Hiring Excellence with Johnny Campbell

Hypergrowth sounds exciting. In reality, it’s messy, political, and deeply human. This week, Johnny sits down with Leif Wennerstrom, VP of TA at Island, to unpack what international hyper-scaling really demands of talent leaders. From launching new countries with no playbook to navigating post-IPO shifts, Leif shares five hard-earned lessons on outcomes, EVP evolution, AI risk, and why “MacGyver-i...

In this episode, Johnny sits down with Otto Vazquez , Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Sartorius, to explore what it really means to take a scientific approach to hiring in 2026. From unifying global TA teams without forcing “HQ best practice,” to reducing agency spend from €3M to €333K, Otto shares how data, structure, and smart automation helped scale hiring capacity without increasing budge...

We talk a lot about the “hiring promise” but how often do we actually deliver on it? In this episode of the Hiring Excellence podcast, Johnny sits down with Jackie Lowery, former VP of Talent Management at Southwire, to explore how better onboarding drives retention, engagement, and performance. From fixing broken day-one basics to building executive-sponsored cohorts, Jackie shares practical step...

Hiring hasn’t got easier, it’s just got noisier. In this episode of the Hiring Excellence podcast, Johnny is joined by Robert Whitehouse, Chief People Officer at MiQ, to talk about what’s really breaking hiring today and why the fix isn’t another shiny tool. They explore: • Why in-person connection still matters in a digital-first world • What “good interviewing” actually looks like (and why most...

What does “TA transformation” look like when the business is scaling, integrating, and changing leadership… fast? Johnny is joined by Laura Le Masurier, a TA leader who moved from agency exec search into building and reshaping in-house TA in the satellite/space sector. They unpack how she mapped stakeholders, reduced admin drag, standardized hiring, and cut time-to-hire from 175 days to 54—without...

TA tech transformation isn’t just “pick a new ATS.” In this episode, Johnny sits down with Seth Wear, VP of Talent Acquisition at Wabtec, to unpack a real-world move off Workday Recruiting and into a new ecosystem with SmartRecruiters. They cover the why (speed, automation, recruiter experience), the how (value-stream mapping, standardizing interviews), and the funding (self-funding by cutting “iP...

Skills-first is everywhere but is anyone actually doing it? Johnny digs into new research arguing the gap between “skills-first” talk and real adoption is huge. Wesley Connor (Mastercard) and Maria Trivellato (Criteo) share what skills-first looks like beyond hiring: talent marketplaces, internal mobility, role clarity, learning tied to business needs, and the change management required to get hir...

How do you build people strategy across 60+ countries without forcing a one-size-fits-all model? Johnny is joined by Janaina Tavares, Global Head of People & Culture at ActionAid, to unpack a bottom-up approach to policy, culture, and wellbeing. They discuss power shifting from Global North to Global South, designing global standards that respect local labour laws, and delivering leadership de...

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 empa...

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” ra...

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...

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 st...

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 view...

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 earl...

This week, Johnny sits down with Tugba Åkesson, VP and Global Head of Talent Acquisition at IKEA (Ingka 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...

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...

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...

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. p...

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...

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 futur...

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 retentio...

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 t...

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 bringin...

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 unmissab...