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

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 HireClicks. 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.

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, Rhona Pierce from the Workfluencer Podcast, as they look back at August’s six interviews.  Episodes featured in this Round Up: Ep 721: Inside Zapier’s AI Transformation Ep 722: Soft Skills, Hard Data – Making Predictive Hiring Work Ep 723: The Impact Of Career Gap Bias Ep 724: Search, Social, And Strategic Recruitment Marketing Ep 725: Making Neurodiversity Work Ep 726: How AI Is Finally Killing The Resume Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Recruiting Future is currently on summer break, and the regular show will resume next week. I didn't want to leave you with nothing to listen to over Labor Day weekend, though… The Alder Hour is my show with Purple Acorn, which live streams on LinkedIn every Monday afternoon. Every show features an interview segment, and I wanted to share here three of the best interviews we've had so far, showcasing three of the smartest people in the industry. Keep listening to hear: Master Burnett from HireBrain discussing the ways AI can augment hiring Madeline Laurano, the founder of Aptitude Research, talking about the impact of AI on the vendor  landscape Laurie Ruettimann from Punk Rock HR warning us about the end of work as we know it.

Recruiting Future is taking a couple of weeks off and will return the first week in September. In the meantime, I've got some summer specials for you. As I don't need to tell you, AI is a massive topic at the moment and isn't going to change any time soon; it's only going to get bigger and more critical. With that in mind, I wanted to share my thoughts on where we are with AI at the moment, its future direction, and also share the outline of a framework I've developed for strategic AI implementation in TA. Earlier in the summer, I was a guest on the Saville Assessment Deep Dive podcast, talking about AI. The host, Hannah Mullaney, asked such great questions that I thought I would drop the whole episode into the Recruiting Future podcast feed for you to take a listen to. So, with thanks to Hannah and the team at Saville, here is a deep dive into my take on AI and the future of talent acquisition.

The explosion of AI-generated applications isn't just breaking traditional recruiting - it's creating an unprecedented opportunity by making sophisticated assessment tools accessible for early-stage screening. There is now the opportunity to filter thousands of applicants based on actual predictive data. However, the vendor landscape here can be confusing, and some offerings lack the transparency that employers need. So how can organizations identify tools that leverage AI's efficiency while respecting established peer-reviewed assessment science? My guest this week is Djurre Holtrop, Assistant Professor at Tilburg University. In our conversation, Jura reveals how AI could democratize evidence-based assessment for organizations of all sizes and offers advice on best practices and the future assessment landscape. In the interview, we discuss: The science-practice gap in assessment The tension arising from the rapid development of AI and the need to evaluate work performance results over time. AI isn't making the process worse because CVs and cover letters have no predictive validity. How is AI improving the science? Transforming recruiting with early-stage screening How bias carries through the recruiting process Resetting our mental models What does the future look like? Recruiting Future helps Talent Acquisition teams drive measurable impact by developing strategic capability in Foresight, Influence, Talent, and Technology. If you're interested in finding out how your TA function measures up in these four critical areas, I've created the free FITT for the Future Assessment. It'll give you personalised insights to help you build strategic clarity and drive greater impact immediately. Just head to mattalder.me/podcast to complete the assessment—it only takes a few minutes. Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

Up to 20% of the global workforce is likely to be neurodivergent and mostly undiagnosed. Understanding how to unlock the full potential of people with non-typical brains should be important to all employers. The difference between the right and wrong job fit for someone with ADHD or other neurodivergent conditions can be the difference between struggling daily and becoming a top performer.  So what if the key to creating exceptional teams lies not in trying to fit everyone into the same mold, but in asking the right questions to understand what each person needs to thrive? My guest this week is Shell Mendelson, an ADHD career coach with 35 years of experience helping neurodivergent individuals find their ideal work fit. In our conversation, Shell shares her proven process for identifying the "must-haves" that enable neurodivergent employees to perform at their highest level and explains why understanding individual needs benefits both employees and employers. In the interview, we discuss: The challenges for ND people at work Why everyone's needs are different The benefits of recognising the spectrum of different brains in your organization The contradictions of neurodiversity The importance of job fit and asking the right questions How small accommodations can make a massive impact Making work better for everyone Recruiting Future helps Talent Acquisition teams drive measurable impact by developing strategic capability in Foresight, Influence, Talent, and Technology. If you're interested in finding out how your TA function measures up in these four critical areas, I've created the free FITT for the Future Assessment. It'll give you personalised insights to help you build strategic clarity and drive greater impact immediately. Just head to mattalder.me/podcast to complete the assessment—it only takes a few minutes. Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.