiters Enabling a high level of candidate conversations Data-driven thinking Increased transparency with hiring managers Should recruiters be worried about being replaced? What does the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Strategic partnerships in talent acquisition can mean the difference between incremental improvement and transformational change. But what does a true strategic partnership actually look like? How do you move beyond the traditional vendor-client relationship to genuine co-creation? My guests this week are Simon Bishop, Head of Talent Acquisition at SoftwareOne, and Ritu Mohanka, CEO at VONQ. Their partnership spans employer branding, recruitment marketing, and agentic AI deployment—all while Software One was navigating the complex integration challenge of merging two TA functions post-acquisition. Their collaboration was central to VONQ's recent launch of EQO, their agentic AI platform. SoftwareOne was a development partner, helping shape the product through real-world testing and feedback. You can watch the full launch on VONQ's LinkedIn page. In the interview, we discuss: How the partnership evolved over time Building employer brand in competitive markets Multi-channel brand-led recruitment marketing campaigns Piloting and implementing agentic AI The vital importance of transparency and explainability Managing change and recruiter adoption Candidate reactions to AI screening Navigating TA through a major acquisition What the future of talent acquisition will look like Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

If you’ve not listened to Roundup before, it’s a short review of the episodes that I’ve published in the last month to make sure you don’t miss out on the valuable insights that my guests are sharing. This month, Round UP returns to its live format, and this is a recording of my live conversation with Rhona Pierce about six of the episodes published in December 2025 Episodes featured in this Round Up: Ep 751: The Trust Problem In Recruiting Ep 752: Using Job Architecture TO Drive Value From AI Ep 753: Hiring Exceptional Executive Talent Ep 754: Finding Clarity In Recruiting Chaos Ep 755: Balancing Automation with Authenticity EP 756: TA Trends that Matter Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

There's something paradoxical happening with corporate careers websites right now. After years of broken links, mobile application nightmares, and clunky technology implementations, organizations are finally getting the basics right. Mobile experiences are improving. ATS systems are working properly. The longstanding problems we've talked about for years are finally being addressed. However, while we've been busy fixing problems from 2015, the world has moved on. Candidates now expect conversational AI that can answer their questions in real time. They want personalized experiences that adapt to who they are and where they are in the process. Increasingly, they're using tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to research employers before they even visit a career site. The question isn't whether your career site works anymore. It's whether it can deliver what candidates now expect. My guest this week is Bas van de Haterd, who runs the industry’s largest continuous corporate career site research programme. In our conversation, he shares the surprising findings from his nineteenth year of research and explains what employers need to do to prepare their career sites for an AI-driven future. In the interview, we discuss: How careers sites have evolved in the last 12 months AI application policies A reduction in DEI content The low adoption rates of conversational AI Improved mobile experiences and solving long-term problems Delivering a personalized experience Making career sites visible to AI tools How to make career sites fit for the future Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Last year brought plenty of AI hype, but actual adoption in talent acquisition remained tentative. Some organizations ran pilots, most watched from the sidelines, and expectations stayed cautiously low. The technology advanced rapidly, yet widespread implementation lagged far behind the headlines. Now, heading into 2026, there's a genuine opportunity to move beyond experimentation. But extracting real value won't come from simply buying the tools. It requires building entirely new capabilities around continuous workforce transformation and reskilling. The organizations that crack this will pull ahead. Those waiting for AI to deliver results on its own will be left wondering what went wrong. So what actually needs to change for companies to see a return on their AI investments? My guest this week is Jonathan Kestenbaum, Managing Director at AMS. In our conversation, he shares his 2026 predictions for AI and outlines the transformation TA needs to make. In the interview, we discuss: The complexities of AI implementation Is workforce planning the missing link in AI transformation? Blockchain and identity Hiring manager experience as the new KPI The need for more context and the end of the resume Innovation is outpacing regulation Increasing velocity in internal mobility How will the technology develop over the next few years?

AI is the most disruptive technology we've seen in our careers, but most industry conversations stay at the surface level of use cases and future predictions. This special bonus episode goes deeper. These four interviews, taken from a behind-the-scenes film I recently made, explore how AI recruiting products actually get built. We're talking to the people who created SmartRecruiters' AI-first platform Winston to uncover the lessons TA professionals need for their own AI transformation. Featuring: Shefali Netke, VP of Design, on how design decisions shape AI adoption in enterprise recruiting Thibaut Allard, Global Data Privacy & AI Lead, on navigating AI compliance where global regulations and rapid innovation collide Dave Novak, Global Director of Managed Services, on what it actually takes to turn AI ambition into operational reality Nicole Hammond, VP, Center of Excellence, on building true AI readiness from early mindset shifts to sustained capability If you want to understand the architecture, the legal landscape, and the human side of making AI work in recruiting, this is the episode.

The pandemic forced organizations to rethink how they engage their people, with many old rules torn up almost overnight. Five years on, AI has arrived and changed the game again.  Leaders are now facing a new set of questions. How do you design experiences that attract and retain talent while driving the performance your business needs? And how do you prepare for a future that’s increasingly impossible to predict? So, how do you build a truly future-ready strategy for employee experience? My guest this week is Jacob Morgan, author of the upcoming book The Eight Laws of Employee Experience. In our conversation, Jacob shares insights from over 100 CHRO interviews that he has conducted around employee experience and reveals the principles that separate thriving organizations from those struggling to keep up. In the interview, we discuss: What’s changed about the employee experience in the last five years? Proactively planning for the future The eight laws of employee experience Empathetic excellence Using AI to amplify humanity Enablement and augmentation Personalization at scale Run culture like an operating system TA & the employee experience What are the biggest changes going to be in the next two years? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Hi there, welcome to Episode 756 of Recruiting Future with me, Matt Alder. Recruiting Future helps Talent Acquisition teams drive measurable impact by developing strategic capability in Foresight, Influence, Talent, and Technology. This episode is about Foresight. Making sense of talent acquisition right now feels impossible. Every week brings new technology announcements, shifting economic signals, and conflicting advice about what comes next. It's tempting to chase the latest headline or follow gut instinct, but reactive decision-making rarely ends well. Understanding key patterns helps separate signal from noise, and this is where genuine trend analysis grounded in real data becomes invaluable. So what trends are shaping TA heading into 2026, and how should leaders respond? My guest this week is Susan De La Vega, SVP Global Tech and Client Experience at Korn Ferry. Korn Ferry has just published their 12th annual TA trends report, built from interviews with over 1,600 global talent leaders, and Susan shares what the research reveals about where talent acquisition is heading. In the interview, we discuss: The biggest TA challenges we have seen this year Methodology behind Korn Ferry’s TA Trends Report Changing attitudes and approaches to AI Why your next hire might not be human The importance of mapping tasks Investing in future talent Can TA get a seat at the table? Breaking the silos in the talent function Advice to TA Leaders on strategies for 2026 What does the future look like in 3 years' time? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

We’ve been talking about automation in recruiting for a long time. The AI developments of the last two years have significantly shifted the landscape of what is possible with automation, making it a strategic imperative rather than a nice-to-have. However, the current situation is pretty problematic. Some recruiters and TA teams are doing it poorly, particularly in outreach, inundating candidates with generic, obviously AI-generated messages that all sound the same. Meanwhile, many recruiting teams are resisting automation entirely, concerned about losing the human connection that actually fills roles. At the same time, in a world of AI sameness, brand, reputation, and genuine relationships with a talent pool are becoming the real competitive advantage and the key factor that actually drives response. So how do recruiters balance automation with authenticity while building the credibility that cuts through the noise? My guest this week is Mark Whitby, founder of The Resilient Recruiter podcast. In our conversation, he discusses what should be automated, what must remain human, why investing in your brand now will determine your future success, and the role external recruiters can play in rebuilding trust in the hiring process. In the interview, we discuss: The current situation with automation in recruiting Reticence, bad strategies, and poor implementations The importance of the personal touch What are the essentially human parts of the hiring process? Multi-touch and multi-channel outreach How external agencies can help build trust with candidate How will AI change the agency market? The vital importance of brand and relationship building What will the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

If you’ve not listened to Roundup before, it’s a short review of the episodes that I’ve published in the last month to make sure you don’t miss out on the valuable insights that my guests are sharing. I hope you have been enjoying the live Round Up episodes we’ve been doing over the last few months. This month sees a brief return to the old school format, but don’t worry, Round Up Live will return in January Episodes featured in this Round Up: Ep 742: Aligning Hiring with Values Ep 743: The Talent Acquisition Revolution Ep 744: How Job Ads Impact Quality Of Hire Ep 745: Recruiting Excellence In Disruptive Times Ep 746 Building Digital Trust In Hiring Ep 747: Rethinking Fairness in Hiring Ep 748: The Real Value Of AI Agents Ep 749: Recruiting Past, Present, and Future (Live at TA Tech) Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.