RecFest Interviews Nashville 2025

This episode is sponsored in part by Dalia— Is your career site delivering the conversion you need? Dalia’s plug-and-play tech turns any employer career site into a high-performance candidate conversion engine — no replatforming required, live in days.Visit dalia.co to learn more. AND by jobcase, Jobcase is an online community where workers of all kinds – like hourly employees, tradespeople and healthcare technicians – access jobs, make connections, and support each other in any aspect of their work life.Visit jobcase.com/hire and tap into their 120 million strong  job seeker network Alright rec techies…..here’s what's happening this week. We have a ton of funding announcements to share. First up… SHRM Labs, the innovation hub of SHRM, the trusted authority on all things work, workers, and the workplace, has announced that the application window for the 2026 WorkplaceTech Accelerator (WTA) program will officially close on November 1, 2025. The fifth annual program is currently accepting applications from high-growth technology startups addressing today’s most pressing workplace challenges. Startups interested in accelerating growth and elevating their brand with the backing of the world’s largest HR organization are encouraged to apply in the final weeks of the application window. https://hrtechfeed.com/last-call-for-hr-tech-founders-to-fast-track-growth-through-shrm-labs-2026-workplacetech-accelerator/ SEATTLE—-Casium, an AI-powered immigration and mobility solution for enterprises that combines licensed legal expertise with cutting-edge technology, today announced a $5 million seed funding round led by Maverick Ventures.  https://hrtechfeed.com/casium-raises-5m-to-help-employers-hire-global-talent-faster/ SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 21, 2025 — Findem, the talent acquisition and management solution powered by 3D data, announced $51 million in new funding. The raise brings Findem’s total funding to $105 million. https://hrtechfeed.com/findem-raises-51-million/ Sinecure, Inc., a technology-powered talent advisory, announced its acquisition of The Second Shift, a platform connecting highly skilled women with on-demand and project-based opportunities. https://hrtechfeed.com/10-year-old-on-demand-marketplace-for-women-acquired/ Jack & Jill, a new job search technology platform is betting that the rise of AI chatbots to find work. The job search technology platform  recently announced securing $20 million in seed funding, led by EU investor Creandum, to bring its revolutionary approach to recruitment. While the company is using this cash infusion to fuel a U.S. expansion, the service is alread https://www.jobboardhive.com/2025/10/20/jack-jill-lands-20m-to-reinvent-job-searching-with-ai/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Todays episode is sponsored by Cliquify, my travel sponsor for this event. In this episode you will hear from a variety of TA and Employer Brand execs tell you whats in store for 2026, how AI is affecting their jobs and more! Ian Ide, Foundation Medicine Rachel Duran, HP Enterprise Tractor Supply TA team Dan Lockhart, Sondermind Cathy Rogers B2B VIP JCK, GBS Worldwide Kylie Denk, Index Exchange Michael Glenn, Agility Hire Nick Russell Advisor360 Kara Yarnot, Author Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facebook is bringing back its job board to Facebook Marketplace for users in the US with a focus on connecting young adults with local, entry-level job opportunities and part-time work. This move comes at a time of a slowdown in the job market and growing concerns over AI’s impact on entry-level positions. The relaunch is happening more than two years after Meta phased out job listings in 2023. The announcement came here. https://recruitingheadlines.com/facebook-jobs-is-back/ NEW YORK – Deel, the leading global HR and payroll platform, today announced a $300 million strategic investment from new investor Ribbit Capital along with long-time Deel partners Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue Management and others… Deel’s new valuation is $17.3 billion.  he investment comes on the heels of what has been a record year of performance at Deel. September 2025 marked the company’s third straight year of profitability and its first $100 million revenue month. Earlier this year, the company surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. Deel now serves 37,000+ businesses and 1.5 million workers across 150+ countries, processing $22 billion in payroll annually. https://hrtechfeed.com/deel-secures-300-million-in-series-e-funding/ Mega HR announced the launch of Megan, the first fully functional AI recruiter available directly inside Greenhouse. Hiring teams using Greenhouse can now invite Megan into their process the same way they would onboard any new teammate. Once added, she begins assisting instantly with screening, outreach, scheduling, interview documentation, and candidate communication. https://hrtechfeed.com/greenhouse-adds-ai-recruiter-tech-from-mega-hr/ Humanly has acquired Sprockets, Qualifi, and HourWork — the company announced on its blog. https://hrtechfeed.com/humanly-acquires-3-companies-including-qualifi/ Fama, the leading provider of social media screening for employers, today announced the launch of comprehensive YouTube screening, expanding its ability to surface workplace misconduct across the world’s largest video platform. https://hrtechfeed.com/fama-becomes-the-first-to-screen-youtube-for-misconduct-at-scale/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Sankarsingh is Responsible for all aspects of the HR technology agenda at PepsiCo. What did you think of this years HR technology conference? What caught your eye? What do you guys hirie fo rannual types of roles You are currently running Avature and ADP? What else is part of your HR tech stack? How you are looking at implementing AI in the hiring process? Are you seeing the AI jobseeker effect, more applications, look alike resumes etc? Biggest challenge you face right now in your role? Is your career site delivering the conversion you need? Dalia’s plug-and-play tech turns any employer career site into a high-performance candidate conversion engine — no replatforming required, live in days. Visit Dalia.co to learn more AND by jobcase, Jobcase is an online community where workers of all kinds – like hourly employees, tradespeople and healthcare technicians – access jobs, make connections, and support each other in any aspect of their work life. Visit jobcase.com/hire and tap into their 120 million strong  job seeker network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paylocity || Interview Melissa King SVP of Product & Technology How long have you been at Paylocity and describe your role? Myth you do more than payroll…All the payroll companies seem to be HCM suites at this point, correct? How Paylocity is weaving AI into its platform to power smarter navigation and real assistance across the HR functions? AI assistant Is the future of HR systems agentic? Whats your fav new AI feature in the product? What is HR software like in 10 years? Describe a couple use cases What do you think of all the M&A going on…? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Deal who is part of the product marketing team at Phenom stops by to talk about his role, Ai and whats new with Phenoms AI Agents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from the HR Tech Conference, Heidi Barnett from isolved stops by to talk about their new Indeed partnership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Draup provides multi-dimensional knowledge for sales and talent domains using machine learning & human curation. Co-founder Vamsee Tirukkala joins to talk about the company live from Las Vegas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is your career site delivering the conversion you need? Dalia’s plug-and-play tech turns any employer career site into a high-performance candidate conversion engine — no replatforming required, live in days.Visit dalia.co to learn more. AND by jobcase, Jobcase is an online community where workers of all kinds – like hourly employees, tradespeople and healthcare technicians – access jobs, make connections, and support each other in any aspect of their work life.Visit jobcase.com/hire and tap into their 120 million strong  job seeker network First up…NEW YORK — Valence, the company behind Nadia, the world’s first enterprise AI coach, today announced it has raised a $50 million Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners. https://hrtechfeed.com/ai-coach-for-employers-platform-lands-50-million/ LOWELL, Mass. —- UKG, a leading global AI platform for HR, pay, and workforce management, today unveiled a new logo and identity with the launch of its global brand campaign, “When Work Works, Everything Works.” The campaign marks a major leap forward in UKG’s evolution as the world’s Workforce Operating Platform unifying HR, pay, workforce management, and AI agents into a single solution that turns the world’s largest workforce data set into critical business insights supporting every worker — from the front office to the frontline. https://hrtechfeed.com/ukg-unveils-rebrand-new-logo/ SAN FRANCISCO – Alex, the AI recruiting partner transforming how companies discover and hire talent, today announced it has raised $20 million in funding, including a $17 million Series A round led by Peak XV Partners with participation from CHROs at Fortune 500 companies, Y Combinator, Uncorrelated Ventures, and other investors including Tim Sackett, Kris Fredrickson, and Dalton Caldwell. The funding also includes a $3 million Seed round led by 1984 Ventures. https://hrtechfeed.com/ai-powered-recruiting-startup-lands-20-million/ MINNEAPOLIS — Mashalot AI, the invite-only job search agent, is built to eliminate application fatigue and level the playing field for U.S. job seekers. By pulling the newest listings from LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, and Indeed, and generating a custom resume and cover letter for every role, the platform can apply to 500 jobs in just 5 minutes. This helps candidates land interviews faster than ever. https://hrtechfeed.com/mashalot-ai-launches-to-fix-the-full-time-job-of-finding-a-job/ Workday announced it has completed its acquisition of Paradox, a candidate experience agent that uses conversational AI to simplify every step of the job application journey, particularly for frontline industries.  https://hrtechfeed.com/workday-completes-acquisition-of-paradox/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SmartRecruiters head of Product talks about AI and the SAP acquisition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices