The Recruiting Brainfood Podcast

Epizodai

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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep401 - National Interview Week - Helping 100,000 People Back to Work 21.08.2026 1val 1min

  NATIONAL INTERVIEW WEEK - HELPING 100,000 YOUNG PEOPLE INTO THE WORKFORCE   National Interview Week is a nationwide movement designed to equip young people from state-educated schools with the confidence, skills, and professional exposure they need to succeed in interviews and access meaningful career opportunities.   Over the next five years, we aim to support 100,000 students through structured interview training, industry-specific preparation, and direct engagement with professional volunteers from leading organisations. This initiative addresses a critical gap: many talented young people lack access to professional networks, tailored interview preparation, and industry insight. National Interview Week exists to change that.   We are getting together with an ensemble cast of recruitment practitioners to share insight on how to be a great job interviewee. We'll bring recruiters from agency side, RPO, in-house, from companies large and small, public and private in a collect   We're on Weds 19th August, 2pm BST. Follow the channel here (recommended) and register by saving your spot here.   Ep401 is supported by our friends Equitas   All-in-one interview platform harnesses the power of technology to make hiring more efficient and less biased. Focus more on candidates, and less on note-taking. Say goodbye to old-fashioned, paper-based interviews. Say hello to one source of truth.   Check it out here
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep398 - Meet Ema - Your AI Employee for HR, IT and Finance (Live Demo) 19.08.2026 1val

  MEET EMA - YOUR AI EMPLOYEE FOR HR, IT & FINANCE (LIVE DEMO)   We're back with another founder chat and live demo, this time with Surojit Chatterjee, CEO of Ema. Former CPO of Coinbase and Senior Exec at Google and Flipkart, Surojit is a vastly experienced tech executive. I'm delighted to be share some time with him to learn about his vision and why the future of human-AI collaboration is going to look lot like Ema.   Live demo folks so make sure you register   We're on Tues 18th August at 6pm BST / 10am PST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).     Ep398 is supported by our friends at Ema   Ema builds AI employees for the enterprise - purpose-built to automate complex workflows across HR, IT, and Finance, from hire to retire.   Ema's AI employees work end-to-end across the full employee lifecycle: sourcing and screening candidates, onboarding new hires, resolving IT and HR queries, managing benefits, and processing finance requests - delivering speed, precision, and security at enterprise scale.   Trusted by Fortune 500 companies worldwide, Ema is backed by leading investors and partners like Accel, Workday, ADP, and Hitachi. With a library of pre-built agents and dedicated deployment teams, Ema delivers fast time-to-value, taking enterprises from proof-of-concept to secure, large-scale production.   Learn more about Ema today here
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep 400 - The State of AI Readiness: Is Your Organisation Ready? 14.08.2026 1val 4min

  The State of AI Readiness: A Framework to Gauge Your Organisation's AI Readiness   Every organisation says it's embracing AI - but very few can answer a simple question: how AI-ready are we, really?   While new tools continue to appear at breakneck speed, successful AI adoption depends on much more than buying software. It requires the right leadership, governance, skills, culture, data, processes and appetite for change. In this webinar, we'll introduce a practical framework for assessing AI readiness across your organisation, helping talent leaders understand where they are today, what gaps need closing, and what it will take to move from experimentation to sustainable transformation.   Key Themes We'll Cover: What AI Readiness Actually Means – Looking beyond technology to assess the organisational capabilities required for successful AI adoption The AI Readiness Framework – A practical model for evaluating your organisation across leadership, people, processes, technology and governance Leadership and Vision – Why executive sponsorship and a clear AI strategy are essential before scaling implementation Skills for the AI Era – Assessing whether your workforce has the capabilities needed to effectively work alongside AI systems Culture and Change Readiness – Understanding how curiosity, experimentation and trust influence successful adoption Governance Without Bureaucracy – Establishing policies for responsible AI that encourage innovation while managing risk Data: The Hidden Foundation – Why data quality, accessibility and security remain critical enablers of effective AI From Pilot Projects to Enterprise Scale – Identifying the common barriers that prevent promising AI initiatives from delivering lasting business value Benchmarking Your Organisation – How to identify your current maturity level, prioritise investments and build a realistic roadmap for progress AI readiness isn't a destination - it's an ongoing capability that organisations will need to strengthen as technology continues to evolve. Whether you're just beginning your AI journey or already rolling out AI across multiple functions, this session will give you a practical framework for understanding where you stand today and the actions that will have the greatest impact tomorrow.   We're on Friday 14th August, 2pm BST - make sure to follow the channel here (recommended) and register by saving your spot here.   Ep400 is supported by our friends CoderPad.   CoderPad is the technical hiring platform built for the AI era - trusted by over 4,000 organizations in 165+ countries to evaluate real engineering skill, not test-taking ability. From first screen to final interview, we help companies confidently hire developers who can build, collaborate, and thrive in modern, AI-integrated environments.   Request a demo now!
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep396 - The Employer Branding: the Reckoning - Automation vs Authenticy 07.08.2026 1val 4min

  The Employer Branding Reckoning: Authenticity vs Automation   Employer branding has entered a new era. AI can now write careers content, personalise candidate outreach, generate videos, and automate engagement at a scale that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. At the same time, candidates have never been better at spotting generic messaging, over-produced content, or a culture that doesn't match reality. So where should employers draw the line? In this session, we'll explore how organisations can embrace AI without losing the authenticity that attracts - and retains - the right talent.   Key Themes We'll Cover: The New Employer Brand Toolkit – How AI is changing the way organisations create, distribute and measure employer brand content Authenticity Still Wins – Why real employee stories continue to outperform polished corporate messaging in building trust with candidates Scaling Without Sounding Generic – Practical ways to use automation while keeping your employer brand distinctive and human Personalisation at Scale – Where AI can improve candidate engagement, and where human interaction still makes the biggest difference The Candidate Trust Factor – How job seekers evaluate employer claims through reviews, social media and employee-generated content Balancing Speed with Substance – Avoiding the temptation to prioritise content volume over meaningful communication The Role of Recruiters and Employer Brand Teams – How AI is changing workflows, skills and responsibilities rather than replacing them Examples That Get It Right – Organisations successfully combining AI-powered efficiency with genuine employer storytelling What Comes Next – How employer branding is likely to evolve as AI becomes a standard part of every talent acquisition function Whether you're building an employer brand from scratch or adapting an established strategy for the AI era, this session will provide practical insights to help you stay credible, competitive and connected with candidates. Join Recruiting Brainfood as we explore what authentic employer branding looks like when automation becomes the norm.   We're on Friday 7th August, 2pm BST. Follow the channel here (recommended) and register for the show (save my spot) here.   Ep396 is supported by our friends at Joveo   High-Performance Recruitment Marketing Powered by Agentic AI. Integrated Talent Attraction - everything before the ATS. Find out more here
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep399 - The Essential Guide for Increasing Talent Density 31.07.2026 1val 5min

  Essential Guide for Increasing Talent Density   In an era of relentless cost optimisation, organisations face a pivotal choice: maintain headcount breadth or concentrate excellence. Talent density—the concentration of exceptional performers within a team, function, or entire company—has emerged as the decisive competitive advantage for high-performing organisations. This is not merely about hiring stars; it is about architecting environments where elite talent multiplies collective output, accelerates innovation velocity, and repels mediocrity through sheer gravitational pull. As remote work dissolves geographic constraints and AI democratises baseline competence, the organisations that win will be those that deliberately engineer density rather than accumulate volume. This webinar explores how talent acquisition leaders can become the architects of this transformation.   • Defining True Density – Distinguishing talent density from headcount reduction, and why ten exceptional performers routinely outperform thirty average ones   • The Multiplier Effect – How concentrated excellence elevates standards, accelerates peer learning, and creates self-reinforcing cycles of performance   • Hiring for Density, Not Just Fit – Shifting from culture-fit screening to identifying candidates who will raise the ceiling of those around them   • The Cost of Dilution – Quantifying how a single underperformer in a dense team erodes collective output, psychological safety, and retention of top talent   • Compensation Architecture – Why traditional pay bands suffocate density strategies, and how to justify asymmetric investment in exceptional performers   • Density in Distributed Teams – Maintaining and measuring talent concentration when physical proximity no longer enforces organic collaboration   • The Exit Imperative – Why protecting density requires the courage to move on underperformers faster than most organisations currently dare   • Measuring What Matters – Moving beyond individual performance ratings to team-level density metrics that reveal where excellence truly clusters   • TA as Density Curator – Elevating the recruiter's role from vacancy filler to strategic gatekeeper who protects and amplifies organisational capability   Watch this essential discussion to redefine your strategic mandate. Talent density is not a hiring philosophy—it is the operating system of future-ready organisations, and the recruiters who master it will shape which companies thrive or fade.   We're on Friday 31st July at 2pm BST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).   Ep399 is supported by our friends at Lavalier by Textio   Your interviews are where hiring decisions are made, but most aren’t designed to make good ones. Vague requirements, inconsistent questions, slow feedback, and gut-based debriefs all undermine your hiring quality.   Lavalier gives recruiting teams one platform to make your interview process 2x better at predicting candidate job performance.   Lavalier plugs into your ATS and helps you: Run structured intake that aligns your team on the right skills and competencies before the first convo. Auto-generate interview plans and assignments from intake, so everything is connected to role requirements. Guide interviewers in real-time with AI-powered prompts and notes that keep interviews consistent and give candidates a great experience. Get evidence-based hiring signals, so you can go from application to offer faster and with higher confidence. Built by the OG AI for TA team at Textio, Lavalier is free to get started. Recruiting Brainfood readers get 250 bonus credits when you sign up!
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep397 - Calculating Employee Lifetime Value (in Era of AI) 24.07.2026 1val 4min

  CALCULATING EMPLOYEE LIFETIME VALUE   For decades, talent acquisition has been measured by speed and cost—time-to-fill and cost-per-hire dominated the conversation while the true economic impact of every hire remained frustratingly opaque. Yet as workforce strategy matures into a board-level priority, a critical shift is underway: organisations are finally beginning to quantify what an employee is actually worth over their entire tenure. Employee Lifetime Value (ELTV) represents the holy grail of people analytics—a single metric that captures productivity, revenue generation, retention savings, and cultural contribution from day one to departure. This webinar demystifies the calculation, exposes why most organisations get it wrong, and reveals how TA leaders can use ELTV to transform recruitment from a cost centre into a profit-driving strategic function.   Key Themes We Must Address:   • Defining the Metric – Breaking down the ELTV formula beyond simplistic revenue-per-employee to include performance trajectory, promotion velocity, and knowledge transfer value   • The Data Dilemma – Why HRIS fragmentation, inconsistent performance data, and short organisational memory make accurate ELTV calculations notoriously difficult   • Hiring for Longevity vs. Performance – The tension between selecting candidates with maximum immediate output and those who compound value over years of tenure   • The Cost of a Bad Hire, Revisited – How ELTV reframes traditional cost-of-vacancy models by revealing the exponential drag of underperformers who stay too long   • Segmenting by Role and Level – Why a one-size-fits-all ELTV approach fails, and how to build role-specific models for revenue-generators, innovators, and cultural anchors   • TA's Credibility Currency – Using ELTV projections to secure executive buy-in for longer search cycles, premium candidate experiences, and competitive offer strategies   • The Retention Multiplier – How onboarding quality, manager effectiveness, and development investment directly inflate or deflate ELTV before a recruiter's work is even tested   • Predictive ELTV in Sourcing – Emerging signals and assessment methodologies that forecast lifetime value at the point of application, not just post-hire   • From Metric to Movement – Building organisational accountability around ELTV so that talent acquisition, HRBPs, and line managers share ownership of the full employee journey   Watch this essential discussion to elevate your strategic influence. Mastering ELTV separates transactional recruiters from architects of sustainable workforce value—and the window to lead this evolution is narrowing.     We're on Friday 24th July at 2pm BST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).     Ep397 is supported by our friends at Greenhouse   With application volumes at historic highs, AI claims shaping procurement, and candidate fraud entering the funnel in ways most teams can't track, your ATS decision carries more weight than ever. Download this updated guide from Greenhouse for a practical roadmap to cut through vendor noise, understand true total cost of ownership, and choose the platform your hiring function actually needs.   Download now
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep395 - The Death of the Junior Recruiter 17.07.2026 59min

  The Death of the Junior Recruiter: Where Is the Next Generation Coming From?   Since 2022, the talent acquisition landscape has undergone a seismic shift. Once a thriving entry point for ambitious professionals, the function has been systematically truncated as economic pressures mount, headcount budgets shrink, and AI tools increasingly optimise workflows that once demanded human intuition. Companies have all but ceased hiring early-careers recruiters, creating a dangerous vacuum at the foundation of the profession. This webinar confronts an uncomfortable truth: we are witnessing the extinction of the junior recruiter role, and with it, the pipeline that has sustained the industry for decades. Where will tomorrow's talent leaders come from if we stop cultivating them today?   Key Themes We Must Address: • The Great Early Career Hiring Freeze – Why organisations stopped investing in entry-level TA talent after 2022 and what this signals about perceived value   • AI's Double-Edged Sword – How automation optimised efficiency while simultaneously justifying the elimination of junior roles traditionally used for training   • The Experience Trap – The growing expectation for "senior-only" hiring that leaves no room for developing raw potential or diverse perspectives   • Broken Apprenticeship Models – The collapse of structured learning pathways where junior recruiters once absorbed expertise from seasoned professionals   • Skills Atrophy at the Top – What happens when senior recruiters lose the ability to delegate, mentor, or scale their impact without junior support   • The Succession Crisis – Who steps into leadership roles in 5-10 years when an entire generation of developing talent never entered the pipeline   • Redefining Value in TA – Moving beyond cost-per-hire metrics to recognise the long-term strategic damage of eliminating early-careers investment   • Alternative Pathways – Whether adjacent professions (HR tech, marketing, operations) can realistically feed experienced professionals into TA leadership   • Reversing the Trend – Practical frameworks for justifying junior headcount to CFOs who view TA as a cost centre ripe for automation   Watch this essential discussion on the long term future of the function!   We're on Friday 17th July at 2pm BST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).     Ep395 is supported by our friends at Greenhouse   With application volumes at historic highs, AI claims shaping procurement, and candidate fraud entering the funnel in ways most teams can't track, your ATS decision carries more weight than ever. Download this updated guide from Greenhouse for a practical roadmap to cut through vendor noise, understand true total cost of ownership, and choose the platform your hiring function actually needs.   Download now
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep393 - Fixing Hiring Manager and Recruiter Misalignment 11.07.2026 1val 10min

  Fixing Hiring Manager vs Recruiter MIS-Alignment The recruiter-hiring manager relationship is the most consequential partnership in talent acquisition—and yet, according to Metaview's 2026 AI & Hiring Alignment Report surveying 505 recruiting and hiring leaders, it is also the most dangerously misaligned. While an overwhelming 90% of leaders describe their partnerships as "good," a staggering 58% privately admit they actively wish they could bypass their counterpart entirely. This silent fracture is not merely an interpersonal inconvenience; it is a direct driver of candidate loss, speed-to-hire erosion, and competitive disadvantage. As AI reshapes how hiring teams collaborate, the organisations that thrive will be those that confront this disconnect head-on and rebuild alignment as a strategic imperative rather than an assumed courtesy.   • The Alignment Illusion – Why 90% of partnerships self-rate as "good" while 58% of leaders secretly want to work around each other, and what this gap reveals about organisational honesty   • The Speed Tax of Misalignment – How recruiter-manager friction directly costs companies talent, with well-aligned teams 60% less likely to lose candidates to faster-moving competitors   • AI as Collaboration Infrastructure – Why teams that treat AI as core to hiring report excellent working relationships at 3.8x the rate of AI-hesitant organisations, and how shared context replaces tribal knowledge   • The Intake Call Failure – Why initial role alignment remains the highest-leverage moment most teams squander, and how to engineer shared understanding before a single candidate is sourced   • Signal vs. Noise in Feedback – How inconsistent evaluation criteria, delayed scorecard completion, and contradictory feedback destroy candidate experience and recruiter credibility   • The Power Dynamic Problem – Why hiring managers still view recruiters as order-takers rather than strategic partners, and how to reframe the relationship as co-ownership of business outcomes   • Shared Accountability Frameworks – Moving beyond service-level agreements to joint KPIs that bind recruiters and hiring managers to the same speed, quality, and candidate-experience standards   • Calibrating on "Good" – How misaligned definitions of ideal candidate profiles lead to endless iteration, offer rejections, and the demoralising cycle of "send more, I'll know it when I see it"   • The Business Goal Connection – Why 85% of companies exceeding their business goals actively use AI in hiring workflows, and what this reveals about alignment as a competitive differentiator   Watch this essential discussion to diagnose your own alignment gaps before they cost you your next critical hire. The recruiter-manager partnership is either your greatest strategic asset or your silentest competitive liability—and the data says most teams are living in dangerous denial.   We're on Friday 10th July at 2pm BST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).     Ep393 is supported by our friends at Metaview   Metaview is the Agentic Recruiting Platform built for radically efficient hiring, end to end. Source, engage, and hire better with agents that truly get your brief. Metaviews AI Agents finds candidates, reviews inbound applications, automatically captures notes, constantly learns and spots talent opportunities, whilst your recruiters spend time doing work which humans can only do - build relationships with candidates and hiring managers.   Need to uplevpel your hiring function?   Book a demo or start for free here.  
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep392 - The Recfest Recap 2026 08.07.2026 1val 1min

  The Recfest Recap 2026   We’re unpacking the absolute best moments, groundbreaking strategies, and actionable takeaways from RecFest 2026. Whether you were dodging the summer sun at Knebworth Park or couldn't make it across the pond, this exclusive recap session distills the high-impact content from the industry's top thought leaders. Get ready to supercharge your TA strategy, embrace the human advantage in an AI-driven world, and discover exactly what the future of recruitment looks like.   The Human Advantage in an AI World: Grace Lordan (LSE) explores how talent leaders can leverage AI, inclusion, and better decision-making to drive true performance rather than just processing efficiency.   From Recruiter to Talent Architect: A powerhouse panel featuring leaders from Amazon, EY, and Booking.com discusses the evolution of the recruiter role as AI absorbs operational tasks, shifting the focus to high-value, human-centric strategy.   The AI-Adjusted EVP: Joanna Hackett (Howden) reveals how forward-thinking organisations are evolving their Employee Value Propositions to focus on reskilling, internal mobility, and long-term career relevance in the age of automation.   TA as a Strategic Growth Engine: Chris Tennant (Infor) and fellow TA directors from Gilead and Mars share how to fundamentally redesign the talent acquisition function to operate as a core driver of business performance.   Amazon’s Strategic Business Partner Model: Beckie Longworth and the Amazon TA team reveal how they shifted from a transactional, requisition-driven service into a strategic business partner function that acts as a consistent interface for growth.   Talent Intelligence at Scale: Andrew Sinclair and Charles Rue (S&P Global) demonstrate how to build a connected workforce by turning overwhelming talent data into actionable, confident market intelligence.   The Early Careers Talent Crisis: Aisha Lysejko (2040 Leaders) and experts from Shell and Danone warn against cutting early careers investments, explaining how doing so creates a dangerous "missing middle" that cripples future leadership pipelines.   Standardised Hiring Metrics: Adrian Thomas (Walbridge) and Jonathan Berry (House of Commons) break down the UK’s first standardised hiring metrics, exploring what "good" really looks like in talent acquisition benchmarking today.   Global TA Transformation at Sanofi: Lia Manafova (Sanofi) shares the healthcare giant’s journey of taking back ownership of their global recruitment landscape, transitioning away from decentralized models to centralise and streamline their tech stack.   Why should you carve out time in your busy schedule to join 'The Recfest Recap 2026'? Because the recruitment landscape is shifting faster than ever, and relying on yesterday’s playbooks simply won't cut it. This webinar isn't just a summary; it’s your shortcut to the strategies that are actively reshaping the industry—from deploying AI without losing the human touch to transforming TA into a strategic business partner. By signing up, you’ll equip yourself with the tangible, future-proof tactics you need to attract top talent, elevate your employer brand, and lead your team into the next era of hiring. Secure your spot now and stay ahead of the curve!   We're on Wednesday 8th July at 2pm BST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).   Ep392 is supported by our friends at Screenloop   Screenloop is the number one ATS for SMEs: covering interview intelligence, background checks, automations, candidate NPS and Quality of Hire analytics, all-in-one package.   Rated 4.9/5 on G2 our Interview Intelligence transcribes, fills scorecards, coaches hiring teams, so every hiring decision is faster, fairer and evidence-based. Importantly, our AI tools do hallucinate or over promise, it improves human led conversations.
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep391 - Evolution of Talent CRM's 04.07.2026 1val 8min

  THE EVOLUTION OF TALENT CRMS (Building Talent Communities in the Agentic Era)   The recruitment technology stack is undergoing its most profound transformation since the shift from paper CVs to applicant tracking systems. Autonomous AI agents—capable of reasoning, planning, and executing complex workflows without human intervention—are now infiltrating every stage of the talent lifecycle, rendering traditional CRM architectures obsolete. The passive database of yesterday, where candidate records sat dormant until manually activated, is giving way to dynamic, self-orchestrating ecosystems where agents continuously nurture, assess, match, and engage talent at scale. For talent acquisition leaders, the question is no longer whether to adopt agentic technology, but whether their CRM infrastructure can survive the transition—or become a costly legacy anchor dragging strategy backward.     • From Database to Ecosystem – Why legacy CRM architectures, built for human-driven search-and-retrieve, collapse under the demands of autonomous agent orchestration   • Agentic Capabilities Defined – Distinguishing between automation (rule-based) and true agentic AI (goal-directed reasoning) in candidate engagement and pipeline management   • The Always-On Pipeline – How agentic CRMs transform talent pools from static repositories into living networks that self-nurture, self-qualify, and surface opportunities without recruiter intervention   • Hyper-Personalisation at Scale – Whether AI agents can replicate—or exceed—the authenticity of human relationship-building without triggering candidate alienation   • Data Sovereignty and Trust – Navigating the ethical and compliance minefield of agents autonomously interacting with candidates, processing sensitive data, and making consequential decisions   • The Recruiter Redefined – How agentic CRMs shift the human role from execution to exception-handling, strategy, and high-stakes relationship stewardship     • Measuring Agentic ROI – Moving beyond vanity metrics to evaluate whether autonomous systems genuinely improve quality of hire, time-to-productivity, and candidate experience   • Vendor Landscape Reality – Cutting through the marketing noise to identify which CRM platforms are genuinely agentic-ready versus those simply rebranding automation   Watch this essential discussion to future-proof your technology strategy. The agentic era will not wait for hesitant adopters—and the CRM decisions you make today will determine whether your function leads or is rendered redundant by those who moved faster.   We're on Friday 3rd July at 2pm BST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).     Ep391 is supported by our friends at Joveo   High-Performance Recruitment Marketing Powered by Agentic AI. Integrated Talent Attraction - everything before the ATS.   Find out more here
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep389 - HR vs People Ops: Semantic vs Substantive Difference? 27.06.2026 1val 3min

  HR vs People Ops: Semantic or Substantive Difference?   IsIf your organization is still running a traditional Human Resources function - policy police, form processors, compliance checkers - you are bleeding candidates before they even apply. Modern talent acquisition doesn't need more administrators; it needs a People Operations engine built for growth, experience, and competitive advantage.   • From gatekeeping to enabling: how People Ops removes friction instead of creating it • Data over doctrine: using people analytics to drive decisions instead of hiding behind policy manuals • Employee experience as product: designing journeys that market themselves to passive candidates • Strategic workforce planning vs reactive backfilling and headcount approvals • Technology stack ownership: People Ops architects systems • Talent branding from the inside out: turning onboarding and internal mobility into recruiting assets • Velocity in hiring: streamlined processes that respect candidate time and manager urgency • Total rewards intelligence: comp, equity, and benefits strategy that wins offers, not just administers them • Manager enablement: coaching leaders to build teams instead of policing their paperwork • The cost of legacy HR: how bureaucratic drag directly inflates cost-per-hire and time-to-fill   This isn't a rebrand with a fresh business card. It's a fundamental rewiring of how your company attracts, supports, and retains talent. TA leaders cannot win the external market when the internal function is stuck in 1998.   Register now by clicking on the green button (save my spot) and follow the channel here (recommended) to be notified of updates.   Ep389 is supported by our friends Greenhouse   The Hire Standard: 2026 Benchmark Report FREE ACCESS HERE
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep390 - How do AI-enabled Recruiters Spend Their Time 19.06.2026 1val 5min

  How Are AI-enabled Recruiters Spending Their Time?   The recruiter's day used to disappear into Boolean strings, resume scanning, and the futile pursuit of inbox zero. Now that AI has swallowed the repetitive mechanics of talent acquisition, a profound shift is underway. The question is no longer whether artificial intelligence will change recruiting—it is how the best recruiters are redeploying the hours they just won back.   Join us for an inside look at the new recruiter operating system.   • Building strategic hiring manager partnerships instead of transactional req intake calls • Architecting employer brand narratives and designing candidate experiences that convert • Nurturing passive talent communities with personalized, long-term engagement • Advancing diversity strategy through relationship-driven outreach, not checkbox screening • Delivering real-time market intelligence and competitive talent mapping to leadership • Driving internal mobility and succession planning alongside people operations • Owning high-stakes offer negotiation and candidate closing with emotional intelligence • Optimising the recruitment funnel through data analysis and process design • Providing human coaching and connection throughout the interview journey • Governing AI tools and leading change management within talent acquisition teams   AI did not eliminate the recruiter; it elevated the role from talent screener to talent strategist. But that upgrade only happens for teams that know exactly where to focus. If your recruiters are still drowning in administrative drag while competitors build genuine relationships, you are wasting the competitive advantage AI just handed you.   Register now by clicking on the green button (save my spot) and follow the channel here (recommended) for real time updates.
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep387 - GEO vs SEO - What Recruitment Marketeers Need to Know in 2026 12.06.2026 1val 11min

  GEO vs SEO: What Recruitment Marketers Need to Know in 2026   Everyone know's the search landscape has fundamentally shifted.   In 2026, candidates are no longer typing keywords into Google - they are asking AI assistants where to work, who pays fairly, and which cultures actually thrive. If your recruitment marketing strategy still revolves around traditional SEO alone, you are optimising for a shrinking platform while missing the one that is exploding.   Join us for a critical livestream exploring the new battleground between Generative Engine Optimisation and classic Search Engine Optimisation.   • Why keyword density is dying while entity recognition and semantic context dominate AI search   • How AI engines summarize your employer brand without ever sending traffic to your career site   • The structured data revolution: schema markup that helps LLMs cite your jobs and culture pages   • From backlinks to citations: how GEO rewards authoritative mentions differently than SEO   • The zero-click crisis: when candidates get salary and culture answers without visiting your ATS   • Voice and conversational search: optimising for "best places to work near me" spoken to assistants   • Content architecture: why job descriptions must be parsed by machines before they impress humans   • The trust equation: how AI models rank employers based on aggregated web sentiment and reviews   • Measurement mismatch: why ranking #1 in Google matters less when ChatGPT answers the query first   • Budget reallocation frameworks: splitting your 2026 spend between discoverability and generative authority   The recruiters who win 2026 will not be those with the most backlinks - they will be the ones AI systems confidently recommend to curious candidates. Do not let your employer brand become invisible in the generative search revolution. We're on Friday 12th June, 2pm BST.   Register by clicking on the green button (save my seat) and follow the channel here (recommended) and bring your team the strategic blueprint that keeps your talent pipeline full as candidate behaviour evolves.   Ep387 is supported by our friends Joveo   High-Performance Recruitment Marketing Powered by Agentic AI. Integrated Talent Attraction - everything before the ATS.   Find out more here
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep386 - What if AI Actually Costs More Than Humans? 05.06.2026 1val 7min

  What if AI Actually Costs More Than Humans?   The headcount reduction mandate has landed on your desk: replace talent with AI and cut costs. But beneath the vendor demos and boardroom promises lies a dangerous assumption - that artificial intelligence is automatically cheaper than human expertise.   What if the token economics tell a different story?   Join us for a provocative livestream that flips the AI narrative and protects your workforce strategy.   • The hidden maths of token consumption -and why projected savings evaporate at scale   • Why cost-per-inference is rarely modelled against fully-loaded employee costs in vendor ROI   • Talent attrition: when top performers leave because they see AI replacement unfolding   • Quality degradation and the invisible cost of human-in-the-loop error correction   • Vendor lock-in: how API pricing volatility turns fixed labor into unpredictable OpEx   • The productivity paradox: why AI-augmented teams outperform pure replacement strategies   • Compliance blind spots: liability, bias audits, and regulatory costs headcount never triggered   • Retraining debt: the unbudgeted expense of prompt engineering and system maintenance   • The competitive cost of hollow teams when institutional knowledge walks out the door   • Frameworks to model true total cost of AI ownership before approving any reduction-in-force   This is not an anti-AI argument - it is a financial reality check for leaders pressured to cut first and calculate later. Before you trade headcount for tokens, understand the true cost of replacing humans with models.   We're on Friday 5th June, 2pm BST. Register now and bring your C-suite the data they need!       Ep386 is supported by our friends Ashby   The all-in-one recruiting platform that evolves at the speed of AI. ✨Empowering ambitious teams from Startups to Enterprises.   Ashby can handle the whole pipe - ATS, CRM & Sourcing, Scheduling, and Analytics - while incorporating the latest AI advancements every step of the way.   Learn how Ashby helps companies at every size up level their hiring - contact one of team here today
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep384 - The Hire Standard 2026 Benchmark Report 29.05.2026 1val 3min

  The hiring environment has fundamentally reset—and most talent acquisition teams are still using benchmarks built for a world that no longer exists. Between 2022 and 2025, everything changed: application volumes surged 385%, recruiter teams were cut by 57%, and AI simultaneously flooded pipelines with noise while offering new efficiencies. Yet against this backdrop, Greenhouse data from 17M+ applications across 800+ European organizations reveals a surprising truth—recruiters are actually performing better, not worse. Monthly hires per recruiter have jumped 113%. Jobs closed with a hire are up 13%. The teams thriving aren't those with bigger budgets or larger headcount. They're the ones who redefined what "good" looks like in this new reality. This webinar distills the definitive 2026 benchmarks from The Hire Standard report—the metrics that actually matter when volume is permanent, teams are lean, and AI is rewriting the rules.   • The Volume Reality Check • The Productivity Paradox • Interview Intensity as Quality Control • Days-to-Fill Reinterpreted • Stage Progression Intelligence • Sourcing ROI Reality • The Recruiter-Sourced Advantage • AI at the Top of Funnel • Structured Process Under Pressure • The Employer Brand Imperative   The teams still measuring against 2022 baselines are making disastrous decisions—cutting resources that are actually delivering, or maintaining processes that collapsed under new volume. The Hire Standard data reveals what "good" actually looks like when pipelines are flooded, teams are lean, and AI is both problem and solution.   Includes exclusive access to The Hire Standard 2026 Benchmark Toolkit with calibrated metrics by organization size and industry. Live Q&A with data analysis leads. Recording and materials restricted to registrants.   We're on Friday 29th May at 2pm BST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).   Ep384 is supported by our friends at Greenhouse   What do high-performing TA teams look like in 2026? Greenhouse analyzed data from over 6,000 companies and over 640M applications over the last 3 years to understand how recruiters are really doing and how hiring teams can keep up with industry standards. Check out their new benchmarking report, The Hire Standard.
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep388 - Introducing Next Generation AI Recruitment Agents - Juicebox Live Demo 26.05.2026 57min

  INTRODUCING NEXT GENERATION AI RECRUITING AGENTS   Juicebox have been one of the most impressive businesses in the AI recruiting space. Now with 6,000 customers, they are ready to announce a step change in how Juicebox works for recruiters to keep a competitive edge.   Juicebox agents now   REMEMBER AND SELF CORRECT. When a search isn't surfacing the right people, Agents reflect on their reasoning and proactively edit their own criteria instead of waiting for you to bring it up.   THEY ASK QUESTIONS When requirements conflict or something doesn't make sense, the Agent clarifies. For example: "Would you prefer candidates with PLG or demo-led growth experience or both, but with a smaller candidate pool?"   THEY ADAPT TO CHANGING REQS Recalibrate by directly chatting to your Agent. For example, you can say: "Add GEO/SEO to the search" and the Agent adjusts and remembers context from your previous conversations.   LASTLY, THEY HANDLE OUTREACH Agent writes multi-step sequences in your team's voice, with company selling points and per-candidate personalization, at scale. CEO David Paffenholz with live demo - register here (click on the green button 'save my space') and follow the channel here for updates.
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep383 - How to Hire for AI Fluency - The Zapier Framework 23.05.2026 1val 1min

  Everyone claims they're "good with AI" on their CV. Almost no one can prove it. As AI tools proliferate across every function, talent leaders face a critical gap: we need people who don't just use AI, but wield it strategically—and we have no reliable way to identify them. Enter Zapier. The automation platform that helped democratise no-code workflows has developing and refining a practical framework for assessing AI fluency in hiring. Everyone's been talking about it. But now we've got Soeren Winter to unpack it and tell us what it means for Talent Acquisition teams.   • Redefining "AI Fluency" for Hiring • The Portfolio Approach to Assessment Distinguishing candidates who've memorized one interface from those who understand underlying AI principles and can adapt across platforms, models, and use cases • Critical Evaluation as Core Competency • Integration & Workflow Design • The Ethics & Safety Screen • Cross-Functional Translation • Learning Velocity Indicators • Practical Assessment Design • Building Internal AI Fluency Benchmarks   AI fluency is now a baseline expectation, not a differentiator—but most hiring processes haven't caught up. Organizations still screening for "AI experience" on LinkedIn are filling roles with candidates who can't deliver. Meanwhile, teams using rigorous, practical assessment frameworks are building workforces that genuinely multiply productivity. The cost of getting this wrong isn't just a bad hire; it's the opportunity cost of teams waiting months for someone to actually become useful.   We're on Friday 22nd May at 2pm BST. Register by clicking on the green button (save your spot) and follow the channel here (recommended).   Ep383 is supported by our friends at Greenhouse   AI is reshaping hiring across the UK, Ireland and Germany. But is trust keeping up?   Greenhouse surveyed over 2,200 jobseekers, recruiters and hiring managers to uncover where AI is building confidence in hiring, where it's eroding it, and what the most trusted employers are doing differently.   Download the full report
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep381 - How to Hire in Hong Kong (SAR) in 2026 14.05.2026 54min

  Hong Kong's talent market has been stress-tested like no other—and emerged with a new identity.   The old playbook - expat packages, regional hub prestige, English-only operations - now guarantees mediocrity. Yet for those who understand the new dynamics, Hong Kong offers something rare: a gateway to mainland opportunity with international legal frameworks, a financial center pivoting hard into tech and green finance, and a talent pool that spans Greater China and Southeast Asia. It's more complex, more competitive, and more rewarding for employers who adapt. This webinar delivers the intelligence you need to hire effectively in Asia's most transformed talent market.   10 Critical Shifts Reshaping Hiring in Hong Kong   • The Talent Diaspora & Return Dynamics – Who left, who stayed, who's returning, and why the "new Hong Kong" professional has different loyalty drivers, risk appetites, and career expectations than pre-2020 cohorts   • Mainland Integration Realities – How increasing economic and professional interchange with Shenzhen and Guangdong is reshaping language requirements, compensation benchmarks, and career mobility patterns   • Financial Services Reinvention – Beyond traditional banking: capturing talent in fintech, virtual assets, green finance, and family office services where Hong Kong is aggressively positioning against Singapore   • The Trilingual Imperative – Why "English + Mandarin + Cantonese" capability is now table stakes for client-facing and leadership roles, and how to assess proficiency beyond self-reported fluency   • Visa & Mobility Restructuring – Navigating the Top Talent Pass Scheme, General Employment Policy shifts, and the new competitive landscape for global talent attraction against Singapore and Dubai   • Compensation Compression & Expectation Shifts – Addressing the end of expat premium packages, localized salary structures, and the rising importance of housing allowances, schooling support, and tax optimization in total rewards   • Startup Ecosystem Maturation – Tapping into Hong Kong's evolving tech scene—where government investment, university commercialization, and mainland venture capital are creating new talent competition outside traditional sectors   • Work Culture Hybridization – Balancing international professional norms with evolving local expectations around hierarchy, work-life boundaries, and organizational loyalty in a post-transition environment   • Regulatory & Compliance Complexity – Hiring within Hong Kong's distinct legal framework while managing cross-border data, employment law changes, and increasing mainland regulatory influence on business operations   • Employer Branding in a Polarized Environment – Crafting authentic value propositions that resonate across diverse political and cultural perspectives without alienating key talent segments   We're on Thursday 14th May, 10am BST. Register by clicking on the green button to save your spot. And follow the channel here (recommended) to be notified whenever we go live.
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep379 - AI Recommendations vs Human Judgement (Part Two) 08.05.2026 1val 2min

  AI RECOMMENDATION VS HUMAN JUDGEMENT - PT2. Can we detect, assess, train for and hire for 'human judgement'?   Following our amazing conversation a month ago, we're back with Pt2 of our conversation on AI Recommendation vs Human Judgement. This time, we're going to examine whether it is possible to hire for human judgement, whether this should be a quality we actively look for and cultivate in existing employees?   • Defining the Undefinable – Breaking down "judgment" into observable, assessable components - pattern recognition, ethical reasoning, contextual awareness, and decisive action under uncertainty - that separate humans from sophisticated autocomplete   • The Automation Paradox – How over-reliance on AI recommendations actually atrophies human judgment skills in your workforce, creating dangerous dependency loops where no one questions the machine   • Detecting Algorithmic Deference – Identifying the warning signs in candidate behavior and employee decision-making that reveal someone who executes recommendations versus someone who evaluates them   • Assessment Science for Judgment – Moving beyond situational judgment tests to immersive, real-time simulations that reveal how candidates actually react when AI advice conflicts with observable reality   • Training Judgment in an AI-Saturated World – Practical frameworks for developing judgment capabilities in employees who've never made decisions without a digital safety net—and why this is now a retention imperative   • The Hiring Manager's Dilemma – When your own recruitment process is AI-driven, how do you spot candidates with superior human judgment? Breaking the recursive trap of algorithms hiring for algorithmic compliance   • Ethical Override Readiness – Case studies of catastrophic AI failures in hiring, finance, and healthcare—and the specific judgment capabilities that could have prevented them   • Cognitive Diversity vs. AI Consensus – Why homogenized "best practice" recommendations produce blind spots, and how to build teams whose judgment complements rather than mirrors algorithmic output   • The Speed vs. Deliberation Spectrum – Redesigning workflows and roles to protect space for human judgment without sacrificing the efficiency gains AI legitimately delivers   • Future-Proofing Leadership Pipelines – Why succession planning must now explicitly screen for judgment autonomy—and how to identify high-potentials who won't become mere executors of AI strategy     We're on Friday May 8th, 2pm BST. Save your seat (click on the green button) to register and follow the channel here (recommended) to be notified whenever we go live with a new show.   Ep379 is sponsored by Greenhouse   What do high-performing TA teams look like in 2026? Greenhouse analyzed data from over 6,000 companies and over 640M applications over the last 3 years to understand how recruiters are really doing and how hiring teams can keep up with industry standards.   Check out their new benchmarking report, The Hire Standard.
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  Brainfood Live On Air - Ep378 - How to Hire in China in 2026 08.05.2026 1val 3min

  HOW TO HIRE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN 2026   The post-pandemic recovery, shifting regulatory landscape, and explosive growth of domestic tech giants and surprising resilience of export economy in face of Trump Tariff War, have completely rewired how Chinese professionals evaluate opportunities.   What attracted top talent five years ago - multinational brand prestige, expat packages, hierarchical titles—now falls flat against the priorities of a new generation.   Meanwhile, local competitors are mastering AI-driven recruitment, offering unprecedented flexibility, and tapping into talent pools Western companies barely know exist. This webinar cuts through the noise to reveal what's actually working in China right now. If you're serious about building teams in the world's most complex talent market, this is your competitive intelligence briefing.   10 Critical Shifts Reshaping Hiring in China   • The Rise of "Quiet Loyalty" vs. "Lying Flat" • Domestic Giant Competition – How BYD, ByteDance, CATL, and Huawei are rewriting compensation, perks, and career development benchmarks—setting expectations that foreign employers now struggle to match • AI-Native Recruitment Platforms – Why LinkedIn's China exit created a fragmented ecosystem of super-apps (WeChat, Maimai, Boss Zhipin, Xiaohongshu) and how AI-powered matching algorithms on these platforms now determine candidate visibility • The Regulatory Tightrope – Navigating 2026's evolving data privacy laws, cross-border data transfer restrictions, and employment contract requirements that can derail hires before day one • Localiaation Beyond Translation – Why "glocal" strategies fail in China and how winning employers build autonomous, culturally-embedded talent teams rather than exporting Western HR playbooks • The Returnee Talent Wave – Tapping into the growing pool of overseas-educated Chinese professionals returning home - what they expect, what they're leaving behind, and why they choose local over multinational • Flexible Work Realities – Confronting the gap between China's 996 legacy and younger workers' demands for work-life balance, remote options, and mental health support—without sacrificing productivity expectations • Skills-First Hiring in Practice – Moving beyond degree pedigree and brand-name resumes to competency-based assessments, as China's education inflation makes traditional credentials increasingly unreliable signals • Employer Branding on Chinese Social – Mastering Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), Douyin, and Zhihu for talent attraction—platforms where candidates research your reputation through employee-generated content, not corporate career pages • Succession-Proofing Your China Leadership – Addressing the critical shortage of ready-now local leaders and why 2026's winners are accelerating executive development programs rather than importing expat talent     All this and more as we tackle what it's like to hire on of the main drivers of the global economy.   We're on Tuesday May 5th, 10am BST / 5pm CST. Save your seat (click on the green button) to register and follow the channel here (recommended) to be notified whenever we go live with a new show.   Live session includes extended Q&A on your specific China hiring challenges. Recording available exclusively to registrants.