Bob Pulver speaks with Keith Langbo, CEO and founder of Kelaca, about redefining recruitment in the AI era. Keith shares why he founded Kelaca to prioritize people over process, how core values like kindness and collaboration shape culture, and why trust and choice must be built into AI-powered recruiting tools. Bob and Keith explore evolving models of hiring, including fractional workforces, agentic systems, and data-informed decision-making — all rooted in a future where humans remain in control of the technology that serves them.

Keywords

Keith Langbo, Kelaca, recruitment, hiring, talent acquisition, AI in recruiting, agentic systems, culture add, core values, psychometrics, responsible AI, fractional workforce, gig economy, recruiting automation, candidate experience, structured interviews, Kira, human-centric design, AI trust, global hiring, digital agents, recruitment tech, NLP sourcing, recruiting innovation

Takeaways

Keith founded Kelaca to humanize the recruitment experience, treating people as partners — not products.

Modern recruiting must shift from transactional, resume-driven models to more consultative, intelligence-based practices.

AI’s greatest value lies in giving candidates and clients choice, not replacing humans — especially for real-time updates and communication preferences.

Recruiters should move from “human-in-the-loop” to “humans in control” — using AI to augment but not automate judgment.

Future hiring models may rely on digital agents representing both candidates and employers, enabling richer, data-driven matches.

Core values — like kindness, accountability, and enthusiasm — are essential to maintaining culture across full-time and fractional teams.

Structured data is key to overcoming bias and improving hiring quality, but psychometrics alone can't capture experience or growth.

Many current tools automate broken processes; real innovation requires first rethinking what “better” hiring looks like.

Quotes

“I wanted to treat people like people, not like products.”

“AI powered but human driven — that’s the experience I want to create.”

“Resumes are broken. Interviews are often charisma contests. We can do better.”

“Humans don’t just need to be in the loop — they need to be in control.”

“I don’t care if you’re full-time or fractional. You still need to show kindness and a willingness to learn.”

“We’re on the verge of bots talking to bots. That’s exciting — and terrifying.”

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Keith’s mission behind founding Kelaca

02:35 The candidate and client frustrations with traditional recruiting

05:10 Why resumes and interviews are broken — and what to do instead

07:10 Building feedback loops and AI-enabled candidate communication

10:45 Choice and context in AI tools: respecting human preference

13:44 From “human in the loop” to “human in control”

18:12 Agentic hiring and the rise of digital representation

25:10 Gig work and applying culture fit to fractional talent

29:34 Core values as the foundation of culture, not employment status

33:22 Responsible AI, fairness, and trust in hiring decisions

40:00 The hype cycle of recruiting tech and design thinking

42:56 AI as the modern calculator: from caution to capability

47:16 Global perspectives: AI adoption in US vs UK recruiting

53:08 Keith’s favorite AI tools and Kelaca’s new product, Kira

56:28 Closing thoughts and appreciation

Keith Langbo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithlangbo

Kelaca: https://kelaca.com/

KIRA Webinar Series: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-fix-the-first-step-in-hiring-to-drive-retention-introducing-kira-tickets-1853418256899

For advisory work and marketing inquiries:

Bob Pulver:⁠⁠ ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/bobpulver⁠⁠⁠

Elevate Your AIQ:⁠⁠ ⁠https://elevateyouraiq.com⁠⁠⁠

Substack: ⁠https://elevateyouraiq.substack.com⁠