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

Reaching out to past applicants about new roles has always been a challenge in talent acquisition. Poor technology, tight timescales and inflexible processes have often limited the effectiveness of talent rediscovery. However, AI is now starting to drive some change, and talent rediscovery is becoming an ever more effective strategy.

My guest this week is Mike Watson, Head of Customer Advocacy at Eightfold. Before he joined Eightfold, Mike was a long-time Head of Talent Acquisition, and, in our conversation, he shares his unique insights into the benefits and practical results of AI-driven talent rediscovery.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The current state of the market and the effect on talent acquisition teams
• The threat of losing recruiter intellectual property
• Warm passive talent versus cold passive talent
• What the ATS can't deliver
• Driving ROI but reducing time to hire
• Talent intelligence
• Communication strategies and best practices
• Which employers are doing talent rediscovery well
• Where is the technology taking us next?

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We live in a world of work where understanding, interpreting and telling stories with data has never been more critical. Although Talent Acquisition has become more data-centric in recent years, many TA functions rely on summary statistics that don't provide a sophisticated enough platform to use data to inform and influence their organizations properly.

So, what can TA leaders do to make their data strategies more effective?

My guest this week is Ben Porr, Chief Customer Officer at Harver. In our conversation, Ben offered some highly actionable advice TA leaders can follow to level up and tell compelling stories with data.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Why data is so essential in TA
• Answering questions with data rather than with opinions or assumptions
• What organizations are missing out on if they only use summary statistics
• What are the innovative organizations doing?
• AI and automation
• What are the most critical data sources?
• Pivot table versus data visualization
• Human in the loop
• Using data to shift strategies
• How AI will empower decision-making based on smaller sets of data
• What will the future look like?

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Round up is the monthly show on The Recruiting Future Podcast channel that highlights episodes you may have missed and gives you my take on some of the key learnings from the guests.

Episodes mentioned in this Round Up:

Ep 489: The Personalization Megatrend

Ep 490: Responsible Recruiting Strategies

Ep 491: Can TA Drive Internal Mobility?

Ep 492: AI & Automation Strategies

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In last week’s episode I featured interviews with nine people who were searching for innovation at the HR Tech Conference in Chicago. This week I wanted to continue the same theme but with more of a focus on specific trends in recruiting.
My guest this week is Andy McIlvaine who is conference chair for The Talent Acquisition Technology Conference and The Recruiting Trends Conference both of which are organized by Human Resource Executive (the company behind HR Tech) and take place in Austin Texas in November.
In the interview we discuss:
• The changing role of video in the talent acquisition process
• Candidate Relationship Management and Candidate Experience
• The latest social media methods and Recruitment Marketing Platforms
• Whether talent shortages are genuine and what employers can do to solve the problem
• Unconscious bias in recruiting
• Predictive Analytics and Artificial Intelligence
Andy also gives us a taster of the case studies that will be presented at the conferences and shares what has surprised him the most as a journalist covering this sector.
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The adoption of AI in talent acquisition continues to accelerate, promising efficiencies and new possibilities for hiring. However, as AI tools become central to recruiting processes, they bring significant challenges, particularly around bias, compliance, and trust. Without clear oversight, these systems risk entrenching inequalities rather than addressing them.

So, how can talent acquisition leaders ensure that AI supports fairer hiring while safeguarding compliance and trust? And what role does auditing play in this critical process?

My guest this week is Jeff Pole, Co-founder and CEO of Warden AI, a company specializing in AI auditing for HR and TA Technologies. In our conversation, Jeff shares his insights on the importance of auditing AI systems, the emerging regulatory landscape, and how talent acquisition leaders can better understand and navigate the risks and opportunities of AI-powered hiring.

In the interview, we discuss:

• Is the current pace of innovation in AI set to continue?
• What are the main risks?
• Regulation, Legislation, and Ethics
• Is there a difference between AI influencing a hiring decision and AI making a hiring decision?
• How AI can be less biased and fairer than humans
• Holding machines to a higher standard than humans
• Shining a light on the AI systems used in recruiting and TA technology
• Continuous testing and monitoring
• How widespread is the issue, and how much AI bias has actually been found?
• What should TA leaders be considering when assessing AI solutions
• What does the future look like? How will AI change talent acquisition in the long term?

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