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

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.

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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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.

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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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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