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

Recruiting Future Round Up is back in a brand-new live format. Round Up has always been a quick way to catch up on the most important insights from the month’s Recruiting Future interviews. Now we’re taking it further, streaming live on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube so you can join the conversation in real time. In this recording (previously live) Matt is joined by special guest HR Analyst Mervyn Dinnen, as they look back at September’s seven interviews.  Episodes featured in this Round Up: Ep 727 Becoming A Long-Haul Leader Ep 728: The Problem With Bias Ep 729: Using AI Responsibly In TA Ep 730: Is Recruitment Marketing Stuck In A Rut? Ep 731: Recruiting Top AI Talent Ep 732: Are Job Interviews Obsolete? Ep 733: Making Sense of HR Tech’s AI Explosion Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Recruitment marketing is undergoing a fundamental shift as AI transforms the way work is done and who does it. Marketing automation is evolving at a rapid pace and will drive significant, efficient gains, but what is the impact of originality, creativity, and strategic thinking? So how are recruitment marketers evolving, and what should employers now expect from their recruitment marketing teams and agencies?  My guest this week is James Whitelock, Managing Director at ThinkinCircles Recruitment Marketing. In our conversation, James reveals what employers should demand from modern recruitment marketers, which skills remain irreplaceable, and how to build teams that leverage AI without losing human creativity. In the interview, we discuss: How AI is democratising recruitment marketing The ever-growing scale and scope of automation Strategy and creativity How can employers stand out from the AI-generated "slop" Brand building, story telling and tech orchestration What skills are now needed in recruitment marketing Building out capability Can AI help recruitment marketing to be properly strategic? What does the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

We have been discussing skills for so long that there is a temptation to dismiss anything skills-based as just another set of buzzwords. However, if anything, we aren't talking about skills enough and certainly not in the holistic way we need to be. Forward-thinking companies are already using skills-based approaches to solve critical business problems. These aren't abstract HR initiatives but data-driven transformations directly tied to revenue and operational outcomes. AI is helping to deconstruct jobs into tasks, map skills with precision, and deploy talent with unprecedented flexibility. So how are organizations making this transformation, and what does this mean for talent acquisition's role in driving business strategy? My guest this week is Craig Friedman, Talent Skills Transformation Leader at St. Charles Consulting Group and author of the book "Enterprise Skills Unlocked,". In our conversation, he shares how skills-based organizations are solving real business challenges and fundamentally changing how HR and talent acquisition deliver value. In the interview, we discuss: Definitions and drivers Moving from skills curious to skills ready A data-driven HR Transformation Building more effective talent processes by linking skills to people The workforce planning revolution Moving from headcount planning to capability planning True talent intelligence The role of AI Driving mobility and opening up talent markets Aligning HR and TA to business outcomes and strategy Getting started What the future will look like Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

I recently returned from my annual pilgrimage to the HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas. There are a ton of conferences in our industry, but HR Tech still remains the event to come to for the most comprehensive view of innovation in talent acquisition. It is clear that things are moving fast with technology; AI is already moving from narrow, single-use tools to orchestration layers and multiple agents that promise to revolutionise talent acquisition. Unfortunately, it is making the tech landscape very difficult to understand from a buyer's perspective, as traditional software categories are collapsing. At the same time, the legacy cornerstones of the recruiting process, resumes, interviews, and job descriptions, are looking increasingly inadequate, with candidates and employers caught in an AI arms race that is currently making the experience worse rather than better. So how can TA leaders cut through the noise, balance efficiency with fairness, and bring humanity back into recruiting while taking advantage of the enormous potential AI offers? What new skills will be needed to lead in this environment, and how do organisations avoid just using AI to do the wrong things faster? While I was at the show, I caught up with two of my regular podcast guests, Allyn Bailey, Senior Director of Brand and Communications at SmatRecruiters, and Daniel Chait, CEO of Greenhouse, both of whom offered some sensible guiding insights into what is becoming a very complex space. In the interviews, we discuss: Blurring categories of vendors is confusing for buyers. AI's next phase of orchestration layers and multiple agents The importance of open systems Will we finally see the end of resumes? The surge of AI interviewing Why the candidate experience keeps getting worse Balancing efficiency with fairness and keeping humans in the loop The new skills TA Leaders need Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The job interview has been a part of the recruiting process for over 100 years, with Thomas Edison widely credited as the original architect of this central tenet of the recruiting process. But with so much change happening since then, are interviews still fit for purpose in their current format, and if they aren't, what should they be replaced with? My guest this week is Sarah Lamontagne, founder of Montagne Motion Consulting. Sarah has worked in all aspects of recruiting and talent acquisition and, based on her experience, strongly believes that employees should be moving away from interviews and looking at other methods of assessment to bring the recruiting process up to date. In the interview, we discuss: The significant challenges in hiring at the moment The origins of the job interview and why they are no longer fit for purpose How is recruiting slow to evolve What should replace interviews, and how do you enable candidates to demonstrate their skills at scale? The role of technology A new generation in the workforce who are driving change What does the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The ongoing slump in tech hiring is well-documented. However, the demand for talented AI professionals, particularly at the leadership level, is absolutely off the scale. With unprecedented salaries being promised by the leading AI players, how can other employers compete, and what do the TA team need to know to secure the talent their organisation needs? My guest this week is Rebecca Hastings, founder of Lucent Search. Rebecca has been hiring AI leaders for her clients for over a decade and a half, and Lucent Search recently published a research report investigating what top AI Leaders want from their jobs and careers. In our conversation, we explore some of the findings, and Rebecca offers some very valuable advice to TA teams looking for top AI talent. In the interview, we discuss: The rise of the Chief AI Officer and the reshaping of the C-Suite Career frustration and the loyalty penalty The perception AI Leaders have of talent acquisition Why humans are still critical in AI projects and transformations What motivates AI professionals to change jobs Which skills are most in demand? Where should AI transformation sit in the business? What does the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Jobseeker behavior is changing with Gen AI and social media becoming ever stronger forces of influencers in career choices. However, a lot of recruitment marketing activity is failing to keep up with employers stuck in a rut and not casting the net wide enough or in the right way. Shockingly, many TA teams still lack basic visibility into their recruitment marketing metrics and can't prove ROI to their CFOs. While candidates increasingly use ChatGPT for job searches, few employers have optimized their content for AI discovery, and many career sites still remain conversion killers. So what should employers be doing, and how can they prepare for 2026? My guest this week is Neil Costa, Founder and CEO of HireClix. In our conversation, Neil reveals the stark reality of where most organizations actually are with their recruitment marketing efforts and offers some valuable advice on how they should be moving forward. In the interview, we discuss: The current challenges in recruitment marketing How employers need to stand out and appeal to a multigenerational audience Overreliance on Indeed and LinkedIn The role of search and social AI optimisation Getting a competitive talent advantage Keeping marketing momentum with reduced budgets The vital importance of metrics and ROI The importance of authenticity Dynamic personalization and the role of career sites What does the future look like Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The AI landscape in recruiting is evolving rapidly, with vendors racing to add AI features and many employers eager to embrace transformation. But navigating this shift successfully requires understanding what questions to ask and which foundations to build. From vendor transparency to compliance, from bias auditing to data governance, the path to effective AI implementation is not a simple one. What do TA teams need to consider to adopt a responsible approach to AI?   My guest this week is Martyn Redstone, a highly experienced advisor on AI governance for HR and Recruitment. Martyn has spent the last 9 years working with AI in recruiting and has some incredibly valuable advice to share. In the interview, we discuss: Getting the foundations right Why false AI confidence is dangerous Four key vendor evaluation areas Third-party auditing Shadow AI and data breaches Generative versus decision-based AI Global regulatory landscape challenges Why guardrails actually accelerate innovation The task-based future of work Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Bias in recruiting isn't just unfair, it's also bad for business. Bias in the recruiting process means many employers miss out on top talent simply because they're not seeing the full picture. Most organizations focus their anti-bias efforts on the interview stage, but the real damage happens much earlier in the process. With AI as a new complicating factor, how can we properly address bias and make recruiting fairer for everyone? My guest this week is Bas van de Haterd, recruiting polymath and also now co-founder of TA Audit Institute. As usual, Bas brings a vast amount of data and research to the conversation. In our discussion, we explore where bias really lives in the process, why current solutions miss the mark, and what the future of recruiting could look like. In the interview, we discuss: The impact of biased hiring on employers How most bias happens at the start of the recruiting process Why current approaches to eliminating bias aren't working Research findings on gender bias Job experience versus job knowledge Open hiring Does AI make things better or worse? Potential solutions What does the future look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

The modern workplace has created an epidemic of burnout that's quietly destroying careers and companies alike. Many professionals are quietly battling anxiety, sleep disruption, and physical exhaustion while maintaining a facade of having everything under control. TA leaders are currently navigating AI adoption, defending budgets, managing anxious teams, and are still expected to fill critical roles faster than ever.  So what kinds of systems can you put in place to prioritise your own wellbeing, while still making a lasting impact in your business? My guest this week is Chris Ducker, a serial entrepreneur and bestselling author. Chris suffered a severe burnout in 2021 and has used the lessons it taught him to develop a Life Operating System that sits at the centre of his new book "The Long-Haul Leader." I've known Chris for a while now, and the advice and insights he offers are very much grounded in the reality of modern working life In the interview, we discuss: Building long-term business impact in disruptive times Why self-care is strategic The myth of work-life balance Recognising the warning signs and avoiding burnout The four key areas of the Life OS and how they intersect to drive results The power of creative hobbies Why data and what you do with it is so important AI, friend or foe? What does the future of work look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.