It’s a Holiday Special! Johnny is joined by long-suffering business partner Vince for a joyful roundup of the strangest jobs people had before recruiting, from goose wrangler to state-sanctioned beer-drinker. Vince also reveals too much about his B-movie days in Connemara. Grab a mince pie and enjoy!
Are we building hiring tech that helps or harms people? In this episode, Tara Turk-Haynes (Equity Activations) and Jason Pistulka ( StratTech Consulting) join Johnny to explore human-first and equitable AI design. They share real stories of bias, misapplied automation, and inclusive innovation, plus how “assistive intelligence” and process auditing can make hiring more ethical, efficient, and empathetic.
How do you run people tech and analytics at Marriott, a 420k-employee giant operating in ~140 countries with 40 brands?
Tyler Weeks, Managing VP of People Technology, Research & Analytics, shares what really moves the needle: measure time to respond (not just time to fill), use the 80% rule instead of averages, design automation that matches your brand’s tone, and borrow plus/minus “impact” ratings from sports to credit sourcers & coordinators. Smart, usable TA analytics, minus the fluff.
What does a three-person TA Ops team do for a global hiring engine? A lot.
In this episode, Molly Sly, Head of Global TA Enablement at Sage, breaks down how her “small but mighty” team supports ~35 recruiters across 6+ countries—standardizing process, training hiring managers, leveling up tooling, and proving ROI. Hear how Sage lifted average hires per recruiter from 54 to ~71 (with a sustainable target ~61–62), without just “buying more tech.”
What does AI-assisted interviewing look like inside a global enterprise? In this episode, Ilka Sagner-David, Head of Talent Discovery Solutions & Innovations at SAP, shares how her team is exploring interview intelligence to improve feedback quality, speed up hiring decisions, and enhance candidate experience while balancing legal, ethical, and privacy demands. Hear how SAP is setting new standards for transparent, human-centered AI in hiring.
What happens when AI removes the drudgery from recruiting? Live from Talent Connect, LinkedIn’s Hari Srinivasan breaks down Hiring Assistant, from natural-language job search to evidence-based sourcing, explainable matching, and smarter screening that boosts response rates. We dive into trust and security, Teams and ATS integrations, skills-first hiring, and early wins like 70% fewer profiles viewed and 70% higher InMail accept rates. Plus: how leaders can start adopting AI well.
How do you deploy interview intelligence at global scale without hurting candidate experience or adding bias? In this episode, Thoughtworks Global Head of TA Marcus Thorpe shares how his team rolled out recording, transcription, and AI-powered summarization across 19 countries. We dig into the business case (30k hours saved), legal/opt-in concerns, change management, interviewer coaching, and early ROI, plus what he’d do differently next time.
This week, Johnny sits down with Tugba Åkesson, VP and Global Head of Talent Acquisition at IKEA (Inka Group), to explore how the world’s most iconic home brand builds its people culture through values-based recruitment. Tuba shares how IKEA blends technology with the human touch, why recruiters are seen as guardians of culture, and how their unique onboarding experiences bring values to life in the most authentic way.
In this episode, Johnny sits down with Chris Bleakley of Spire Healthcare and Emma Neary of Priory to explore the complex realities of recruiting in the UK healthcare sector. From staffing shortages and immigration trends to employer branding and RPO partnerships, they share lessons in balancing patient care with workforce stability. A must-listen for anyone facing high-volume, high-impact hiring challenges.
In this episode, Johnny talks with Luciano Pollastri, Global Talent Director at Amadeus, about how AI can amplify, not replace, human potential. Luciano shares his personal journey from skeptic to innovator, how he’s built thousands of AI agents to boost learning and creativity, and why he believes we all need to become “managers of artificial resources.” A passionate, deeply human conversation on AI, skills, and the future of work.
In this episode, Johnny hosts a candid roundtable with CareerXroads' Chris Hoyt & Gerry Crispin and AdventHealth’s Cathy Henesey. They unpack new research on how enterprises are actually using AI in talent acquisition, what’s working (assistive interviewing, better notes), what’s not (legal risk, Franken-stacks), and where the ROI really is (overtime, agency spend, attrition). Hourly vs. professional hiring, auditability, and “augment don’t replace” recruiting - all in one fast-moving episode.
Citizens Bank’s Head of Talent Acquisition Strategy & Services, Kristin McMillen joins the Hiring Excellence podcast to unpack a company-wide shift to skills-first hiring. We dig into their “hiring blueprint,” the move from IQ/EQ to LQ (learning quotient), and evolving recruiters into talent advisors. Hear how they handle 25k interviews to make 5k hires, keep candidate NPS in the high 70s, and use AI plus process design to drive consistency, speed, and better business outcomes.
In this episode of Hiring Excellence, Johnny Campbell speaks with Kerstin Wagner, EVP of Talent Acquisition at Deutsche Bahn. Kerstin shares how her team is navigating transformation in a complex labor market, balancing innovation, AI adoption, and human connection. From micro-innovations in recruitment to building a culture of bottom-up creativity, Kerstin reveals the strategies shaping the future of hiring at scale.
What happens when you need to make 100,000+ hires a year? Rachel Allen, VP of Talent at 7-Eleven, joins SocialTalent Live (rebroadcast here) to share how the company tackled massive hiring challenges after acquiring Speedway. From slow, manual processes to candidate ghosting, Rachel reveals how chat-based automation helped 7-Eleven cut hiring time from 10+ days to under 3, while improving retention and candidate experience.
How do we balance automation with human judgment in hiring? Paul Hamilton, Director of National Talent Strategy and Operations at KPMG Canada, joins Johnny Campbell to explore why human intelligence must remain at the heart of talent acquisition, even as AI reshapes the process. From recruiter skills of the future to the risks of over-automation, Paul offers a practical and inspiring look at how to keep hiring human-first in 2025.
What does it take to lead AI adoption in talent acquisition? Barb Hyman, CEO of Sapia.ai, joins Johnny Campbell to share how her team built the world’s first AI chat interview and why strong leadership is the difference between pilots that fail and transformations that scale. From breaking the “assessment box” to navigating compliance and trust, Barb offers a candid, practical playbook for bringing AI into hiring.
What does one of the world’s most celebrated executive coaches think about AI? Dr. Marshall Goldsmith joins Johnny Campbell to share how leaders can adapt, thrive, and lead ethically in an era of rapid technological change. From his AI-powered legacy bot to lessons from coaching 200+ CEOs, Marshall blends timeless leadership wisdom with bold ideas for the future. Practical, inspiring, and unmissable.
In a world obsessed with AI automation, is real connection a lost art? Russell Weaver, SVP of TA at Paramount, joins Johnny Campbell to make the case for relationship recruiting. With 30+ years in talent, Russell shares stories of lasting candidate bonds, why trust still closes the best hires, and how tech should enable, not replace, human connection. This one’s a masterclass in TA with heart.
In a world where AI handles the workflows, what’s left for recruiters? Business acumen. Brian Ivay, of Ciena, joins Johnny Campbell to make the case that curiosity and commercial understanding are what make talent advisors indispensable. From submarine networks to semiconductors, Brian shares how his team drives hiring impact by deeply understanding the business. A must-listen for TA leaders building the future.
What happens when your recruiter is an AI agent? Pavan Kumar, Global Head of TA at Eightfold, reveals how his team is using agentic AI to interview over 600 candidates, and it's only the beginning. From AI-powered interviews to human-in-the-loop decision-making, this episode offers real-world insight into the future of hiring. If you thought AI couldn’t do interviews, think again.