Recruiting Future with Matt Alder - What's Next For Talent Acquisition, HR & Hiring?
Matt Alder
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Matt Alder
▶ WebplayerTalent 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...
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Sep 29, 2026 · 24:51
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…
Sep 23, 2026 · 34:13
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…
Sep 23, 2026 · 25:02
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…
Sep 18, 2026 · 27:25
Remote hiring, freely available deepfake tools and harvested identities have created an opportunity that organized criminals are now taking seriously. State-backed operations are…
Sep 17, 2026 · 30:43
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…
Sep 11, 2026 · 27:07
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…
Sep 9, 2026 · 24:23
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…
Sep 2, 2026 · 21:13
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…
Aug 28, 2026 · 37:15
Employer messaging has a sameness problem. Candidates researching potential employers find the same values, the same mission statements, and the same well-meaning phrases…
Aug 26, 2026 · 18:53
The gap between claiming to be strategic and actually operating strategically has real consequences, and nowhere are they clearer than at the top of HR. CHRO turnover is…
Aug 21, 2026 · 26:35
The job of Chief People Officer has never been more demanding, and the way organizations decide who gets it is changing fast. Appointment volumes have fallen sharply, boards are…
Aug 20, 2026 · 32:28
Skills have been on the HR agenda for decades, but they rarely became the basis for real decisions; frameworks took so long to build that the business had moved on before they…
Aug 18, 2026 · 27:13
This is the final episode of Decoding the C-Suite, a five part miniseries from Recruiting Future about how leadership really thinks about AI, recorded with the leadership team at…
Aug 18, 2026 · 25:14
This is episode four of Decoding the C-Suite, a five part miniseries from Recruiting Future about how leadership really thinks about AI, recorded with the leadership team at…
Aug 18, 2026 · 25:20
The organisations genuinely driving AI change in talent all have one thing in common: alignment with the C-suite. Decoding the C-Suite is a five part miniseries from Recruiting…
Aug 18, 2026 · 24:19
This is episode three of Decoding the C-Suite, a five part miniseries from Recruiting Future about how leadership really thinks about AI, recorded with the leadership team at…
Aug 18, 2026 · 23:24
This is episode two of Decoding the C-Suite, a five part miniseries from Recruiting Future about how leadership really thinks about AI, recorded with the leadership team at…
Aug 13, 2026 · 18:27
Cybersecurity is one of the hardest markets to hire in, and a lot of the difficulty comes from how companies approach the process. Candidates are still being filtered on degrees,…
Aug 11, 2026 · 23:07
There is growing consensus that AI is eroding the experience pathways organizations depend on to develop human judgment. Entry-level roles are shrinking, hands-on work is being…
Aug 7, 2026 · 20:37
AI adoption is accelerating, but for most organisations it is still ad hoc. Tools are bought reactively, budgets keep growing, and few leaders can say with confidence what is…
Aug 6, 2026 · 27:14
Storytelling might be the most overused word in employer branding. Every company claims to tell stories, yet most of the content being produced sounds the same from one company…
Aug 5, 2026 · 22:37
AI has disrupted the dynamics of hiring. Candidates can now apply to hundreds of roles in a single click, while legal and regulatory constraints limit how far recruiters can use…
Jul 29, 2026 · 34:33
For the last few years, most corporate conversations about AI have been about efficiency, automating tasks, and reducing headcount. That conversation is now starting to change,…
Jul 28, 2026 · 28:55
TA leaders are under real pressure to keep up with AI, new tools, and what they think other employers are doing. In that rush, a lot of functions are spending heavily on new…
Jul 24, 2026 · 23:45
AI has been applied to almost every step of the hiring process. Sourcing, screening, assessments, interviews; each has its own tools, and many of them are effective. For many…
Jul 17, 2026 · 30:10
Agentic AI is only as useful as the data it can access, and getting that foundation right is proving to be the harder half of the work. Years of mergers, acquisitions, and local…
Jul 15, 2026 · 28:51
Innovation in recruiting is hard. TA leaders are experts at running their operations, but improving them in a structured way is a different discipline, and the AI revolution has…
Jul 11, 2026 · 30:28
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…
Jul 10, 2026 · 31:28
Application volumes are climbing fast, and AI has made it far easier for candidates to produce a strong-looking resume. For talent teams trying to give every candidate a fair…
Jul 9, 2026 · 34:37
Over the last year, I have been using AI to develop a searchable archive of the content in every episode of Recruiting Future, 3 million words from over a decade of unscripted…
Jul 6, 2026 · 28:19
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…
Jul 2, 2026 · 29:25
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…
Jun 28, 2026 · 35:08
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…
Jun 25, 2026 · 32:40
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,…
Jun 18, 2026 · 24:27
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…
Jun 12, 2026 · 46:32
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…
Jun 3, 2026 · 28:03
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…
May 30, 2026 · 23:29
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…
May 23, 2026 · 23:35
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…
May 20, 2026 · 19:13
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…
May 19, 2026 · 37:39
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.…
May 13, 2026 · 19:29
When organizations hire thousands of frontline workers, delivering a personal candidate experience becomes almost impossible. Recruiters spend all of their time answering calls,…
May 8, 2026 · 23:18
HR is at a pivotal moment. AI has shifted the conversation in a way nothing else has in years, the demands on the function are growing faster than its capacity to respond, and…
May 3, 2026 · 24:36
Talent acquisition is sitting in a strange place right now. AI is in every conversation, but the work of actually hiring people is getting harder rather than easier. Application…
May 3, 2026 · 22:24
The real value of AI agents in HR comes from connecting them to work across the employee lifecycle, not from deploying them on individual tasks. That's where most large…
May 1, 2026 · 21:32
We're living through one of the most consequential shifts in how work gets done. AI is everywhere in headlines and vendor pitches, but the reality inside organisations is far…
Apr 27, 2026 · 27:31
Something has shifted in AI over the last few months. The pace of AI model updates keeps increasing, and strategies that made sense a few months ago are already out of date. New…
Apr 24, 2026 · 25:24
We live in a world where recruiters can connect with thousands of people with a single click. LinkedIn, CRMs, and AI tools all promise to manage relationships at a scale…
Apr 21, 2026 · 31:05
Many organizations are struggling with attrition, disengagement, and costly mis-hires that quietly destroy value. The real problem isn't finding talent, it's creating conditions…
Apr 19, 2026 · 27:07
AI skills are quickly becoming a baseline expectation in hiring, with more employers adding AI fluency to their job descriptions every month. Yet when you ask those same…
Apr 19, 2026 · 22:59
AI is reshaping how work gets done, but the hiring process hasn't caught up. Employers are asking for AI skills they can't clearly define, while application volumes hit record…
Apr 12, 2026 · 22:40
Talent acquisition has always been built around the individual. Find the right person for the right role. But once someone joins a team, something far more complex takes over.…
Apr 12, 2026 · 18:00
Every organization knows it needs to adopt AI. Far fewer have worked out how to bring their whole workforce along for the journey. Telling employees to use new tools rarely…
Apr 11, 2026 · 27:31
Round Up March 2026 If you’ve not listened to Roundup 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…
Apr 4, 2026 · 26:12
Every platform, every feed, every channel is packed with posts and videos that increasingly look and sound like they were produced by the same machine. For employers trying to…
Apr 3, 2026 · 25:16
Over the past year, AI features in recruiting tools have seen significant adoption. But if you ask TA Teams whether AI has changed how they actually hire, most of them will say…
Apr 3, 2026 · 25:21
I've recently returned from a long trip to Las Vegas, where I attended both the UNLEASH and Transform conferences. Unsurprisingly, AI dominated every session and every vendor…
Mar 26, 2026 · 18:42
Application volumes have surged in recent years, and many talent acquisition teams are struggling to keep up. Candidates apply and disappear into a black hole, never hearing…
Mar 23, 2026 · 23:04
The role of talent acquisition is changing fast. AI and automation are transforming what's possible, while CFOs and CEOs are demanding a different kind of conversation. They want…
Mar 23, 2026 · 27:11
We’re at a fork in the road for how companies adopt AI. Some are taking shortcuts, slashing entry-level roles and chasing efficiency savings. Others are slowing down to ask a…
Mar 13, 2026 · 27:53
Hiring processes are full of design choices that nobody ever questions. Requirements that sound reasonable but aren't defined. Formats that have stayed the same for decades.…
Mar 12, 2026 · 30:23
If you’ve not listened to Roundup 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…
Mar 11, 2026 · 32:59
Attracting talent gets all the headlines, but retention is where the real competitive advantage lives. In a market where top performers are constantly being approached by…
Mar 9, 2026 · 24:35
Many talent acquisition teams are dealing with surging application volumes right now, and AI is a major factor. Candidates are using it to apply faster, at a greater scale, and…
Mar 5, 2026 · 25:07
For years, recruitment marketing strategies have been built around a familiar set of rules: optimize your career site, rank well in search results, and ensure candidates can find…
Mar 1, 2026 · 21:59
AI transformation is accelerating, and for many organizations, the biggest risk isn't the technology itself; it's getting their strategic response wrong. Rush in without a…
Feb 27, 2026 · 19:03
Recruiting has always been shaped by the time and resources available. Resumes are short because recruiters only have a finite amount of time to read them. Interview shortlists…
Feb 20, 2026 · 32:23
Hiring should be about finding the right person. Too often, though, the tools and methods organizations use actually work against them. Job postings filter candidates out for…
Feb 19, 2026 · 29:27
The pressure on talent functions right now is intense. Budgets are tight, teams are stretched, and the mandate to do more with less has pushed many organizations to automate at…
Feb 16, 2026 · 22:57
AI tools are changing the pace at which organizations filter and rank candidates. However, matching someone to a job description and actually predicting whether they'll perform…
Feb 10, 2026 · 23:53
The assurance and audit profession is facing a talent crisis. Fewer graduates are choosing it as a career, and the perception of what auditors actually do hasn't kept pace with…
Feb 8, 2026 · 20:11
The talent market is full of contradictions right now. There are many people looking for jobs, but for many organisations, finding the right talent remains difficult. Caution…
Feb 6, 2026 · 31:05
Job boards have been connecting candidates with employers for over thirty years, but the relationship that made them work is fundamentally breaking down. Candidates are getting…
Feb 6, 2026 · 30:44
Round Up December 2025 If you’ve not listened to Roundup 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…
Jan 28, 2026 · 26:32
There's a significant disconnect playing out in organizations right now. Leaders understand AI is probably the most transformative technology of their lifetimes. They're making…
Jan 25, 2026 · 24:06
Bias in hiring has been a topic of discussion for decades, yet our understanding of what actually happens within recruiting processes remains surprisingly limited. Most research…
Jan 22, 2026 · 26:47
The constant noise around AI has created a strange situation in talent acquisition. On one side, relentless hype has made many TA leaders deeply skeptical, reluctant to invest in…
Jan 21, 2026 · 24:26
There are now tasks in recruiting where AI genuinely outperforms humans. Holding multiple evaluation criteria in mind while scanning hundreds of applications, spotting relevant…
Jan 15, 2026 · 42:54
Strategic partnerships in talent acquisition can mean the difference between incremental improvement and transformational change. But what does a true strategic partnership…
Jan 14, 2026 · 24:22
If you’ve not listened to Roundup 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…
Jan 13, 2026 · 23:31
There's something paradoxical happening with corporate careers websites right now. After years of broken links, mobile application nightmares, and clunky technology…
Jan 9, 2026 · 23:12
Last year brought plenty of AI hype, but actual adoption in talent acquisition remained tentative. Some organizations ran pilots, most watched from the sidelines, and…
Dec 31, 2025 · 1:21:35
AI is the most disruptive technology we've seen in our careers, but most industry conversations stay at the surface level of use cases and future predictions. This special bonus…
Dec 23, 2025 · 25:02
The pandemic forced organizations to rethink how they engage their people, with many old rules torn up almost overnight. Five years on, AI has arrived and changed the game again.…
Dec 19, 2025 · 21:36
Hi there, welcome to Episode 756 of Recruiting Future with me, Matt Alder. Recruiting Future helps Talent Acquisition teams drive measurable impact by developing strategic…
Dec 12, 2025 · 28:15
We’ve been talking about automation in recruiting for a long time. The AI developments of the last two years have significantly shifted the landscape of what is possible with…
Dec 12, 2025 · 13:39
If you’ve not listened to Roundup 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…
Dec 9, 2025 · 28:01
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the pace of change in talent acquisition. AI developments, vendor mergers and acquisitions, a confusing technology landscape, and shifting…
Dec 8, 2025 · 20:59
Despite the challenging economic landscape and wave of layoffs across many sectors, finding exceptional senior talent remains a challenge, and many employers are making it worse…
Dec 1, 2025 · 31:18
Skills, tasks, jobs, activities. These terms get used interchangeably across HR and talent acquisition, but they mean fundamentally different things. Skills are attributes of…
Dec 1, 2025 · 23:12
Uncertain economic times, high volumes of layoffs, and easy access to AI tools mean many employers are dealing with an unprecedented number of applications. Recruiters are…
Nov 27, 2025 · 23:03
SAP's recent acquisition of SmartRecruiters has generated considerable interest across the talent acquisition community. The deal brings AI-native recruiting capabilities into a…
Nov 26, 2025 · 44:26
This is a special episode, recorded live on stage at TA Tech Europe in London earlier in November. It's a wide-ranging discussion about the state of our industry and where it's…
Nov 20, 2025 · 34:25
The AI agent marketplace has become a confusing landscape full of chatbots and co-pilots that aren't agents, claiming revolutionary capabilities. But genuine AI agents represent…
Nov 19, 2025 · 30:52
Many organizations treat accessibility as just a compliance checkbox, checking the box to meet legal requirements and then moving on. But this mindset misses massive…
Nov 16, 2025 · 22:12
The recruitment experience is undergoing a fundamental transformation with AI and automation playing an increasingly larger role. It's essential to recognise the consequences of…
Nov 16, 2025 · 35:50
Talent acquisition is being tested like never before. Teams are continually being asked to do more with less, hiring volumes remain unpredictable, and technology is evolving…
Nov 15, 2025 · 32:56
Application volumes are continuing to rise, but finding quality hires remains a challenge. The usual suspects that tend to get the blame are candidates using AI, economic…
Nov 7, 2025 · 34:41
Recruiting Future Round Up is back in a brand-new live format. Round Up has always been a quick way to catch up on the most important insights from the month’s Recruiting Future…
Nov 5, 2025 · 30:04
The recruiting technology landscape is transforming at an unprecedented speed. AI Tools that seemed like far-fetched concepts just a few years ago are hitting the market and…
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