The Recruiting Brainfood Podcast

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 framew...

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 te...

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 exi...

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, hi...

JOB ADVERTISING ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2026   Front line work - in healthcare, retail, hospitality & logistics, construction, warehousing and the rest remain the most in-demand jobs in almost every economy. And the only way people know how to hire them is through advertising on Facebook!   Whilst old school techniques might still work, the manual effort is exhausting, cost inefficient and increasi...

We're Going To Do An OpenClaw Install (Live Demo)   Meet OpenClaw - the open-source AI that's been the sensation of the year so far. Imagine an actual 24/7 AI Agents that does the work for your automatically. Can it work for real world recruiting?   We're not just talking about it - we're showing you.   In this live demo session, watch us tackle:   • How fast can you spin up a custom application w...

Your recruiters are drowning. 474 applications per role. 385% volume increase since 2022. And your screening process still relies on humans reading resumes one by one. The maths doesn't work anymore - yet quality can't slip. Metaview has built something different: an Applicant Screener that doesn't just automate rejection emails, but actually understands candidate fit at scale.   In this session,...

How to Hire in Japan in 2026   Japan's talent landscape is shifting fast—and foreign employers are scrambling to catch up. With accelerating demographic decline, evolving work culture norms, and new government visa reforms, 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for recruitment in the world's third-largest economy. The old playbook - post on Daijob, hire a bilingual coordinator, hope for the best...

Automation is Eating Recruitment! 10 Tips for What Talent Acquisition & HR Should Be Doing NOW   The robots aren't coming - they're already here. AI sourcing, automated screening, chatbot scheduling, and predictive analytics are devouring the recruitment tasks we used to own.   So what should recruiters be doing now?   This isn't a eulogy for recruiting. It's a battle plan for the talent profe...

How to Hire in Korea in 2026   Korea's talent market is at an inflection point. With the world's lowest birth rate, a fiercely competitive corporate culture, and a government aggressively courting foreign investment, 2026 presents both unprecedented hiring challenges and massive opportunities. The Seoul-centric, degree-obsessed, seniority-driven playbook is crumbling. A new generation of talent is...

Candidates prefer AI Interviews? Candidate Experience for Different Demographic Cohorts   AI interviewing isn't the future - it's the now.   From one-way video screens to conversational chatbots, candidates are increasingly meeting algorithms before they meet humans. But here's what nobody's asking: does a Gen Z grad feel the same way about a bot interviewer as a mid-career professional?   Does a...

Ep371 is sponsored by our friends Pin .   Join Pin and our recruiting industry experts for a live conversation on “How AI is Reshaping Sourcing in 2026.” We’ll explore how leading teams are moving beyond experimentation and turning AI into a true competitive advantage.   In this session, we’ll cover:   - How AI is changing the role of the sourcer - What automation should (and shouldn’t) replace -...

AI Sourcing Agents in the Enterprise: Live demo!   Following on from Archer's phenomenal success, it's time to catch up with CEO Mark Chaffey on what happens when a feature becomes a product, and that product turns into the main thing. Archer is the AI sourcing agent which has not only enabled hackajob to expand beyond the talent market place model but also expand scope beyond tech domain also.  ...

OPTIMISING YOUR RECRUITER WORKFLOW WITH AI - EXAMPLES!   AI is transforming recruitment at lightning speed. Recruiters who embrace it are filling roles faster, delivering better candidate experiences, and outperforming competitors stuck in manual processes. Yet many professionals hesitate - not because they doubt AI's potential, but because they lack concrete, real-world examples of how to impleme...

LINKEDIN CONTENT INTELLIGENCE REPORT Q1 2026   The LinkedIn newsfeed has completely changed how professional content gets seen and shared — and old posting playbooks are now obsolete. In “LinkedIn Content Intelligence Report Q1 2026”, we’ll break down how LinkedIn’s evolving algorithm prioritises relevance, meaning, and audience interest — not just likes and vanity metrics — and what this means fo...

HUMAN JUDGEMENT VS AI RECOMMENDATION: WHAT 'HUMAN-IN-THE-LOOP' ACTUALLY MEAN?   AI is now embedded across sourcing, screening, matching, and interview scheduling. Yet one phrase keeps appearing in every vendor pitch and compliance policy: human-in-the-loop. But what does that actually mean in practice? In this livestream, “Human Judgement vs AI Recommendation – What does it really mean to say ‘hum...

THE STATE OF THE TALENT ACQUISITION & HR JOB MARKET Q 2026   The talent acquisition and HR profession is facing its own reckoning. After years of contraction, cautious hiring, automation investment, and cost discipline, the very functions built to fuel growth are now navigating scarcity themselves. In this livestream, The State of the Talent Acquisition & HR Job Market Q1 2026, we’ll unpac...

THE RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING BENCHMARK REPORT 2026   The labor market story of 2026 cannot be told through a single headline. Behind the macro narrative of cooling growth lies a structural split that is reshaping how recruiting actually works. In this livestream, we’ll break down Joveo’s Recruiting Benchmarks Report 2026 and discuss 9x surge in applicant volume for some roles to the persistent drou...

HOW TO HIRE IN SOUTH AFRICA IN 2026   Friends, I am back in South Africa, in one of my favourite cities for one of my favourite conferences, Recruiters Unite!   As has become tradition, we're going to do a Brainfood Live on the day the event, to speak to local South African recruiters and discuss the main challenges in hiring in South Africa in 2026. We hope to share knowledge between local recrui...

THE AI IN HIRING REPORT 2026   AI now shapes how candidates are discovered, evaluated, progressed, and hired. What began as productivity tooling has become a decision-making layer across the hiring funnel, influencing speed, fairness, quality, and outcomes at scale. As adoption accelerates, the focus has shifted from novelty to impact: what AI is actually doing inside hiring workflows, where it ad...

FROM TALENT ACQUISITION TO TALENT OPERATIONS is a forward-looking show for TA leaders who can feel the function changing - but need clarity on what it is becoming.     We’ll examine the rise of talent operations as a distinct capability, driven by automation across scheduling, screening, compliance, and workflow management. As logistics are increasingly handled by platforms and AI, the skills that...

REDUCTION IN FORCE: HOW TO LEAD DURING CRISIS!   This show focuses on the practical reality of TA downsizing, told by leaders who have already been through it. Not theory. Not platitudes. Real decisions, real mistakes, and hard-won lessons. We explore how leaders decide when reductions are unavoidable, who to let go, and how to do it in a way that is fair, defensible, and humane—while still protec...

THE STATE OF TALENT INTELLIGENCE 2026   As we barrel through the year 2026, labour markets are being redefined by emerging technologies, shifting skills demand, and data-driven workforce strategies. Organisations worldwide are adopting sophisticated talent intelligence tools to forecast skills gaps, optimise hiring, and build resilient workforces — but staying ahead requires deeper insight and exp...

WHAT RESPONSIBLE AI MEANS FOR RECRUITERS?   What is Responsible AI for Talent Acquisition Teams? is a practical, straight-talking podcast for recruiters who are already using AI—and now need to make sure they’re using it properly.   AI is no longer a future experiment in hiring. It’s embedded in sourcing, screening, assessment, and workforce planning. The real question facing TA leaders today is n...

6 x AI USAGE FRAMEWORKS FOR TALENT ACQUISITION   Closing the gap between proclaimed capability of AI vs the practical impact of AI is set to become one of the main stories of 2026, as function leaders in every department scramble to deliver against the expectations of an increasingly impatient C-level.   Are there any frameworks or maturity models which can help?   Brainfooder Soeren Winter has id...