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

Most hiring currently focuses on assessing a mix of skills and experience. However, there's a deeper layer that often gets overlooked. Companies talk endlessly about culture and values, yet few know how to genuinely assess them. 

This matters especially for purpose-driven organizations. Whether it's a B Corp, a sustainability-focused business, or any company with a strong mission, finding people whose values are truly aligned isn't just nice to have—it's essential. 

So how do you find genuinely aligned candidates, and where does technology help, and where does it hinder

My guest this week is Leon Richards, founder of Good Talent, an Executive search & leadership advisory consultancy for values-led organizations. In our conversation, he explains how values-based recruiting actually works, why human judgment matters, and what responsible AI use looks like.

In the interview, we discuss:

As many as 1 in 7 people are neurodivergent, with brains that process information, communicate, and work differently. Many have ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or other conditions they've hidden throughout their careers, masking to fit workplace norms. But creating environments where these individuals thrive isn't about expensive accommodations or special treatment. Instead, it's about designing work that helps everyone perform better.

So how do you move beyond awareness training to actually embedding inclusion in daily operations, and how can this benefit everyone in the workforce?

My guest this week is Pamela Kavanagh, Chief People Officer at Exogen. In our conversation, she shares practical strategies for creating workplaces where everyone can do their best work.

In the interview, we discuss:

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We've lived through technology revolutions before. Personal computers. The Internet. Smartphones. Social media. Each felt transformative at the time, reshaping how we work and communicate.

But something fundamentally different is happening now. AI learns from every interaction and improves with each release. Yet the signals are confusing. Some pilots are failing, and the hype levels are off the scale. Meanwhile, some companies are reporting the potential for hundreds of millions in savings, capability benchmarks are doubling every seven months, and entire organizational structures are being reimagined around human-AI collaboration.

So how do employers cut through the noise and prepare for such a fundamental shift?

My guest this week is Michael Tchong, a futurist and founder of Ubertrends Academy. In our conversation, Michael explains what makes this revolution different, how to spot true long-term trends beyond the hype, and shares practical strategies for navigating the transformation ahead.

In the interview, we discuss:

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The economic, demographic, and technological forces of change are continuing to drive disruption, confusion, and chaos. Against the backdrop of this ever-shifting landscape, TA Leaders are expected to deliver greater value to their organizations than ever before. So how are they planning to do this in the next 12 months? What are the strategic priorities, how are budgets being impacted, and where and how is AI being deployed to help?

My guest this week is Sven Elbert, Head of Analyst Services at Fosway Group. Fosway recently published TA Realities Research, a survey of European TA Leaders on their strategic priorities and budgets for the coming year. In our conversation, we dig into the details, discuss surprising results, and identify a significant issue with how AI is currently being used.

In the interview, we discuss:

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Most organizations approaching AI are struggling and running pilot projects that go nowhere. The common assumption is that the technology itself is flawed, over hyped, or too complex. However, the employers that are succeeding with AI have discovered something different. The technology isn't the problem, and the real barriers are human. Employee resistance, fear about job security, and the inertia of doing things the way they've always been done.

What makes the difference between AI projects that fail and those that transform how teams actually work?

My guest this week is Taylor Bradley, VP Talent Strategy & Success at Turing. In our conversation, Taylor shares how he built grassroots adoption in his team by starting with simple prompt libraries, the framework for deciding what should be automated, what should be augmented, and what should be left to humans, and why every AI project is really a human change management project in disguise..

In the interview, we discuss:

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To survive as a function, it's clear that TA teams need to become strategic partners to their businesses rather than service providers. But what does that really mean in practice? It's easy to talk about being strategic, but the execution is where most teams struggle.

The challenge isn't just about new processes or technologies. It's about fundamentally different ways of communicating with hiring managers and stakeholders. It's about asking better questions, listening more effectively, and knowing when to challenge decisions without creating unnecessary friction. So, how do you build a TA Team of Talent Partners?

My guest this week is Jeff Soto, Vice President Talent Acquisition (Americas) at Sony Music Entertainment. In our conversation, Jeff reveals the specific techniques his teams use to partner with the business and why communication skills matter more than ever in our age of technology-driven disruption.

In the interview, we discuss:

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Something fundamental has shifted in how people find work. Job boards that dominated for decades are losing their effectiveness. Candidates are overwhelmed and skeptical. Employers are drowning in applications that are all the same. The old playbook simply isn't working anymore.

Meanwhile, the TikTokification of communication and the rise of the creator economy are reshaping the marketing landscape. People trust other people more than corporate messaging and want to hear authentic voices, not polished PR. So could this approach work for hiring?

My guests this week are Tracey Parsons, CEO of Flockity, and J.T. O'Donnell, founder of Work It Daily. In our conversation, they explain how the influencer model not only has the potential to transform talent attraction but could also fundamentally change the way recruiting works.

In the interview, we discuss:

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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

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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:

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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:

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