Talking TA

Drea Codispoti is Director of Network Operations at Top Echelon, where he helps recruiting agencies build stronger partnerships and use their networks more productively and profitably.

Recruiting is getting harder, and Drea Codispoti explains why the people who survive will rely on grit, collaboration, creativity, sales discipline and human judgment, not simply more outreach.

Recruiting is getting harder, even for industry veterans. ...

Amy Oxley, Chief of Staff, Product at SmartRecruiters, joins Talking TA Tech Stack to discuss why AI adoption in hiring depends on usability, trust, and how well technology fits into the everyday recruiting workflow.

AI is entering talent acquisition fast, but the harder question is not whether teams have access to AI. It is whether they can use it consistently, safely, and meaningfully inside the hiring process.

This episode explore...

Mike Scafidi is a digital transformation strategist who helps organizations rethink performance, leadership, and growth in the modern workplace.

What if the biggest threat to your organization is not talent scarcity or AI disruption, but the metrics you use to measure success?

Summary

In this episode of Talking TA, host Denise Chaffin sits down with Mike Scafidi to explore how leadership metrics shape HR strategy, talent acquisition, ...

Anna Frazzetto is the Founder and CEO of Affirm Strategic Partners, sales leadership expert, and author of Sales Leadership in Action.

In a world increasingly driven by automation and AI, the recruiters who stand out aren't the ones sending more messages, they're the ones building stronger relationships. This conversation explores why transactional recruiting is losing effectiveness and what it takes to become a trusted advisor in t...

Futurist, innovation expert, and bestselling author Daniel Burrus joins Talking TA to discuss AI, leadership, and the future of work.

The future of recruiting is becoming more human, not less. Daniel explains why organizations are approaching AI the wrong way, and why the leaders who succeed will use AI to amplify human capability instead of replacing it.

The episode explores trust in the AI era, hard trends vs. soft trends, workforc...

In this episode of Talking TA, host Denise Chaffin sits down with Stephane Rivard to explore how AI-driven hiring, soft skills assessments, and automation are reshaping talent acquisition, recruiting performance, and workforce strategy.

The conversation dives into why traditional resumes and credentials are becoming less reliable indicators of performance, how “credential inflation” is changing hiring practices, and why ...

What if the real problem in recruiting isn’t AI taking jobs, but the fact that many of those jobs shouldn’t exist in the first place?

In this episode of Talking TA, Denise Chaffin sits down with Matt Alder, CEO of Recruiting Future, to challenge the foundation of modern hiring. With over two decades in talent acquisition, Matt breaks down why recruiting processes have barely evolved, despite waves of technological innova...

What does “brand” actually mean inside an organization, and why are most companies getting it wrong?

In this episode of Talking TA, Denise Chaffin sits down with Ken Pasternack, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer at Two by Four, to break down the real connection between brand, culture, and talent acquisition. This isn’t about logos or messaging. It’s about the alignment between what companies promise and what peo...

Most AI in recruiting is noise. The problem is knowing what actually works.

In this episode of Talking TA, host Denise Chaffin sits down with Trent Cotton, Head of Talent Acquisition Insights and Analyst Relations, and Lisa Fiondella, SVP of AI, Data, and Platform at iCIMS, to explore how AI, automation, and agentic systems are reshaping talent acquisition, recruiting performance, and HR strategy.

AI is often positioned as a silver b...

What happens when hiring shortcuts collide with a generation that refuses to stay quiet?

In this powerful conversation, Denise sits down with Ellen Raim, early career advisor and founder of People Matter, LLC, to unpack the growing trust gap in today’s workforce.

With Gen Z projected to represent 30% of the workforce by 2030 and 50% when combined with younger millennials, the cultural shift isn’t coming. It’s alread...

In this episode of Talking TA, Denise Chaffin sits down with leadership expert and author Minette Norman, founder of Minette Norman Consulting to unpack what it truly means to lead with humanity in today’s workplace. Drawing from her 30-year career in Silicon Valley and her books The Psychological Safety Playbook and The Boldly Inclusive Leader, Minette shares real-world stories that expose the hidden costs of fear-based lead...

Workplace happiness is often dismissed as a “nice to have,” but this conversation makes it clear, it’s one of the most powerful business levers leaders can pull. Denise Chaffin sits down with Valerie Alexander, CEO of Speak Happiness, to unpack the real economic impact of unhappy workforces, from turnover and absenteeism to product defects, safety issues, and lost productivity.

Valerie breaks down decades of resear...

In this episode, Denise Chaffin sits down with David Warren, founder of Oomiyasa and former digital transformation leader at companies like Zara and Salesforce, to unpack one of the most overlooked challenges in modern organizations, the loss of tacit knowledge.

David explains why companies have become good at documenting processes but struggle to capture judgment, experience, and decision-making insight, the kind of knowledge that ...

Candidate experience is no longer an HR side conversation, it is a direct reflection of your brand.

In this episode, Denise Chaffin sits down with Eric Smuda, customer and employee experience leader and former executive at major consumer brands, to unpack why candidates should be treated like customers, not transactions. Drawing from decades of experience in highly competitive industries, Eric explains how moments of friction, lack ...

In this episode of Talking TA, Denise Chaffin sits down with Michael Goldberg, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition Operations at U.S. Renal Care, for a candid and deeply practical conversation about the future of recruiting. Michael shares his career journey from frontline recruiting into TA operations and explains why operations, metrics, and project management are becoming mission-critical for modern TA teams.

Together, Denise a...

In this episode of Talking TA, Denise talks with Steven Swan, CEO of The Swan Group, about the rise of the “bionic employee” and the dramatic shifts happening across IT, business operations, and talent acquisition. Steven explains how AI is transforming technical roles, creating hybrid talent that blends business understanding with technical literacy. He covers how coding tasks are changing, why business partner roles a...

In this episode, Denise sits down with Pernille Weitemeyer Larsen, Head of Global Talent Acquisition for Creative Force and co founder of Denmark’s largest TA network. Pernille shares an inside look at how TA is evolving and what needs to change for recruiters to become strategic partners instead of support staff. The conversation explores the outdated nature of traditional recruitment processes, why job posts should function...

In this episode, Denise Chaffin sits down with industryanalyst and publisher Matt Charney to break down the real state of recruiting and what the TA community can expect in 2026. Matt brings deep context from years across recruiting, analytics, media, and workforce insights, giving a grounded and balanced view of what’s actually happening beneath the noise.

The conversation covers the difference between a recessionand a reset,...

In this episode, Denise Chaffin sits down with Seth Stover, founder and CEO of Tide Rise, a company transforming outsourcing into a force for global good. What began as a small project in Malawi evolved into a scalable model of economic empowerment and opportunity. Seth shares how his team turned a conversation about unemployment into a thriving business that connects skilled Malawian talent with global companies—creating sus...