Digital Recruiter Podcast

#92- How Ravi Tandra Is Revolutionizing Sourcing with Human-Centered AI at ProvenBase

SUMMARYWhat if your sourcing tools could surface candidates no one else sees? In this episode of the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit series, Clark sits down with Ravi Tandra, founder and CEO of ProvenBase, to explore the evolution of sourcing tech, the real promise of AI, and how ProvenBase is helping recruiters discover hidden talent at scale.Ravi shares the origin story behind ProvenBase, born from the pain point all recruiters know too well: searching for apples, getting oranges. He reveals how ProvenBase’s new Deep Search functionality acts like a "Google for Talent," tapping into thousands of real-time sources and surfacing overlooked candidates that traditional platforms miss. But this isn’t just another AI tool, Ravi emphasizes the platform’s human-centered approach, built to enhance, not replace, recruiters’ judgment and connection with talent.Throughout the conversation, Ravi and Clark dive into what makes sourcing effective today: real-time data, personalization, recruiter adaptability, and the willingness to shed outdated habits. Whether you're a solo recruiter or an enterprise team, this episode is a roadmap to scaling smarter and staying ahead of the AI curve.
RAVI'S BIORavi Tandra is the founder and CEO of ProvenBase, a human-centered, AI-powered sourcing platform designed to help recruiters find qualified, often-overlooked candidates quickly and efficiently. With deep expertise in search technology and a passion for solving real recruiter pain points, Ravi built ProvenBase to go beyond traditional data sources and deliver dynamic, real-time candidate pools. His latest innovation, Deep Search, positions ProvenBase as a serious player in the sourcing tech space.
You can find Ravi on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rtandra/
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter
Make sure to sign up for the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit on November 4th and 5th in San Diego. In person and virtual seats available.
Get 10% off your ticket by using code "DigiRec" at checkout: https://lnkd.in/ewQcNVEi

#91- Riana Maus on AI, Compliance, and Calculated Change in Talent Acquisition

SUMMARYRiana Maus, SVP of Talent, Inclusion, and Diversity Acquisition at UMB Bank, joins Clark to unpack how recruiting leaders in regulated industries can approach AI not with fear or hype, but with strategy. As financial institutions face pressure to “do something with AI,” Riana offers a practical, phased roadmap to adopting innovation while staying compliant and human-centered.
With nearly a decade at UMB, Riana has seen talent acquisition evolve rapidly. In this conversation, she shares the moment AI shifted from curiosity to necessity, how candidates are often outpacing companies in AI usage, and why TA leaders need to step up not just to implement tools, but to shape responsible, value-driven practices.
This episode is a must-listen for recruiters navigating AI, compliance concerns, or executive pressure to modernize. It’s not about tools. It’s about mindset, trust, and creating clarity in chaos.
 
RIANA'S BIORiana Maus is the Senior Vice President of Talent, Inclusion, and Diversity Acquisition at UMB Bank. With nearly ten years at the organization, she has led strategic recruitment in a highly regulated environment while championing inclusive hiring and innovative thinking.
Riana’s approach blends practical execution with a long-term vision for change. She helps teams align on compliance, collaborate with legal, and make meaningful use of AI without chasing every shiny new tool. Outside of work, she’s passionate about people-first leadership and building hiring systems that work for everyone.
Connect with Riana at the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rianamaus/
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter
Make sure to sign up for the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit on November 4th and 5th in San Diego. In person and virtual seats available.
Get 10% off your ticket by using code "DigiRec" at checkout: https://lnkd.in/ewQcNVEi

#90- Ron Pritchett’s Framework for Scaling Sourcing with Precision, Messaging, and Human Touch

SUMMARYRon Pritchett didn’t just move from staffing to health tech, he mastered both. Starting his career at TEKsystems in Charlotte and Nashville, he learned the grind of full-cycle recruiting and sales. From there, he transitioned to sourcing leadership roles at Dropbox, Marqeta, and now Cedar, where he leads a small but mighty team focused on engineering and G&A roles.In this conversation, Ron breaks down what it really takes to scale sourcing efforts without sacrificing quality. With the flood of AI tools and automation, recruiters are struggling to separate the signal from the noise. Ron’s talk, set for day one of ERE San Diego, dives into how his team has doubled down on messaging, employer branding, and authenticity to stand out in an oversaturated market.The episode is full of practical, hard-won advice: how to compete with FAANG for tech talent, why adding videos to outreach messages works, and how candidate experience can’t be faked. For Ron, the best recruiters don’t just push openings, they build relationships, own their message, and sell the full story of the company and team. This is must-listen content for anyone trying to recruit better, faster, and more human in a tech-heavy world.
RON'S BIORon Pritchett is a seasoned recruiting and sourcing leader with a background that spans top staffing firms and high-growth tech companies. Starting his career at TEKsystems, Ron quickly rose through the ranks before making the leap to corporate talent roles at Dropbox, Marqeta, and now Cedar, a fast-growing health tech company. At Cedar, he leads a focused sourcing team that supports both engineering and G&A functions, with a strong emphasis on messaging strategy, passive talent engagement, and innovation.Ron’s secret weapon? A deep empathy for candidates, sharp operational rigor, and a belief that sourcing is equal parts science and story. He’s also a proud family man and first-time speaker at the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit in San Diego.
Find Ron on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronpritchett2013/
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter
Make sure to sign up for the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit on November 4th and 5th in San Diego. In person and virtual seats available.
Get 10% off your ticket by using code "DigiRec" at checkout: https://lnkd.in/ewQcNVEi

#89- Scaling Smart with Luis Derechin: How NIR-YU Is Changing the Offshore Talent Game

SUMMARYIn this episode, Clark sits down with Luis Derechin, founder and CEO of NIR-YU, to unpack what really makes offshore and near-shore hiring succeed or fail. Luis shares how his journey from Mexican-born entrepreneur to U.S.-based startup founder led to the birth of NIR-YU, a company helping businesses scale with top-tier Latin American talent.What started as a cost-saving measure turned into a blueprint for remote hiring done right. Through real-world experience and a genuine desire to help companies avoid the common pitfalls, Luis developed the Remote Intelligence Framework, a system designed to keep remote teams aligned, supported, and retained. Together, Clark and Luis explore what most people miss about near-shoring, how to build loyalty across borders, and why mindset, not margins, is the real key to success.This conversation is packed with insights for recruiters, founders, and anyone looking to grow their team globally without sacrificing quality or culture.
 
LUIS' BIOLuis Derechin is the CEO and Founder of NIR-YU, a near-shore staffing company helping U.S. businesses build reliable, scalable teams in Latin America. A lifelong entrepreneur, Luis previously built and sold one of Mexico’s first tech startups to raise U.S. venture funding. Today, he’s on a mission to help companies avoid what he calls “the offshore team death trap” by offering a better, more human-centered way to hire globally.Luis is the author of The Offshore Team Death Trap and creator of the REMOTE Intelligence Framework, a roadmap for companies seeking not just savings, but sustainability. He's based in Mexico City, married for 32 years, and remains a loyal (and long-suffering) Tottenham Hotspur supporter.
Connect with Luis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luisderechin/ or at https://www.nir-yu.com/ also dont forget to check out Luis' new book https://a.co/d/gnSgbsJ
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter

#88- From No Chair to AI Lead: Mastering the Art of Recruiting in the Age of Automation

SUMMARYJeremy Roberts didn't start with much, no chair, no computer, just a headset and a phone. Today, he's the Founding Customer Success Lead at Tenzo AI and a veteran voice in the recruiting world. In this energizing episode, Jeremy reconnects with Clark to unpack the evolution of recruiting from listservs and Boolean strings to AI recruiting agents and automation.
Jeremy shares his deep roots in the ERE and SourceCon community, where he once served as Editor, and where he still plays a pivotal role. He walks listeners through the tech shifts of the past 15 years, from Yahoo Pipes and people aggregators to today’s free and enterprise AI tools. But beyond the tools, he hammers home one thing: the art of recruiting hasn’t changed.
The episode dives into how recruiters can thrive in a post-automation world by focusing on what machines can’t replicate, empathy, persuasion, and relationship-building. Jeremy explains why recruiters who only know workflow but not the “why” behind it are at risk, and how conferences like ERE help professionals reconnect with the fundamentals and level up.
 
JEREMY'S BIOJeremy Roberts is the Founding Customer Success Lead at Tenzo AI, where he helps enterprise recruiting teams operationalize AI agents. A longtime leader in the recruiting space, Jeremy formerly served as Editor of SourceCon and has worked across in-house, agency, and RPO roles. His career spans the shift from manual sourcing to full-stack automation, but his focus has always stayed human: teaching recruiters the art behind the process. Known for his humility, generosity, and sharp insight, Jeremy is also a beloved speaker at ERE and SourceCon events. He lives in Austin, TX, and got his first recruiting job without even having a chair.
Connect with Jeremy on LinkedIn at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyroberts/
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter
Make sure to sign up for the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit on November 4th and 5th in San Diego. In person and virtual seats available.
Get 10% off your ticket by using code "DigiRec" at checkout: https://lnkd.in/ewQcNVEi

#87- JCK on Rewiring HR for AI: Building Modern, Compliant Hiring Strategies

SUMMARYIn this special ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit edition of the Digital Recruiter Podcast, Clark sits down with Jennifer Cotie Kangas, known as JCK, Chief Solutions Architect at White Rock Consulting. Jennifer’s path to AI and HR tech strategy is anything but typical. Following a severe accident that resulted in major memory loss, she was forced to relearn not just who she was, but how modern organizations function. That clean slate became a surprising advantage. Free from traditional "design bias," she now helps enterprise HR and TA teams rebuild their processes from the ground up with AI at the center.In this conversation, JCK unpacks what it really takes to build a compliant, modern AI hiring strategy. She reveals how most organizations get AI adoption wrong, either from fear, lack of data strategy, or tech overload and how to reverse engineer transformation by following the pain. You’ll also hear about her upcoming session at ERE with legal expert Danielle Ox and moderator Brian Fink, where they’ll go deep on governance, strategy, and getting AI right in high-stakes hiring environments. Jennifer's blend of real-world expertise and radical self-awareness makes this one of the most insightful episodes yet.JCK'S BIOJennifer Cotie Kangas (JCK) is the Founder and Chief Solutions Architect of White Rock Consulting. With deep expertise in HR tech stacks, compliance, and AI implementation, she partners with enterprise teams to design scalable and legally sound talent strategies. Her approach blends systems thinking with radical empathy, shaped in part by her recovery from a traumatic brain injury that wiped much of her memory. This reset forced her to rethink everything, and now she brings that same mindset shift to her clients. She’s a speaker, strategist, and someone who truly believes in "building better" from the inside out.
You can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcotie/
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter
Make sure to sign up for the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit on November 4th and 5th in San Diego. In person and virtual seats available.
Get 10% off your ticket by using code "DigiRec" at checkout: https://lnkd.in/ewQcNVEi

#86- What We’re Bringing to ERE: Sourcing Smarter, Not Harder with Conor Kline

SUMMARYIn this ERE series kickoff, host Clark Wilcox sits down with Conor Kline, Head of Revenue at PIN.com, the sourcing platform that’s rapidly gaining traction in the recruiting world. Conor shares how PIN aims to empower recruiters, not replace them, by acting like an “Ironman suit” that multiplies human output while preserving human judgment. Unlike many AI recruiting tools promising full automation, PIN leans into augmentation. Their platform helps sourcers find contact data faster, automate low-value tasks, and still leave room for the recruiter’s craft.
The two explore the philosophy behind PIN’s growth: helping one recruiter do the work of ten without burning out or cutting corners. Conor dives into how they’ve differentiated in a noisy, AI-saturated market by building proprietary models and keeping the recruiter at the heart of the process. From the Vegas trade show floor to their upcoming showcase at ERE San Diego, the episode brings practical insight and energy to anyone navigating the AI evolution in recruiting.
For those heading to ERE or navigating events solo, Conor offers some deeply useful advice, block your time, protect your energy, and remember everyone’s figuring it out together. There’s also a sneak peek into a free tool recruiters can try by simply emailing a JD to PIN and getting top candidate matches within minutes.
 
CONOR'S BIOConor Kline is the Head of Revenue at Pin.com, a next-gen sourcing automation platform trusted by top recruiters. With roots in sales and a rare blend of product intuition, Conor previously helped scale Interstellar through its acquisition before reuniting with its founder to build Pin. His background includes scaling teams at Greenhouse and Attention.com, and fun fact, he’s also a former professional ultimate frisbee player with a national championship to his name. Conor is based in New York City and deeply passionate about helping recruiters work smarter, not harder.
Connect with Conor on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorkline/
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter

#85- Redefining ATS with AI: The Human-Centric Blueprint Behind Perfect Hire

EPISODE SUMMARYWhen Matt Schalsey, CEO of Perfect Hire, faced a costly hiring mistake in a previous company, he realized the real issue wasn’t just the candidate, it was the broken hiring process. That experience ignited the vision for Perfect Hire, a next-generation applicant tracking system (ATS) built not just to organize workflows, but to empower recruiters and People Ops teams to operate as revenue drivers.In this episode, Matt joins Clark to unpack how he's tackling two big objections in recruiting tech: “Not another ATS” and “AI is scary.” He shares how Perfect Hire’s platform avoids automation overreach by keeping humans in control of decision-making, while still streamlining admin and sourcing with smart AI tools. The conversation dives into how recruiters can incorporate AI as an assistant, not a replacement, and use it to eliminate repetitive tasks, refine candidate quality, and drive more meaningful hiring conversations.Beyond the tech, Matt brings decades of experience in sales enablement to the conversation, drawing parallels between go-to-market and talent acquisition functions. Whether you’re a solo recruiter, agency founder, or hiring leader, this episode offers a clear and compelling vision of how recruiting can be more human, more efficient, and more strategic in 2025 and beyond.
 
MATT'S BIOMatt Schalsey is the CEO and co-founder of Perfect Hire, a modern applicant tracking system designed to elevate recruiters by removing admin burdens and improving hiring quality through AI-powered workflows. With a deep background in sales enablement, Matt has led product education, go-to-market execution, and operational strategy across several high-growth SaaS companies. Before founding Perfect Hire, he helped go-to-market teams design hiring funnels, train recruiting teams, and define candidate profiles, all of which laid the foundation for the platform he's building today.Matt believes recruiting is revenue, when recruiters are equipped like sellers, companies scale smarter. He lives at the intersection of tech, hiring, and enablement. 
You can connect with Matt and book a demo at theperfecthire.co or find him on linkedin.com/in/matt-schalsey
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter

#84- Future-Proofing Your Tech Stack: Jack Shirley on Why Lean Recruiting Teams Need a Smarter ATS

Episode SummaryJack Shirley didn’t set out to become a thought leader in recruiting tech, but his journey from SaaS sales to leading strategy at TA Tracker has made him one. In this episode, Clark Wilcox sits down with Jack to unpack the nuance behind picking the right ATS, especially for boutique and founder-led recruiting firms.
Jack shares how TA Tracker was designed to serve lean, high-touch teams overlooked by bloated, overpriced legacy ATS platforms. With clarity and candor, he explains why most small teams are overpaying for features they don’t use, how clutter slows down productivity, and what it really means to future-proof your business without overengineering it.
The conversation also digs into deeper strategic insights: the critical role of owning your candidate data, how AI amplifies value when layered on clean databases, and what best practices top firms follow when it comes to data integrity, outreach, and CRM usage. Whether you’re a solo recruiter or scaling an agency, this episode is packed with actionable advice.Jack's BioJack Shirley is the Chief Revenue Officer at TATracker, an intuitive, AI-powered applicant tracking system built specifically for lean, founder-led recruiting firms. With a background in SaaS sales and recruiting tech, Jack has worked closely with executive search firms across the country, bringing a rare mix of strategic insight and hands-on experience to his role.Before joining TATracker, Jack worked at Clockwork, where he helped shape how boutique search firms use technology to improve placements and scale smart. He’s also a certified scuba diver, a triplet, and a former soccer captain, yes, all true.
You can connect with Jack on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-shirley-sales-pro/ or at https://www.tatracker.cloud/
Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter

#83- Using Content and Curiosity to Build a Business with Purpose with Jessica Oliver

Episode Summary
When Jessica Oliver left her full-time job in late 2023, she didn’t just go out on her own, she reinvented her entire career. In less than a year, Jessica has launched an agency, built an AI-driven GovCon platform, and become a standout voice in the recruiting space through strategic content and intentional outreach.
This episode is a crash course in how to build a solo recruiting business that actually scales.Jessica shares how years of agency and in-house recruiting led to disillusionment with corporate America, what finally pushed her to bet on herself, and the mental rewiring it took to go from salaried recruiter to entrepreneur. From the mindset work that keeps her grounded to the tech tools she stopped overcomplicating, she breaks down what worked, what didn’t, and what helped her stand out in a noisy market.
We also dig deep into Jessica’s discovery of the GovCon world, how a coffee meeting turned into a seed investment, and how she leveraged her recruiting background to build Clara, an AI-powered federal procurement tool. Whether you’re new to recruiting or thinking about your next business leap, this episode is a masterclass in action, alignment, and building what you wish existed.
 
Jessica's Bio
Jessica Oliver is a veteran tech recruiter turned entrepreneur and innovator in the GovCon space. After 15 years in both agency and in-house roles, including a stint recruiting full desk at Disney, she launched her own agency and quickly followed with Clara, an AI-powered federal procurement platform. She's passionate about ethical recruiting, modern sourcing, and building real relationships in an AI-saturated market. Jessica is also a proud mom of three, an advocate for veteran-owned business, and a rising voice in the Digital Recruiter community.Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaolivertechconnect/ or at https://www.olivertechconnect.com/Stop wasting money on lead-gen tools that don’t work. Learn how top recruiters are winning on LinkedIn with content, messaging, and automation—without spamming.  Get live coaching, ongoing support, and a proven system to drive revenue inside Digital Recruiter Bootcamp. Join now: DigitalRecruiter.io/bootcamp
Get the best and most current digital recruiting insights, tips, and strategies every Sunday—straight to your inbox, for free: https://www.digitalrecruiter.io/drnewsletter
For more information about Digital Recruiter, click HERE ---＞ https://linktr.ee/thedigitalrecruiter