TA Disruptors

Agentic AI is the phrase every AI recruitment tech vendor is now selling. It's also the one fewest TA leaders can confidently define. For the season 5 finale of the TA Disruptors podcast, Robert Newry sits down with Adam Gordon for an honest, hype-free take on AI agents in recruitment: what they actually are, what most of them really do, and how to tell a genuine tool from the emperor's new clothes. Adam founded and scaled Candidate.ID (acquired by iCIMS in 2022) and now runs Poetry, an AI workspace for recruiters. He co-hosts BrainFood Live with Hung Lee, and he's known for calling the recruitment tech market as he sees it. In this episode: 👉 What "agentic AI" actually means, in plain terms 👉 Why a lot of what's sold as an "agent" isn't one 👉 How to spot hype: what a tool does today versus what's promised in six months 👉 Why agents don't replace recruiters, and the two roles you'll need instead 👉 Where TA's value is moving: recruitment operations, candidate experience, employer brand Don't forget to hit 'subscribe' so you don't miss more episodes of the TA Disruptors podcast! -------------------------------------------------- Thanks for listening, and here are some helpful links: Connect with Robert on LinkedIn: https://hubs.li/Q0282KjJ0 Connect with Adam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamwgordon/ Sign up for the TA Disruptors newsletter — it's the easiest way to be updated with the industry's brightest ideas and the freshest need-to-know data — every week: https://hubs.li/Q0282H370 -------------------------------------------------- Talent acquisition is changing faster than it ever has before. ChatGPT and other GenAI tools are literally turning the selection process on its head. This podcast is designed for disruptive Talent Acquisition leaders who want to get ahead. For the innovators, the movers and shakers, and the TA leaders who will survive and thrive in this new era by moving quickly to future-proof their recruitment processes. Even when you're feeling overworked and overwhelmed, we'll help you keep up with the latest ideas from the industry's brightest innovators and the freshest need-to-know data from new research. TA Disruptors has got you covered. All brought to you from the team behind Arctic Shores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Only 28% of hiring managers trust AI CV screening to predict job performance. Candidates trust it exactly the same, at 28% too. Meanwhile the top reason hiring managers lose trust in their own hiring process is candidates who interviewed well and then couldn't do the job, at 39%.There's a wave of new tools promising to fix high-volume screening. Very few of them are being asked the questions the psychometric world has been asking for decades: is it valid, is it consistent, and is it fair?Join host Robert Newry as Dr Charlie Eyre sets out how to answer those three questions about any screening tool, whether it's a psychometric assessment or an AI matching engine. Charlie is Director at Workspheres Ltd, a former Principal Psychologist at the College of Policing, and a former Senior Editor at the British Psychological Society, where he oversaw the certification of psychometric assessments.🎯 Does it do what it claims to do? Charlie explains what validity evidence actually looks like, from predictive validity studies to running a new measure side by side with an established one. Plus his honest caveat: you never see a fully valid measure, so it's about piecing together a jigsaw.🚪 The excuse to stop accepting: "we couldn't have that evidence yet, it's a new tool." No tool is born with a complete evidence base. But if the research was done properly, it was done in a testing environment first.🔁 Why consistency matters more now than it used to. Test-retest reliability was easy when assessments were fixed and identical for everyone. As tools adapt to each candidate, proving you're still measuring the same attribute the same way gets harder, and more important.🚦 Why "ethical AI" isn't evidence of fairness. Good intentions and undesirable outputs can coexist. Charlie explains what fairness analysis across protected characteristics looks like, and why the risk rises as the sift gets harder.📕 The one question to ask every vendor: do you have a technical manual? Charlie's version of looking under the bonnet, and why it doubles as your defence. Can you explain to a rejected candidate why they were rejected? And would that explanation survive a tribunal?Tune in to hear how the standards built over decades in occupational psychology apply to a market moving faster than the evidence behind it.Don't forget to hit 'subscribe' to be sure not to miss more episodes of the TA Disruptors podcast!------------------------------------------------------------Thanks for listening, and here are some helpful links:Connect with Robert on LinkedIn: https://hubs.li/Q0282KjJ0Connect with Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlieeyre/British Psychological Society - Test-related documents: https://www.bps.org.uk/about-psychological-testing-centre European Federation of Psychological Associations Test Review Model – Version 2025: https://www.efpa.eu/resource/efpa-test-review-model-version-2025/Sign up for the TA Disruptors newsletter — it's the easiest way to be updated with the industry's brightest ideas and the freshest need-to-know data — every week: https://hubs.li/Q0282H370------------------------------------------------------------Talent acquisition is changing faster than it ever has before. ChatGPT and other GenAI tools are literally turning the selection process on its head. This podcast is designed for disruptive Talent Acquisition leaders who want to get ahead. For the innovators, the movers and shakers, and the TA leaders who will survive and thrive in this new era by moving quickly to future-proof their recruitment processes. Even when you're feeling overworked and overwhelmed, we'll help you keep up with the latest ideas from the industry's brightest innovators and the freshest need-to-know data from new research. TA Disruptors has got you covered.All brought to you from the team at Arctic Shores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Euan McNair joined Aegon UK in 2022, the organisation was spending £2.5 million a year on agency fees. Time to offer sat at 100 days. Every call centre hire came from competitors. And recruiter engagement was just 41%.Three years later, agency spend had dropped to £100,000. Time to offer fell to 32 days. 40% of hires now come from outside financial services. And recruiter engagement hit a market-leading 96%.How? By scrapping the CV, redesigning the hiring process around potential, and, critically, building the internal trust needed to make it all stick inside a regulated, 160-year-old organisation.Join host Robert Newry as Euan shares the full story of a recruitment transformation that saved £2.4 million and changed how Aegon UK thinks about talent.🔺 The triangle that underpins everything: Euan's framework centres on three experiences — recruiter, hiring manager, and candidate. His rule: if a change doesn't improve at least two of the three, it doesn't move forward.📉 From £2.5m to £100k in agency spend: How Euan repositioned his in-house team as trusted advisors with the same tools and time commitment as an agency — and turned off the tap on external spend.🚫 What happened when they removed the CV: A pilot where hiring managers never saw a CV — and ended up selecting a chef, a nail technician, a motorway maintenance worker, and a semi-retired executive. People they would never have hired under the old process. People who are still thriving at Aegon UK today.📊 The numbers that proved it worked: No-show rates dropped from 25% to zero. Interview pass rates jumped from 41% to 86%. Offer acceptance rose from 73% to 98%. New joiner satisfaction hit 92% — in a record hiring year.🎭 An escape room instead of a competency interview: How Aegon UK replaced "tell me about a time" with an immersive art heist scenario — and why the best candidate feedback they ever received was "I forgot I was being assessed."⚡ Why intentional friction is the antidote to bad hires: In a world obsessed with removing friction from the candidate journey, Euan argues that some friction is essential — and explains why his team deliberately chose not to automate interview scheduling.💡 Three things to take away: Build trust by delivering results before you ask for change. Use pilots to let the data persuade sceptics. And think big, act small — have the audacious goal, but move in incremental steps.Tune in to hear how Aegon UK turned a traditional, risk-averse hiring process into one that finds potential where others only see CVs — and brought the whole business with them.Don't forget to hit 'subscribe' to be sure not to miss more episodes of the TA Disruptors podcast!--------------------------------------------------Thanks for listening, and here are some helpful links:Connect with Robert on LinkedIn: https://hubs.li/Q0282KjJ0Connect with Euan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/euanmcnairta/Sign up for the TA Disruptors newsletter — it's the easiest way to be updated with the industry's brightest ideas and the freshest need-to-know data — every week: https://hubs.li/Q0282H370--------------------------------------------------Talent acquisition is changing faster than it ever has before. ChatGPT and other GenAI tools are literally turning the selection process on its head. This podcast is designed for disruptive Talent Acquisition leaders who want to get ahead. For the innovators, the movers and shakers, and the TA leaders who will survive and thrive in this new era by moving quickly to future-proof their recruitment processes. Even when you're feeling overworked and overwhelmed, we'll help you keep up with the latest ideas from the industry's brightest innovators and the freshest need-to-know data from new research. TA Disruptors has got you covered.All brought to you from the team behind Arctic Shores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most TA leaders know their hiring process needs to evolve. Fewer know how to actually make that change happen inside a complex organisation. Especially when you're managing 30,000 applications a year and the business is watching.Meet Jennifer Goldsmith and Helen Alkin, who jointly lead early careers resourcing at BDO UK, one of the largest professional services firms in the country. Between them, they're responsible for recruiting close to 1,000 apprentices, interns, and graduates a year. And in 2024, they overhauled the entire process: assessment methodology, technology stack, vendor setup, and candidate journey.Join host Robert Newry as Jen and Helen share the practical lessons from a major recruitment process redesign:🤝 Why internal trust comes before external technology: Jen and Helen spent two years building stakeholder relationships and credibility before proposing change — and explain why that groundwork made everything that followed possible.🏗️ How to prepare a business for recruitment transformation: From educating senior sponsors on market shifts to briefing legal and IT teams early, they share the steps that meant implementation didn't stall when it mattered most.⚖️ Best-in-class vs single provider — how to decide: BDO chose specialist partners across assessment, video interviewing, and scoring. Jen explains why longevity and future-proofing outweighed the simplicity of a single vendor — and how they managed the added complexity.⏱️ Delivering a six-month implementation while keeping the lights on: How a job share made it possible to run a live campaign and a major transformation at the same time — and the planning discipline that kept the project on track.🎯 Designing for candidate experience first: Why year one focused entirely on product design and the external candidate journey — and how that focus shaped every decision they made.📊 Early results that validate the approach: Improved conversion rates at assessment and interview, positive candidate feedback on the task-based elements, and over 80% of roles filled before Christmas — despite record application volumes.💡 Three things to take away: Build trust and educate stakeholders before you go to market. Be honest with vendors about your challenges so they can genuinely help. And frame your change as a multi-year programme — protect year one by focusing on what matters most.Tune in to hear how BDO redesigned early careers hiring from the ground up — and brought the business with them. Don't forget to hit 'subscribe' to be sure not to miss more episodes of the TA Disruptors podcast.--------------------------------------------------Thanks for listening, and here are some helpful links:Connect with Robert on LinkedIn: https://hubs.li/Q0282KjJ0Connect with Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jengoldsmith-9672177/Connect with Helen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-alkin-mcipd-4023656/Sign up for the TA Disruptors newsletter — it's the easiest way to be updated with the industry's brightest ideas and the freshest need-to-know data — every week: https://hubs.li/Q0282H370--------------------------------------------------Talent acquisition is changing faster than it ever has before. ChatGPT and other GenAI tools are literally turning the selection process on its head. This podcast is designed for disruptive Talent Acquisition leaders who want to get ahead. For the innovators, the movers and shakers, and the TA leaders who will survive and thrive in this new era by moving quickly to future-proof their recruitment processes. Even when you're feeling overworked and overwhelmed, we'll help you keep up with the latest ideas from the industry's brightest innovators and the freshest need-to-know data from new research. TA Disruptors has got you covered.All brought to you from the team behind Arctic Shores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

0:00 - Opening clip0:44 - Introduction3:20 - Consent, lawful basis and DUAA: the UK foundations11:29 - Being auditable, transparent and defensible28:27 - Working with privacy and legal as partners48:49 - TA Disruptor tipsTA teams are being pushed to move faster, automate more, and experiment with AI across the hiring journey. But regulators and courts are looking much more closely at how organisations use data and protect individuals' rights — and high-profile cases like the Workday and Eightfold ones in the US show just how important it is to get this right.Meet Husna Grimes, a senior commercial lawyer and privacy leader with over 18 years' experience enabling organisations to use data responsibly. Husna has led privacy strategies for Channel 4, where she was the first in-house data protection lawyer, and ad tech company Permutive. She now co-leads Pure Privacy Consulting, helping companies find creative, compliant solutions that satisfy both regulatory standards and customer needs.Join host Robert Newry and Husna as they discuss:⚖️ Why consent is trickier than you think in recruitment: The power imbalance between candidate and employer means consent is rarely freely given. Husna explains why legitimate interest is usually a stronger lawful basis — and how to document it properly.📜 What the Data Use and Access Act actually changes: Now in force, the DUAA introduces legitimate interest as a lawful basis for automated decision-making — but it's not a blanket exemption. Husna breaks down the conditions and safeguards you need to have in place.📋 Why your DPIA should be a living document, not a tick-box exercise: It's your source of truth — mapping your hiring workflow, documenting risks, and demonstrating accountability. And the project owner should be the head of TA, not legal.🔍 Vendor accountability: why you can't outsource compliance.🛡️ How to build transparency into your process from the start.🤝 How to work with legal and privacy as partners, not blockers: Come early, come prepared, and come with a clear use case and data flow diagram. Husna shares what a great brief from a TA team looks like — and the mistakes that slow everything down.💡 Three things you can do next week: Map your hiring process and identify where AI and automation sit. Agree a short checklist with legal for onboarding new tools. And sit down with your team to define what meaningful human oversight actually looks like in your current systems.Tune in to hear how to stay on the right side of the law while transforming your hiring process for the AI era. Don't forget to hit 'subscribe' to be sure not to miss more episodes of the TA Disruptors podcast.--------------------------------------------------Thanks for listening, and here are some helpful links:Connect with Robert on LinkedIn: https://hubs.li/Q0282KjJ0Connect with Husna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/husnagrimes124/Sign up for the TA Disruptors newsletter — it's the easiest way to be updated with the industry's brightest ideas and the freshest need-to-know data — every week: https://hubs.li/Q0282H370Talent acquisition is changing faster than it ever has before. ChatGPT and other GenAI tools are literally turning the selection process on its head. This podcast is designed for disruptive Talent Acquisition leaders who want to get ahead. For the innovators, the movers and shakers, and the TA leaders who will survive and thrive in this new era by moving quickly to future-proof their recruitment processes. Even when you're feeling overworked and overwhelmed, we'll help you keep up with the latest ideas from the industry's brightest innovators and the freshest need-to-know data from new research. TA Disruptors has got you covered.All brought to you from the team behind Arctic Shores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.