Leaders in Talent Podcast with Adriaan Kolff

Matchr
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Business
  • Updated Biweekly

Leaders in Talent is a podcast for Talent Acquisition, People, and HR leaders who are building modern, scalable, high-impact talent functions. Each episode brings you in-depth conversations with the operators, founders, authors, and practitioners shaping how companies hire, develop, and retain talent. We go beyond theory. Guests share the decisions, playbooks, data, and lessons learned from scaling global teams, implementing new talent technologies, designing employer brands, building recruiting operations, and turning TA into a strategic business function. If you work in talent and are solving challenges around growth, capability, culture, or transformation, this podcast gives you practical insight you can apply today. Real conversations. Real operators. Real lessons.

  1. Hiring the People Behind the AI Boom: Marcus Pask on Scaling Nebius from 300 to 3,000

    6d ago

    Hiring the People Behind the AI Boom: Marcus Pask on Scaling Nebius from 300 to 3,000

    In this episode of the Leaders in Talent podcast, Adriaan Kolff sits down with Marcus Pask, a talent acquisition leader with 20 years in the field who is now helping AI infrastructure company Nebius scale from 300 to 3,000 people in 18 months. Marcus started on an agency desk at 18, worked with investment banks at Hays, ran go-to-market hiring at Expedia, then joined Miro at around 200 people and helped scale it to 2,500 while leading global tech recruitment. Today he is a fractional TA consultant at Nebius, the engine room behind the AI boom, building the data centers that companies like Meta and Microsoft run on. He explains why this growth is different: it is tied to contracts that are already signed, not projected revenue. He walks through the hiring problem nobody talks about, the builders, electricians and specialists who put data centers up in remote locations, who are not on LinkedIn and are now at a premium. And he shares how Nebius brings talent acquisition into the conversation early with talent maps, relocation incentives and rotating build teams. Marcus and Adriaan also get into why neither of them is worried about AI replacing recruiters any time soon, how automation is shifting coordinators toward TA operations, and how both Nebius and Matchr are adopting AI with the right guardrails and context. Timecodes 01:07 Welcome and Marcus's 20 years in talent acquisition 03:40 Leaving Miro, career coaching, and joining Nebius 07:30 Lessons from starting a podcast 13:30 MIT, robots, and exponential growth 15:43 What Nebius is: the engine room behind the AI boom 17:24 Why growth is tied to signed contracts, not projections 19:13 Hiring for data centers in the middle of nowhere 23:30 Will AI take recruiters' jobs? 29:26 From coordinators to TA operators 34:53 Using AI at Nebius and Matchr with the right context 48:21 How the Matchr and Nebius partnership came about 51:40 Where to find Marcus ___________________________ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/ Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/ ___________________________ Connect with Marcus Pask: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcuspask/ Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ ___________________________ Resources mentioned in this episode: Talent Unplugged Across the Pond, Marcus's podcast with co-host Megan: https://www.youtube.com/@talentunpluggedacrossthepond Shaping Your Path, Marcus's job search and career coaching: https://shapingyourpath.com ___________________________ RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml

    52 min
  2. Hiring for Hypergrowth: Wesley Gilbert on Scaling Talent at On Running, Uber and Manychat

    May 11

    Hiring for Hypergrowth: Wesley Gilbert on Scaling Talent at On Running, Uber and Manychat

    In this episode of the Leaders in Talent podcast, Adriaan Kolff sits down with Wesley Gilbert, Head of Talent Acquisition at Manychat. Wesley's career has been built inside some of the most talked-about scale stories in tech: Google, four years at Uber as EMEA hyperscaled from 2,000 to 20,000 people, then four years at On Running, where he led global TA as the company grew from 300 to 3,000 employees and built the retail business from zero to around a thousand. Wesley walks through how On Running's founders refused to copy the Nike and Adidas playbook and instead built a two-tier hiring strategy: high-potential talent who would grow up inside the culture, and senior leaders pulled from tech, FMCG and luxury who shared the brand's passion but brought outside-industry thinking. He explains how the team broke down the company's values into an assessment model, why interview rounds were intentionally longer, how MetaView and structured debriefs raised interview quality at scale, and where On's approach differed from Uber's competency-first, talent-density model. Wesley also talks about the move to Manychat, where AI, the creator economy and a more competency-driven culture have shaped how he is rebuilding the TA function. He shares the leadership lessons that took him longest to learn: stepping back from being the expert in the room, the 'big rocks' framework his CEO at On gave him, and how to build a leadership team you can lean on when your function scales past what one person can hold. Timecodes 00:59 Welcome and Wesley's background: Google, Uber, On Running, ManyChat 02:22 Thriving in high-intensity, build-from-scratch environments 03:54 Joining On Running at 300 people: a Swiss startup with a culture-first vision 06:18 Why On refused to copy Nike and Adidas, and the two-tier hiring strategy 08:58 The three risks of hypergrowth: quality, culture and diversity 10:08 Scaling from 300 to 3,000: how to convince talent before the brand was known 11:05 Defining what "top talent" actually means and turning values into an assessment model 18:17 Why On's process had six to seven rounds, and the experience day in Zurich 20:43 What Uber did differently: competency over culture, and country-by-country startups 23:56 Joining ManyChat and what the platform does for content creators 27:20 Standardising and professionalising the ManyChat recruitment process 30:12 Lessons in hindsight: positioning TA as a strategic function, not an executional one 32:39 Learning to delegate, build a leadership team and stop being the expert in everything 35:24 The 'big rocks' framework Wesley's CEO Martin shared with him at On 37:35 Adriaan on his own move from day-to-day operator to founder on the balcony 42:16 Where to connect with Wesley ___________________________ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/ Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/ ___________________________ Connect with Wesley Gilbert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wezgilbert/ Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ ___________________________ RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml

    43 min
  3. From Leading Teams to Leading AI Agents: The CPO Playbook for the AI Era

    Apr 13

    From Leading Teams to Leading AI Agents: The CPO Playbook for the AI Era

    What does AI actually change inside the people function? In this episode of The Leaders in Talent Podcast, Adriaan Kolff sits down with Shlomit Gruman-Navot, a four-time Chief People Officer and transformation executive with 25 years of experience across tech, SaaS, consumer platforms, and banking. Shlomit shares what changed when she went deep into AI, why this is not just a technology shift but a human transformation, and how leaders should rethink work, judgment, operating models, and AI fluency across the organization. Timestamps 01:23 Guest introduction: who is Shlomit Gruman-Navot 02:49 Why Shlomit went deep into AI 03:36 From leading teams to leading AI agents 06:22 How her AI journey actually started 10:11 Where AI is already making an impact in HR 12:18 How to redesign work and drive change inside organizations 15:45 Why HR is uniquely positioned to lead AI transformation 18:26 Advice for CHROs and HR leaders who are too busy to experiment 21:39 Agents vs agentic AI explained simply 24:45 Will AI eliminate junior HR and analyst roles? 29:07 How talent leaders should deal with AI overwhelm 30:48 Shlomit’s new community around making AI work at work ___________________________ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/ Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/ ____________ Connect with Shlomit Gruman-Navot: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shlomit-gruman-navot/ Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ ___________________________ RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml ___________________________ Need a Recruitment Support? Embed Matchr’s expert recruiters directly into your team. Seamless integration for immediate impact on your hiring process. Learn more: https://matchr.io

    33 min
  4. From HR Business Partner to Future CPO: Designing a Career with Purpose

    Mar 3

    From HR Business Partner to Future CPO: Designing a Career with Purpose

    In this episode of Leaders in Talent, Elizabeth Weilburg (Senior Talent Leader at Coinbase) shares how she intentionally designs her career toward becoming a Chief People Officer. We discuss ambition, mentorship, saying hard things, career ownership, and how to align personal growth with real business impact. If you're in HR, Talent, or People leadership and thinking long term about your career, this episode is for you. Timecodes: 01:17 – Introduction: Lizzie’s move from Citadel to Coinbase 02:38 – Why openly saying “I want to become a CPO” matters 07:07 – Learning by observing great leaders early in your career 09:04 – Becoming more outspoken and intentional about ambition 10:16 – Mentorship in action: Learning to “say the hard thing” 13:37 – Taking up space and building leadership presence 15:32 – Why helping with career progression defines great managers 18:11 – Creating real career paths inside growing organizations 19:31 – Why companies should be net exporters of great talent 21:16 – How Lizzie runs career development conversations today 22:58 – Building talent expertise as part of a long-term CPO path 24:51 – Organic mentorship vs formal mentorship programs 26:43 – Networking intentionally (and why it matters more than you think) 28:17 – How to pitch your own role inside a company 30:31 – Creating opportunities by spotting unmet business needs 31:36 – Aligning ambition with business value ___________________________ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/ Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/ ____________ Connect with Elizabeth Weilburg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-weilburg-45527955/ Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ ___________________________ RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml ___________________________ Scale Your Hiring with Embedded RPO Plug Matchr’s experienced recruiters directly into your team. Fully embedded. Fully accountable. Fully aligned with your business goals. We operate as part of your internal Talent team, owning delivery, stakeholder management, and hiring outcomes from day one. Learn more: https://matchr.io

    32 min
  5. Designing for Scale, Delivering with Care: How Talent Ops Work at Scale

    Feb 16

    Designing for Scale, Delivering with Care: How Talent Ops Work at Scale

    In this episode, Martijn Feikens, Head of Global Talent Operations at ING, shares how talent operations actually work inside a large, regulated, global organization. We talk about scale, complexity, stakeholder management, decision-making in matrix structures, and why people remain the only asset that does not depreciate. Timestamps: 02:10 Martijn’s role and global scope 04:40 Why global banks are complex organizations 07:30 Consensus culture and decision-making challenges 11:50 Employer brand as a strategic lever 13:40 Technology, regulation, and risk aversion 16:05 How to decide what is worth pursuing 18:10 Stakeholder management at scale 22:30 Why simplicity matters in leadership communication 26:30 Designing for scale, delivering with care 28:10 The five OKRs guiding Talent Operations 29:50 Leadership conversations at senior level 31:40 Why slow does not mean ineffective 33:30 Learning stakeholder management over time 35:40 Global standards versus local needs 36:40 Looking ahead to 2026 38:10 Why people are the only asset that doesn’t depreciate ___________________________ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/ Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/ ____________ Connect with Martijn Feikens: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martijnfeikens/ Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ ___________________________ RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml ___________________________ Need a Recruitment Support? Embed Matchr’s expert recruiters directly into your team. Seamless integration for immediate impact on your hiring process. Learn more: https://matchr.io

    40 min
  6. Building Sourcing at Scale: How Booking.com Turned Pipelines into Market Advantage

    Feb 2

    Building Sourcing at Scale: How Booking.com Turned Pipelines into Market Advantage

    In this episode of Leaders in Talent podcast, we’re joined by Kanwar Kohli, who leads global sourcing at Booking.com, supporting close to 1,000 hires per year with a team of ~20 sourcers. We go deep into what sourcing really means today, and why it’s no longer about volume, pipeline, or “more candidates.” Kanwar shares how Booking.com built its sourcing function from scratch, why sourcing is the only part of TA that truly controls supply, and how market intelligence, judgment, and AI are reshaping the role of sourcers. Timestamps: 01:02 Welcome to the podcast and Kanwar’s background 03:02 Why sourcing exists and why it matters 05:02 Booking’s original brief, pipelines and hiring at scale 07:06 Proving value without owning the full process 08:12 From volume to competitive advantage 10:23 How to justify long term nurturing to the business 12:06 What “the ask” really means, not just more candidates 13:58 Why sourcing needs 1 to 2 years runway 15:49 KPIs that matter, short cycle and long cycle metrics 17:42 Shaping demand, not just reacting to open roles 21:30 When a sourcing function makes sense 24:57 Skills Kanwar looks for in top sourcers 31:03 Is sourcing ending, smaller teams and higher bar 36:40 Where to connect with Kanwar and closing ___________________________ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/ Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/ ____________ Connect with Kanwar Kohli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanwarkohli/ Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ ___________________________ RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml ___________________________ Need a Recruitment Support? Embed Matchr’s expert recruiters directly into your team. Seamless integration for immediate impact on your hiring process. Learn more: https://matchr.io

    37 min
  7. Building teams that multiply: Stoic leadership and the art of making people feel special with Yasar Ahmad

    Jan 11

    Building teams that multiply: Stoic leadership and the art of making people feel special with Yasar Ahmad

    In this episode of the Leaders in Talent Podcast, Adriaan Kolff sits down with Yasar Ahmad, one of the most influential voices in global recruitment, for a deep, unfiltered conversation on what actually builds high-performance teams and scalable companies. This is not theory. It’s real leadership under pressure, from bootstrapping and crisis management to culture design, candidate experience, and decision-making frameworks that scale. If you lead people, build companies, or hire talent, this episode is your operating manual. Timecodes: 01:22 Introduction: Yasar Ahmad and the conversation ahead 02:27 Entrepreneurship, anxiety, and the early years of building a company 08:23 Radical transparency and the hardest leadership decisions 10:01 When your team comforts you, culture in action 11:06 Why your worst employee sets the standard 12:22 Yasar’s leadership journey and learning through experience 15:09 The 5-minute journal and building self-awareness 17:06 Stoicism and controlling what you can control 18:40 The Belgian Horse Effect explained 20:16 Emotional regulation and leading without whiplash 22:04 High standards, North Stars, and continuous development 30:23 Decision frameworks and how leaders think under pressure 31:56 Mission, values, and culture that actually work 36:30 Marketing, content, and experience design in recruiting 39:29 Making candidates feel like the main character 42:24 How better interviews dramatically improve hiring outcomes 45:44 Why words and tone change everything 49:43 Recruiting is sales and why that matters 51:26 Final reflections and closing thoughts ____________ Follow Yasar Ahmad: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasarahmad/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Yasar_Ahmad TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yasarahmad_ Website: https://www.yasarahmad.com/ ___________________________ Connect with Matchr: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/ Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/ ___________________________ Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ ___________________________ RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml ___________________________ Need a Recruitment Support? Embed Matchr’s expert recruiters directly into your team. Seamless integration for immediate impact on your hiring process. Learn more: https://matchr.io

    52 min
  8. Building a Global TA Engine: Lessons from Remote’s Hyper-Growth with Anastasia Pshegodskaya

    12/08/2025

    Building a Global TA Engine: Lessons from Remote’s Hyper-Growth with Anastasia Pshegodskaya

    In this episode, we sit down with Anastasia Pshegodskaya, Director of TA at Remote, to unpack how the company scaled from 200 to nearly 2,000 people in just four years. We explore the realities of hiring without borders, managing intense applicant volume, building culture asynchronously, navigating compensation across countries, and experimenting with AI-powered first-round interviews. Whether you lead Talent Acquisition, People, HR operations, or you're scaling a global team, this conversation is packed with insights about building a TA function for the next decade of work. Timestamps 01:15 Hiring globally: what changes when the world becomes your talent pool 03:02 Scaling Remote: from 200 to 2,000 employees 04:48 Building TA foundations while the company hyper-scales 06:32 Why quality over quantity became the turning point 08:41 How Remote structures recruiters across time zones 10:52 The communication challenge of fully remote teams 12:30 AI-powered TA Digest bot and async communication 14:03 30,000 applications a month: how Remote filters intelligently 16:12 AI interviews as step one: what worked and what didn’t 18:10 Creating belonging through social channels and onboarding 20:36 Compensation strategy: geo-tiers, fairness, relocation 24:55 Misconceptions about remote work and high performance ___________________________ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/ Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/ ____________ Connect with Anastasia Pshegodskaya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pshegodskaya/ Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/ ___________________________ RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml ___________________________ Need a Recruitment Support? Embed Matchr’s expert recruiters directly into your team. Seamless integration for immediate impact on your hiring process. Learn more: https://matchr.io

    35 min
See All (27)

About

Leaders in Talent is a podcast for Talent Acquisition, People, and HR leaders who are building modern, scalable, high-impact talent functions. Each episode brings you in-depth conversations with the operators, founders, authors, and practitioners shaping how companies hire, develop, and retain talent. We go beyond theory. Guests share the decisions, playbooks, data, and lessons learned from scaling global teams, implementing new talent technologies, designing employer brands, building recruiting operations, and turning TA into a strategic business function. If you work in talent and are solving challenges around growth, capability, culture, or transformation, this podcast gives you practical insight you can apply today. Real conversations. Real operators. Real lessons.

Information