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

Matt Alder
  • 4.6 (79)
  • Careers
  • Updated Weekly

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.

  1. 4d ago

    Managing Career Transitions

    The world of work is changing quickly, and the way people move between roles is changing with it. Hiring for senior positions looks very different from the way it did even five years ago, while many people still approach their own careers with instincts shaped by a market that no longer exists. What does it mean to manage a career well in this environment, and how do the people who navigate transitions successfully approach them differently? My guest this week is Kelly O. Kay, Global Managing Partner of the Enterprise Software and AI Practice at Heidrick & Struggles. Kelly has spent more than twenty years in executive search, and together with his longtime colleague Jeff Sanders he has just published Show Up to Win, a Harvard Business Review Press book on how leaders should manage their careers and navigate transitions. In our conversation, he explains how hiring at the top has changed, why career management needs to be a continuous and strategic activity, where AI does and doesn't fit into the process, and what people misunderstand about the way search firms work. In the interview, we discuss: How hiring at the most senior level has changed What the best leaders do to get the best roles Career management as a continuous process, not a response to wanting to move Quality of company, quality of role, quality of offer Showing them how you think via executive dialogue rather than question and answer What people misunderstand about how search firms work Using AI as an interview coach What does the future of leadership careers look like? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

  2. Sep 23

    Ep 827: Agent To Agent Recruiting

    Recruiting is generating more activity than ever and less connection. Candidates are using AI to produce polished applications at scale, employers are using AI to screen and reach out at scale, and the result is a level of noise that is eroding trust on both sides. More automation applied to the same processes will only make this worse. Solving it means rethinking how matching works, with depth of understanding on both sides and transparency and fairness designed in from the start. So what does that look like in practice? My guest this week is Matt Wilson, Co-founder and CEO of Jack and Jill, whose AI agents work on both sides of the hiring market. In our conversation, Matt shares why supercharging existing processes deepens the noise problem, how transparency and independent auditing build trust in AI matching, and where human judgment remains essential. In the interview, we discuss: Why job hunting is still an inefficient, luck-based process How AI is supercharging broken processes and creating noise on both sides of hiring Building trust in agentic driven processes Bias, fairness, and transparency Challenging deep-seated beliefs about how recruiting gets done Where human judgment remains essential in the hiring process How Jack and Jill manage their own hiring process What does agent-to-agent recruiting mean for the future of hiring? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

  3. Sep 23

    Do AI Interviews Work?

    AI is becoming more embedded across recruiting tools, but there is a meaningful difference between AI that automates workflows behind the scenes and AI that talks directly to candidates. When AI conducts the conversation, the stakes are higher; the first interaction shapes how candidates perceive the employer and the role. That is why many talent acquisition teams remain cautious about AI interviews, even as they adopt AI everywhere else. A growing number of enterprises are now running AI interviews at scale in high-volume hiring, and the data coming back on candidate experience and quality of hire improvements is difficult to ignore. So what does that evidence show, and what should it mean for how the industry thinks about AI in hiring? My guest this week is Dave Vu, Co-Founder and COO of Ribbon, who spent 15 years in talent and people leadership before co-founding the AI interview platform. In our conversation, Dave shares what enterprises are reporting from deploying AI interviews across thousands of candidates, how those candidates are responding, and what this could mean for the future of hiring. In the interview, we discuss: The shift from AI experimentation to enterprise deployment The difference between back-office AI and candidate-facing AI Moving from chatbots to natural conversations The impact on the candidate experience Building candidate trust and AI interviewing Improving speed, efficiency and quality of hire Detecting cheating and protecting interview integrity How will AI interviewing evolve over the next few years Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

  4. Sep 18

    The Real Risks Of Candidate Fraud

    Remote hiring, freely available deepfake tools and harvested identities have created an opportunity that organized criminals are now taking seriously. State-backed operations are training workers to apply for remote roles using stolen credentials and proxy interviewers. The aim is the salary and access to source code, customer data and intellectual property once they are inside. Recruiters are the ones meeting these people first, and in most organizations they are assessing them with a background check and their own judgment while IT, InfoSec and legal are rarely involved. So how seriously should employers be treating this, and what does a credible response look like? My guest this week is Lauren Furey, Principal Product Manager at Proof, where she leads product work on candidate fraud and identity verification. In our conversation, Lauren explains how these attacks work, where hiring processes are most exposed, and what TA teams can do about it. In the interview, we discuss: Bots, deepfakes, identity harvesting and proxy interviewers The criminal motivations behind state-backed infiltration Why the background check is no longer enough on its own How much recruiters overestimate their ability to spot a fake Why remote hiring created the gaps bad actors exploit Building identity continuity through the hiring process Making fraud prevention a shared responsibility with IT and InfoSec The candidate experience trade-off and where to place verification Verifiable credentials and protecting candidates' own identities Practical first steps and what does the future look like? https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurennfurey/ https://www.proof.com Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

  5. Sep 17

    Round Up August 2026

    If you've not listened to Round Up before, it's a short review of the episodes that I've published in the last month to make sure you don't miss out on the valuable insights that my guests are sharing. This month Round Up returns to its live format, and this is a recording of my live conversation with my guest co-host Rhona Pierce from Workfluencer Media, about six of the episodes published during July and August 2026 Episodes featured in this Round Up: Ep 803: AI Native Recruiting Ep 807: Trust, Transparency And The AI Interview Ep 809: The Data Foundation For AI In Hiring Ep 812: Who Trains The Human In The Loop? ⁠⁠https://recruitingfuture.com/2026/07/ep-812-who-trains-the-human-in-the-loop/⁠⁠ Ep 816: Hiring For Judgment In The AI Era https://recruitingfuture.com/2026/08/ep-816-hiring-for-judgment-in-the-ai-era/ Ep 821: Why Every Employer Brand Sounds The Same https://recruitingfuture.com/2026/08/ep-821-why-every-employer-brand-sounds-the-same/

  6. Sep 11

    Is AI Creating Talent Debt?

    Inside most organizations, the pressure has shifted from proving that AI works to showing what it is worth in cost, productivity and headcount. Some workforce plans are now being decided on that basis before anyone has looked closely at how the work is done. The organizations getting the most from AI are treating it as a question of work design rather than technology. So what does designing work around AI involve, and what does it cost the organizations that skip that step? My guest this week is Matt Campbell, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, where he leads the Talent, Organization & People practice and advises organizations on workforce strategy and organization design. In our conversation, he explains why most AI pilots produce an inconclusive result, a five-stage model of AI's impact on work, the ways organizations misread their own people, and why cutting too far, too fast creates a talent debt. In the interview, we discuss: - Why most AI pilots are designed to prove the wrong thing - Who owns AI? - Why big tech's approach to AI and headcount is the wrong template for everyone else - The difference between a job and a role - The five A's: avoid, assist, augment, automate and autonomous - How to put numbers against cost, productivity and capacity - The four things organizations most often get wrong - Why unauthorized AI use gives employees the benefit and the organization the risk - Talent debt and the cost of cutting too far, too fast - Are you designing work around AI, and what does the future look like?

    Is AI Creating Talent Debt?

  7. Sep 9

    How AI Is Disrupting Entry Level Jobs

    In software development, AI tools now write much of the code, and at a growing number of organizations junior developers are no longer doing that work themselves. Tech is where the impact on a first job is clearest, and likely a preview of what other industries will see next. When the tools handle the technical work, what is left requires judgment, collaboration and communication, capabilities that take much longer to develop. That changes how people are prepared for work and what employers should be hiring for. What should the pathway into a tech career look like now? My guest this week is Reuben Ogbonna, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Marcy Lab School, a one-year alternative to college in Brooklyn that prepares young adults for careers in tech. In our conversation, he explains why the traditional college model is falling behind, what people are still needed for when AI writes the code, and how employers should rethink entry-level hiring. In the interview, we discuss: The impact AI is having on first jobs The rising bar of expectations for early careers What skills should students now be learning Why developing judgment matters and why it is difficult to teach The difference between tasks and jobs How do educators keep up with changing needs? Learning that has to mimic the real workplace How should employers redesign entry-level hiring? What does the future look like, and how might AI drive job creation? Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

  8. Sep 2

    How To Win Investment For Employer Branding

    Hi there, welcome to episode 822 of Recruiting Future with me, Matt Alder. Employer branding teams are still under sustained pressure. Budgets have shrunk and headcount has been reduced across many organizations, even when the hiring the business needs has become more specific and more critical. Despite all of the cuts, some employer brand leaders are still winning investment and influence. What sets them apart is how closely their work connects to what the business is trying to achieve and how effectively they communicate its impact. So what does it take to make employer branding matter to the business? My guest this week is Stephen Quinn, CEO of Atomic, an insight-led agency working with employer brand leaders at some of the world's largest organizations. In our conversation, Stephen shares what the most effective employer brand leaders do differently, which metrics carry weight with the business, and how to plan employer branding for the long term. In the interview, we discuss: Trends and challenges in Employer Branding What separates the most successful employer brand leaders Attaching Employer Branding to the critical needs of the employer Where should employer branding sit in the organization? Building relationships across the business Measuring and reporting on impact and ROI via the right metrics Long-term strategy thinking rather than short-term campaign thinking What does the future of Employer Branding look like Follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Follow this podcast on Spotify.

See All (909)

4.6
out of 5
79 Ratings

About

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.

Information

More From Evergreen Podcasts

You Might Also Like