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

The talent market is sending mixed signals. Employers insist they can't find the people they need, while experienced, capable candidates say they are applying into a void and hearing nothing back. Both are describing the same market, so something in the middle is failing. A lot of recruiting technology was built to handle volume, to move large numbers of applicants through a process quickly. What it struggles to do is read signal, to interpret whether someone actually has the judgment and context to solve the problem a business has.

So how do we fix this problem, and will AI give us the solution?

My guest this week is James Gardner, a talent acquisition and transformation leader who has spent over twenty years building and scaling talent functions. In our conversation, he shares what his own data-driven job search revealed about the market, why volume systems and signal systems pull in opposite directions, and how AI could either fix the problem or make it considerably worse.

In the interview, we discuss:

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As AI reshapes how work gets done, the most valuable thing a person can bring to their job isn’t recent task experience; it is the depth of judgment, sector knowledge, and decision-making that takes years to build. That is precisely what AI augments rather than replaces. However, in a cautious hiring market, recency is being given overinflated importance, and a large pool of deeply experienced professionals is being filtered out because they have a gap on their resume. These are people with the experience and maturity, and strong appetite for engaging with new technology that the AI era needs.

So why are employers overlooking this talent, and how should TA leaders rethink their hiring strategies to fix this

My guest this week is Hazel Little, CEO of Career Returners. In our conversation, Hazel explains what the data reveals about the returner experience in 2026, why deep experience and judgment matter more than recency in an AI-augmented workplace, and shares some practical advice on making hiring more effective.

In the interview, we discuss:

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AI offers a genuine opportunity to reinvent talent acquisition, but not many employers have gone beyond targeting incremental improvements in speed and efficiency. The ones who are truly using AI to be transformational are doing something fundamentally different. It takes a real commitment to experimentation, a clear definition of what AI fluency means, and a willingness to redesign hiring from scratch. 

So what does that shift actually look like in practice?

My guest this week is Tracy St. Dic, Global Head of Talent at Zapier, where going AI-native is a company-wide mission. In our conversation, Tracy shares how Zapier is redefining AI fluency, redesigning the hiring process from the ground up, and rethinking what the recruiter role looks like in an AI native world.

In the interview, we discuss:

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The way people look for work is changing fast. A growing number of job seekers now begin by using tools like ChatGPT, asking questions in plain language about roles, salaries, and what it's actually like to work for a company. It is a very different starting point from typing a job title into a search box and scrolling through pages of aggregator links.

At a time when employers are drowning in low-intent applications, something interesting is happening at the other end. Candidates who find roles through AI search arrive with real context about the company, the role, and why it fits their life.

So how can employers make the most of this new world of job search?

My guest this week is Ben Russell, Co-founder at SonicJobs. In our conversation, Ben explains how AI-driven job search is developing, what it means for candidate intent, and why he thinks this moment could rebuild trust between employers and job seekers.

In the interview, we discuss:

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A full transcript will appear here shortly.

A growing number of organizations are rushing to put AI to work, often announcing themselves as AI-first before working out what that actually means. What many are finding is that AI tends to surface whatever was already underneath. Where the data is patchy, the content conflicting, and no one quite owns the end-to-end process, the technology exposes all of it rather than fixing any of it.

At the same time, AI is starting to reshape work itself, raising hard questions about which tasks remain genuinely human and what HR and TA roles will look like on the other side. 

So what does it take to build foundations solid enough to make these tools deliver?

My guest this week is Mark Stelzner, founder and managing principal at IA. In our conversation, Mark explains what it really takes to make AI work in the people function.

In the interview, we discuss:

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Recruiting has always had an innovation problem, and the AI revolution has brought it to a fork in the road. Will AI facilitate a revolution in hiring that drives more value than we have seen in 200 years or will it finally break recruiting as we’ve always known it.

 In this special 800th episode of Recruiting Future, Matt Alder tells a story that brings together Cornish Tin miners migrating to Mexico in the 1820, a letter Leonardo Da Vinci wrote to the Duke of Milan in 1492, the rise of AI and long-standing problems with have with innovating how we recruit talent.

 How can we use AI to solve age old problems, what are the risk involved and how should TA Leaders be preparing their teams?

 In the episode Matt discusses:

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In some industries, aging workforces and deepening skill shortages mean companies can no longer rely on hiring the experienced workers they need. The only realistic option is to grow their own, and that puts apprenticeship schemes right at the centre of workforce planning.

Running a programme at that scale raises questions that go well beyond recruiting. Culture shapes whether people stay, mentoring determines whether skills actually transfer, and long-term success often depends on governments understanding how to direct support towards the future talent that industries actually need. 

So what makes an apprenticeship scheme genuinely effective for high-skilled talent, and what has to be in place around it to make it work?

My guest this week is David Dart, Chief People Officer at Caliber Holdings. In our conversation, David shares what he's learned building a skilled-talent pipeline at scale.

In the interview, we discuss:

The unique talent challenges in recruiting auto body technicians

Skills shortages and an aging workforce

Culture and retention

The importance of mentoring

The impact of AI on jobs

The importance of trades careers and the need for government support

What does the future look like?

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In frontline industries, if you can't hire fast enough, the operation stops. A restaurant that can't fill shifts doesn't open. A delivery company that can't onboard drivers loses customers overnight. This constant pressure has pushed frontline employers to adopt AI and automation faster and further than any other area of recruiting.

Frontline hiring is now where some of the most advanced AI-driven recruiting is happening. Agents are screening candidates, running compliance, and managing entire workflows. Things that felt theoretical months ago are already working. 

So what can every employer learn about AI agents, candidate trust, and the balance between humans and automation?

My guest this week is Salim Jernite, Chief Product Officer at Fountain. In our conversation, Salim explains how the rapid pace of AI is transforming frontline operations and shares lessons that apply far beyond frontline hiring.

In the interview, we discuss:

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The race to develop humanoid robots that can work alongside people in factories, warehouses and retail environments is attracting billions in investment. The talent powering this revolution is in critically short supply. Specialist AI researchers, robotics engineers, and machine learning experts are being sought by every company in the sector, from global tech giants to ambitious startups.

So, in this environment of talent scarcity, how much does the human side of recruiting matter?

My guest this week is Kathrin Selezneva, Talent Acquisition Lead at Humanoid. In our conversation, she shares her experience building a hiring function from scratch in one of the most competitive talent markets in the world and explains why, as AI transforms everything around it, the human skills of recruiting have never mattered more.

In the interview, we discuss:

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Employee engagement remains one of the most talked-about challenges in the world of work. Year after year, the data tells the same story: levels barely shift, no matter what organizations try. The usual response is to focus on what happens once people are already in the door, but the results rarely change.

At the same time, AI is reshaping roles and expectations, making employees question their value in ways that weren't there before. So what if the real engagement problem starts in the hiring process itself?

My guest this week is Dr. Roz Cohen, Chief People Officer and author of “The Engagement Dilemma”. In our conversation, she explains why there are three distinct types of engagement, how outdated job descriptions undermine them, and what hiring teams should do differently to build belonging from the start.

In the interview, we discuss:

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A full transcript will appear here shortly.