Guest Appearance on the Disrupting Recruitment Podcast

So OpenAI is building some kind of job board/matching tool for "AI" professionals. They announced on their blog that they will "help more people become fluent in AI and connect them with companies that need their skills, to give people more economic opportunities." https://www.jobboardsecrets.com/2025/09/15/openai-announces-new-hiring-platform-but-will-it-fly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Radancy,a provider of talent acquisition software, announced the acquisition of myInterview, enhancing the AI-powered Radancy Talent Acquisition Cloud with candidate and recruiter AI agents that accelerate hiring cycles, improve recruiter efficiency, reduce costs and enable enterprises to engage top talent with unmatched speed and precision. https://hrtechfeed.com/radancy-acquires-myinterview/ CHICAGO, IL — Shaker Recruitment Marketing just announced its acquisition of exaqueo, a globally recognized employer brand consultancy. According to their blog announcement; https://hrtechfeed.com/shaker-recruitment-marketing-expands-capabilities-with-exaqueo-acquisition/ ATLANTA — Being officially unveiled for the first time at next week’s HR Tech 2025, a new platform Marovi has launched around transforming the staid category of executive hiring. Founded by a team with more than four decades of executive hiring experience, Marovi combines human capital software with hiring services to discover, assess, and advance qualified executive candidates for critical roles.  https://hrtechfeed.com/marovi-launches-as-executive-hiring-tool/ SAN FRANCISCO — Klaar, a performance management platform built by HR leaders, for HR leaders, today announced its official launch in the United States alongside the closing of its $5M Series A round, led by Prime Venture Partners. The funding will fuel Klaar’s U.S. go-to-market initiatives, new client onboarding, and continued scaling, underscoring the company’s strong global track record and vision to revolutionize performance management in the U.S. https://hrtechfeed.com/klaar-lands-5m-in-series-a-for-performance-management/ At their Future Works conference this week, Indeed introduced two new AI agents—Indeed Career Scout for job seekers and Indeed Talent Scout for employers. The company also unveiled Premium Sponsored Jobs and Indeed Connect, new products designed to improve candidate quality and accelerate hiring. Together, these innovations provide job seekers with personalized career coaching and give employers powerful tools to source, engage, and hire the right talent more efficiently. https://hrtechfeed.com/indeeds-new-product-announcements/ 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 Alright rec techies…..here’s what's happening this week. We have a ton of funding announcements to share. First up…Phenom, the applied AI company for HR that helps organizations hire faster, develop better and retain longer, launched a Partner Program and Marketplace to elevate how partners showcase their complementary solutions and services.  https://hrtechfeed.com/phenom-launches-new-partner-program-and-marketplace/ Appcast, announced the launch of AppcastEngage™, a new layer within the AppcastOne™ platform designed to help employers convert more qualified candidates without increasing media spend.  https://hrtechfeed.com/appcast-launched-new-layer-within-the-appcastone-platform/ Engagedly, the talent management and employee experience platform, today announced its acquisition of Butterfly.ai , a frontline engagement and analytics platform that empowers managers to lead more connected, productive teams. This acquisition builds on Engagedly’s 2023 acquisition of theEMPLOYEEapp, further strengthening its frontline-first strategy to help organizations improve retention, drive workforce growth, and enhance operational effectiveness across industries where frontline teams are critical to success. https://hrtechfeed.com/engagedly-acquires-butterfly-ai-engagement-and-analytics-platform/ Lightcast, a global leader in labor market analytics and skills intelligence, today announced the acquisition of Skill Collective, a premier strategy consultancy that partners with enterprises to design and activate skills-powered workforce models. With this acquisition, Skill Collective becomes Skill Collective – a Lightcast Company, continuing to lead consulting engagements while gaining access to Lightcast’s globally recognized skill standards, dynamic labor market insight, and the infrastructure to measure, benchmark, and scale transformation. “Skill Collective adds world-class expertise in leading companies through skill transformation,” said Chris Kibarian, CEO at Lightcast. “Together, we unite their strategic consulting with our skills intelligence data platform—helping clients move from vision to execution with confidence and clarity.” https://hrtechfeed.com/lightcast-acquires-skill-collective/ Job board network iHire has released its 2025 State of Online Recruiting Report, highlighting the explosion of AI in hiring, the future of job boards, strategies for overcoming ongoing talent shortages, and more. The seventh annual research report, which analyzes the results of a survey of 1,421 job seekers and 529 employers across the United States https://www.jobboardsecrets.com/2025/09/03/state-of-online-recruiting-report/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world of constant change, the most effective HR teams don’t just adopt technology—they master it. Join us for an exclusive Q&A with Shay Johnson, VP of Strategic HR Partnerships at Compass Group USA, as he reveals how the Compass team builds a sustainable competitive advantage. Industry expert Tim Sackett will join us as well and offer examples of companies who are doing this well and challenges he sees across the marketplace. We’ll explore Compass Group’s unique strategy-first framework, which marries technology with smart processes and a skilled and efficient workforce. Learn how to empower your team to achieve more with less, moving them from transactional work to strategic partnership and relationship-building. Learn more: https://www.jobsync.com/problems-we-solve/ 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…Recruitics,, the platform for AI-powered recruitment marketing and analytics, today announced it has acquired Change State, a recruitment marketing agency and HR technology consultancy. The acquisition strengthens the Recruitics platform with the addition of the innovative Voice by Change State candidate survey tool, broadens the company’s client base through the integration of Change State’s clients, and enhances its expertise with the addition of a team of industry experts. https://hrtechfeed.com/recruitics-announces-acquisition-of-change-state-llc-to-expand-talent-solutions-platform/ In canada…FillaRole has officially launched FillaRole Health, a Saskatchewan-built, AI hiring and onboarding platform, designed for Canada’s healthcare sector. It gives busy HR teams one centralized tool to post jobs, track applicants, manage interviews and onboard hires, without the spreadsheet chaos. https://hrtechfeed.com/new-healthcare-focused-hiring-platform-for-canada-launches/ LEHI, Utah — Sequifi, the modern infrastructure for retaining and growing America’s essential home service workforce, today announced it has raised $6.7 million in seed funding to accelerate product development and expand to support exciting new market segments. The round was led by Cervin Ventures, with participation from Frazier Group and Tokyo Black. https://hrtechfeed.com/sequifi-raises-6-7-million-to-power-real-time-pay-workforce-retention-for-the-home-services-industry/ SAN FRANCISCO — Central, the first autonomous back-office platform built for startups, today announced $8.6M in seed funding led by First Round Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, and other investors https://hrtechfeed.com/central-raises-8-6m-led-by-first-round-to-replace-traditional-payroll-hr-finance-tools/ ProRank, a leading AI-enabled sourcing platform, and Goodwork, a modern healthcare job board and talent marketplace, today announced the completion of their merger. The combined company will deliver a more intelligent, aligned, and scalable solution for healthcare at a time when the industry faces unprecedented workforce challenges. https://hrtechfeed.com/prorank-and-goodwork-announce-merger-to-transform-healthcare-talent-acquisition/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meeting Summary: ICIMS August Workforce Report Analysis Hiring Market Dynamics & Trends Widening gap between job openings and actual hiring activity represents a significant shift in recruitment patterns Hiring declined while openings increased 5% year-over-year in July (06:20) Applicant activity remains higher than previous year despite reduced hiring velocity Historical correlation between openings and hiring has broken down - previously moved together like "twins" but now diverging significantly Perfect storm conditions created by economic uncertainty, workforce changes, and analysis paralysis among hiring managers Root cause identified as growing dissonance between C-suite hiring plans and ground-level hiring manager reality (07:41) Application volume surge across all ATS platforms creating operational challenges Top-of-funnel noise drowning out qualified candidates in the system Quality candidates getting lost in increased application volumes, affecting both candidate experience and bottom-line talent acquisition Recruiters must double down on quality candidate identification processes despite higher volumes Numbers game mentality among job seekers contributing to application inflation Five-hour weekly time savings threshold identified as critical tipping point for AI adoption success (10:26) 24% of current AI users report minimum 5-hour weekly savings versus 13% of non-users believing AI can achieve this level Two-hour minimum threshold appears to be baseline expectation for AI solution viability Non-AI users show higher expectations for minimal time savings (less than 1-2 hours weekly) Clear adoption barrier exists where non-users cannot visualize significant time savings beyond the 2-hour mark AI functionality priorities differ from industry assumptions based on user experience data 55% prioritize screening and assessing candidates as top AI value-add (12:15) 40% focus on matching candidates to jobs as secondary priority Sourcing candidates ranked third, contrary to expected top position Priority alignment reflects current market stress points with high application volumes requiring better filtering Candidate-side matching data shows strong positive response when AI suggests additional qualified positions within organizations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), the AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Paradox, a candidate experience agent that uses conversational AI to simplify every step of the job application journey – particularly for high-volume frontline industries, which employ nearly 3 billion workers globally. The addition of Paradox will give Workday an AI-powered talent acquisition suite to help customers more efficiently find, hire, and onboard every type of worker – from the frontline to the back office – for every type of work, from full-time, to contingent.  https://hrtechfeed.com/workday-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-paradox-the-ai-company-redefining-the-frontline-candidate-experience/ 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 Alright rec techies…..here’s what's happening this week. We have a ton of funding announcements to share. First up…Dayforce, (NYSE:DAY) (TSX:DAY), a global leader in human capital management (HCM) technology, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm, to become a privately held company in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of US$12.3 billion. https://hrtechfeed.com/dayforce-going-private/ Deel, the leading global payroll and HR platform, today announced its AI Workforce, an integrated hub to launch, manage and create AI agents and workflows, hosted on the Deel platform. Deel AI Workforce will allow businesses to easily add AI agents to a company’s workflow, surfacing information fromIt is launching in Beta now. https://hrtechfeed.com/deel-launches-ai-workforce/ Upwork Inc. (Nasdaq: UPWK), today announced the launch of Lifted, a wholly owned subsidiary purpose-built to serve enterprise clients with a unified solution that combines talent sourcing, c https://hrtechfeed.com/upwork-launches-contingent-workforce-solution-for-enterprise/  G-P (Globalization Partners), recognized as the undisputed leader in global employment by industry analysts, today announced the next generation of G-P Employer of Record (EOR) to deliver a compliant global employment solution that enables HR teams to effortlessly expand globally with autonomy and efficiency. Built on a serverless, event-driven platform and advanced agentic AI, G-P EOR delivers frictionless self-service compliant global employment in more than 180 countries https://hrtechfeed.com/g-p-introduces-new-agentic-ai-powered-g-p-employer-of-record-eor-platform/ Workday, one of the largest providers of human resources technology, has confirmed a data breach that allowed hackers to steal personal information from one of its third-party customer relationship databases. https://hrtechfeed.com/data-breach-at-workday/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First up…Darwinbox, the fastest growing AI-powered human capital management (HCM) platform, today announced a US$40 million investment from Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. https://hrtechfeed.com/darwinbox-lands-40m-investment-for-north-american-expansion/  ZipRecruiter® announced the U.S. launch of Breakroom, a workplace rating platform that they acquired last year which is purpose-built for frontline industries like retail, hospitality, logistics, and more. With more than one million ratings and counting, Breakroom gives job seekers a clear look at what it’s really like to work for different employers—helping them make smarter decisions and find jobs that fit their lives.  https://hrtechfeed.com/ziprecruiter-launches-workplace-rating-platform-for-frontline-industries/ Job search company Resume Wallet & CV Wallet has made a fundraise. Founder Richard Collins announced on Linkedin; “We are pleased to announce that we have completed a new fund raise.Whilst times are tough for a lot of our industry, and my heart goes out to all those who have been affected, not all news is bad news and hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel during what is undoubtedly a rapid and painful change caused by AI. https://hrtechfeed.com/resume-wallet-cv-wallet-raises-1-5m/ Job board operator DHI Group Inc. has announced it acquired AgileATS, an applicant tracking system for government contractors and employers hiring security-cleared professionals, for an estimated $2 million. The company also reported tepid revenue growth for the second quarter. https://hrtechfeed.com/dice-owner-acquires-an-ats/ Talview The company based in San Mateo, CA, has been awarded its first U.S. patent for its Agentic AI proctoring solution.  Alvy is designed to both protect and assist, detecting sophisticated cheating tools across remote interviews and high-stakes online exams, while guiding candidates through a fair and transparent assessment experience. https://hrtechfeed.com/talview-secures-patent-for-alvy-ai-tool-built-to-outsmart-cheating/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOPICS What's the landscape look like for Recruitment Marketing vendors? Is it over? Who out there has a chance ? Why? It's New Years Day, 2030 - where is TA/HR Tech? Paint the picture.  Learn more at https://vitalfew.io/https://vitalfew.io/ Connect with Ethan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanbloomfield/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices