The Talent Initiative

It’s been a long while since I’ve written anything here.

I’ve been busy writing in other places, for other people, or doing that modern thing where you do nothing but somehow still feel exhausted. But here I am in a café, drinking coffee, borrowing their Wi‑Fi while I wait for my daughter.

I could read the resumes stacking up.
I could check the news.
I could scroll LinkedIn and watch the world argue about AI again.
Or I could write. So here we are.

Here’s the thing. There’s already more than enough being written about AI to cloud already murky waters. Everyone has a hot take. Everyone has a framework. Everyone has a “copilot” for something.

But I was here first, so you’re getting my 2 cents anyway.

I’ve been rereading some old posts lately, mostly to see if I’ve changed my mind over the years. What surprised me is how little has actually changed.

We’ve got new tools. New platforms. New acronyms. New “must-haves.”
And now we’ve got AI, the new protagonist in everyone’s story.

But the core stuff is still the same.

Recruitment is about people.

Finding people, or getting them to find you.
Talking to them.
Understanding what they actually want.
Helping them make a decision.
Helping a client make a decision.
Closing the deal so the money, the role, the timing, the risk, the ego, the fear, and the opportunity all line up, and the person actually starts.

Rinse and repeat for as long as you want to keep working.

Maybe I’m just grumpy. Or jealous. OK, no “maybe” about it.

Once upon a time recruitment was simple. Recruiters were recruiters. The good, the bad and the ugly. I’ve been all three, depending on the week. Clients tolerated you. Candidates hated you until you found them the right job. And HR were the gods. All hail HR.

Now look at the landscape.

Every second vendor has an “AI-powered talent solution.”
Every deck has the same words. Copilot, agentic, automation, intelligence, insights, disruption.
Cool UI, big promises, and a demo that makes you feel like you’re the only person left on earth still doing things manually.

Don’t get me wrong. I love bright shiny tools as much as the next geek. But I’m getting lost in the AI vendor world.

And I’ve got a fear we’re heading for a familiar cycle.

Remember Y2K? The boom, the gold rush, the “IT will save the world” era, and then the bust. The moment the scary thing didn’t happen, the money dried up, and suddenly every initiative had to answer the same brutal question.

What’s the business benefit?

I reckon AI is heading for the same moment.

Right now, money is being poured into “AI for recruitment” because it’s compelling. Because it’s fashionable. Because nobody wants to be the executive who missed the wave.

But here’s my message to vendors, and honestly, to recruiters too.

Tie AI to a measurable business outcome or keep moving.

Don’t sell me “potential.”
Don’t sell me “engagement.”
Don’t sell me a funnel diagram with 47 stages.

Sell me something that improves the only outcomes that matter.
Better hiring decisions
Faster time to shortlist
Fewer dud hires
Better candidate experience
Higher retention
Managers who actually trust the process again

Because the goal isn’t AI.
The goal is still hiring.

AI can help you source faster.
It can help you write better ads.
It can summarise interviews.
It can automate admin.
It can even make you look smarter than you are on a Tuesday afternoon.

But it can’t replace judgement.
It can’t replace trust.
And it definitely can’t replace the human bit where someone takes a risk and says “yes” to a new job.

So recruiters, keep recruiting. Keep talking to people and drinking coffee. That’s basically my job description. Use AI if it helps. Ignore it if it doesn’t.

Just remember the goal.

It’s not prompts.
It’s not copilots.
It’s not “agent workflows.”
It’s not how many tools you’ve bought.

It’s how many great hires you make, the kind your client and the candidate still feels good about six months later.

Am I wrong?