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Recruiting Future with Matt Alder – What’s Next For Talent Acquisition, HR & Hiring? — Business
Recruiting Future with Matt Alder – What’s Next For Talent Acquisition, HR & Hiring?

Talent acquisition is undergoing unprecedented disruption as AI, economic uncertainty, and the ever-shortening lifespan of skills radically reshape recruiting. On Recruiting Future, Matt Alder explores this evolving landscape, using insightful interviews with transformational TA practitioners and forward-thinking experts to spark your imagination and provide the insights you need to shape the future of talent acquisition in your organization.
Each episode explores topics such as AI, recruiting automation, recruitment marketing, employer branding, skills-based hiring, assessment, candidate experience, DEI, internal mobility, and the transformation of TA teams. Recruiting Future is an essential resource for everyone involved in hiring.
Matt Alder is a globally respected talent acquisition futurist, author, and speaker with over 25 years of experience exploring what’s next in recruiting. Renowned for his expertise in strategic foresight and technology trends, Matt provides a unique perspective that empowers leaders to navigate disruption. His deep industry knowledge and ability to spark meaningful conversations make Recruiting Future a must-listen for talent acquisition and HR professionals everywhere.

Latest Episodes:

Ep 804: The Talent Pool Employers Need Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

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:

How the landscape for career returners has worsened in the last year
The unique benefits returners can bring to organizations.
Why there is still so much stigma around career breaks and resume gaps
How the hiring process amplifies the confidence gap
The importance of potential over experience in a fast-changing world of work
Why the human judgment needed to work with AI comes from experience
The skills shortage hiding in plain sight
Building potential rather than buying experience
Screening and the hiring manager mindset
What TA needs to do differently to harness this valuable talent pool.

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Ep 803: AI Native Recruiting Jun 28, 2026

Show notes

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:

What is an AI Native company?
The difference between AI adoption and AI transformation
What is AI fluency?
A mindset of experimentation, curiosity, and discernment
Upskilling the TA Team
Psychological safety and protected time
The impact of implementing an AI interviewer and the diminishing importance of the resume
Fraud versus cheating versus just using the available tools
What is true transformation in recruiting, and what does the future look like

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Ep 802: How LLMs Are Redefining Job Search Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

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:

The role LLMs are now playing in the job search.
Changes in job seeker behaviour
Lessons from the rise of Google
Building apps in ChatGPT
Implicit and explicit discovery
The implications of conversational search
Delivering well-informed, high-intent applicants
How employers can own their own brand
What does the future of the job search look like?

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A full transcript will appear here shortly.

Ep 801: What Does AI-First Really Mean? Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

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:

What are the driving forces and catalysts for transformation?
How AI amplifies rather than fixes existing problems
What does AI first actually mean?
Re-inventing processes in large complex organizations
AI’s impact on work
Displaced skills, amplified skills, and uniquely human skills
Turning capacity into new value
The impact of transformation on people and culture
The new role of the CHRO

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A full transcript will appear here shortly.

Ep 800: Will AI Break Recruiting? Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

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:

How modern-day recruiting has been inherited and never designed

The similarities between recruiting today and recruiting 200 years ago

Case studies illustrating the huge amount of value AI can bring in hiring

Three big risks

The fork in the road AI has brought us to

A framework for AI Readiness

Winding roads and jagged frontiers

How we can build the future

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Ep 799: Growing the Talent You Can't Hire Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

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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A full transcript will appear here shortly.

Ep 798 The Frontline of AI Recruiting May 30, 2026

Show notes

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:

Current challenges in frontline hiring
Why speed is the key metric
What advantages does AI bring?
The importance of candidate experience and building trust
AI Orcestration with “Cue”
Keeping up with the relentless pace of AI development
The balance between humans and automation
What does the future look like?

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Ep 797: Hiring The Humans Behind The Robots May 23, 2026

Show notes

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:

Building a TA function from zero
Recruiting the world’s most challenging talent market
Building trust with the most passive of candidates
Why mission sells when salary can't
The vital importance of human recruiters
Relationship building and strategic thinking
Why talent should determine geography in global hiring
What does the future look like?

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Ep 796: How Hiring Shapes Employee Engagement May 20, 2026

Show notes

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:

Why engagement levels haven't shifted
Three types of employee engagement
The role of TA in employee engagement
Reassessing roles before recruiting
Hiring for attributes and behaviours
Onboarding for connection and belonging
Identity beyond surface characteristics
What does the future look like?

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A full transcript will appear here shortly.

Ep 795: AI, Humans and Frontline Hiring May 19, 2026

Show notes

In frontline retail hiring, speed is everything. If the process is too slow, candidates take offers elsewhere, and stores are short-staffed, hurting both service and revenue. AI-powered automation is now helping some organizations close that gap, cutting hiring times, saving thousands of hours, and driving measurable financial value for the business.

The organizations seeing real results started with the problem, not the technology, because layering AI onto a process that isn't working only makes things worse. They also had to answer a question that rarely gets asked: how quick is too quick, and when does speed start to feel impersonal? The goal isn't to remove humans from the hiring process. It's to remove the noise so candidates reach the right people faster.

My guests this week are Stef Nikitas, Director of Talent Acquisition at Ace Hardware, and Rachel Allen, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at 7-Eleven. In our conversation, they share how they transformed frontline hiring with AI, the results it delivered, and where they chose to keep humans firmly in the process.

In the interview, we discuss:

Why speed matters in frontline hiring
The danger of automating broken processes
Leading with the problem, not the technology
How quick is too quick?
What remains human and why
How automation improves the candidate experience
Time savings and measurable business value
Advice for TA on change management
What does the future look like

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