Eleven years ago, I wrote a blog post with a title that asked the question, “Can you replace a recruiter with an algorithm?”. It provoked an instant reaction and a resounding no from everyone who read it. Fast forward to the present day, and technology has moved on exponentially, but the debate about technology replacing what have always been considered very human aspects of recruiting remains as emotionally charged as it has always been.

The mental models and cultural norms around recruiting run deep, but are we having the right debate? Perhaps the real shift isn’t about AI replacing recruiters. It’s about how quickly recruiters can rethink their role and let go of outdated assumptions. There are several recruiting tasks that AI can already do much better than humans, and the scope is only going to increase.

So what’s left for recruiters? How do we redefine the role of talent acquisition in an AI-driven world? And why is mindset the most critical factor in whether AI becomes a threat or an opportunity?

My guest this week is Nikos Moraitakis, CEO of Workable. In our wide-ranging conversation, we discuss the advancing cognitive ability of AI and how it is changing the way we need to think about what it means to be a recruiter.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The increasing cognitive ability of technology

• Recruiting tasks that AI can already do better than humans

• How AI can do things that are impossible for humans

• Lessons from adjacent areas, such as finance

• The importance of recruiters focusing on high-value tasks

• Agentic AI and Reasoning Models

• What will the ATS of the future be like

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