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Artwork for The Breakthrough Hiring Show: Modern Recruiting, AI, and Talent Strategy

The Breakthrough Hiring Show: Modern Recruiting, AI, and Talent Strategy

James Mackey
Talent Acquisition
AI In Recruitment
Recruitment Technology
Candidate Experience
Leadership
Artificial Intelligence
Generative AI
Hiring Practices
Hiring Strategies
Recruiting Technology
Recruitment
Staffing Industry
Resume Screening
AI In Recruiting
Recruiting
Job Market
Interview Automation
Startups
Quality Of Hire
Entrepreneurship

Welcome to The Breakthrough Hiring Show: Recruiting, AI, and Talent Strategy, a podcast for leaders building better hiring systems and stronger teams.

Hosted by James Mackey, the show features conversations with founders, CEOs, talent leaders, and recruiting experts on how great companies hire, scale, and adapt as technology changes the talent landscape.

Episodes cover talent acquisition strateg... more

PublishesTwice weeklyEpisodes221Founded4 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
CareersTechnologyBusiness

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Artwork for The Breakthrough Hiring Show: Modern Recruiting, AI, and Talent Strategy

Latest Episodes

Growing up between Canada and East Africa, Michael Kieran’s childhood was shaped by international communities, close encounters with elephants and lions, and experiences that challenged the way he saw the world. He brings that same perspective to bui... more

Jessica Wheeler went from growing up in Vancouver, Washington to building talent programs at some of the biggest names in entertainment and gaming, including Hulu, Activision, and Take-Two Interactive. Now VP, Global Head of TA Strategy at Take-Two, ... more

Adam Spector’s path has never been conventional, from leaving DC for boarding school to pivoting from law school into tech and startups. Now Founder & CEO of Chore, he shares how building companies, learning from early startup failures, and obsessing... more

Mary Price grew up as a first-generation American, learning early lessons in grit, integrity, and trust from her family and her uncle’s shoe repair shop. Today, as the founder of Penfield Talent, she brings that same people-first philosophy to talent... more

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Recent Guests

Jessica Wheeler
VP, Global Head of TA Strategy at Take-Two Interactive (includes 2K and Zynga within portfolio)
Take-Two Interactive
Episode: EP 219: Building Talent Programs at Hulu, Activision, and Take-Two
Adam Spector
Founder and CEO of Chor
Chor
Episode: EP 218: Don't Hire
Mary Price
Talent leader with experience at Apple, LinkedIn, Slack, Abnormal AI, and OneTrust
Penfield Talent (founding member)
Episode: EP 217: How Every Chapter Builds the Next
Katie Potter
VP of Talent Operations at Healthie
Healthie
Episode: EP 216: Grit, Resilience, and the AI-Driven Future of Talent Acquisition
Kelsey Hersh
Head of Talent Acquisition at Hometap
Hometap
Episode: EP 215: Building Human-Centered Talent Acquisition in the AI Era
Liam Naughton
Head of Recruiting at Merge
Merge
Episode: EP 214: Building TA Systems and Hiring Recruiters
Lauren Valencia
Head of Talent at Socket
Socket
Episode: EP 213: A Non-Traditional Path to a Ruthless Hiring Bar
Mallory Planck
Head of Talent Acquisition at Drata
Drata
Episode: EP 212: Managing Expectations in a Job You Can’t Control
Nyala Khan
Head of People and Talent, Slang AI
Slang AI
Episode: EP 211: Where Intuition Meets Pattern Recognition in Hiring

Host

James Mackey
Host of The Breakthrough Hiring Show

Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars from 43 ratings
  • Insight Well Beyond Talent Acquistion

    James Mackey and team deliver great insight on Talent Acquisition and recruiting, but so much more, as well! One of my favorite shows for HR, Leadership, and technology all around in the People Space. There is always a great mix of technical and psychological insight in each show, and James has a clear curiosity backed by the know-how to understand and explain the jargon. If you want to really understand what is going on in the People / Talent space, this is a great place to start (and I recomme... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    MichaelSalamey
    United States3 years ago
  • A must listen for leaders in recruitment

    The host is awesome! He asks great questions, brings up valid points and make the listener pause and think.

    Great resource for leaders in recruitment and those looking to create an effective workforce for the future.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Elena Agar
    United States3 years ago
  • Great Industry Information

    Every episode has great industry information

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Kirtchy
    United States3 years ago
  • Great Host, Fun Conversations

    Podcast Addict
    5
    John Shreve
    3 years ago
  • Great thought starter

    Each episode has a new guest, so you get unique points of view on a range of specific things, and everyone is actually working in this space right now, so it’s not just theory. Hearing what others are doing is a great way to kick-start your own thinking.

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    MeqaSmith
    Australia4 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

The format blends strategy with real-world storytelling, making complex concepts accessible.
Listeners appreciate the host's curiosity and ability to pull practical takeaways from complex topics.
Guests are consistently high-caliber TA leaders offering timely, actionable insights.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#55
Ukraine/Business/Careers
Apple Podcasts
#158
Brazil/Business/Careers
Apple Podcasts
#211
Mexico/Business/Careers
Apple Podcasts
#231
India/Business/Careers

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

EP 218: Don't Hire
Q: What's your view on the long-term impact of AI on the job market and startup success?
He is both cautious and optimistic, predicting a rocky transition period but eventual mass alignment with AI-enabled efficiency, and stresses staying close to the cutting edge while leading ethically and humanely.
EP 218: Don't Hire
Q: What makes Chor's approach to back-office work compelling for startups and growing companies?
Chor focuses on automating back-office chores (HR, finance, compliance, equity) and enabling founders to delegate non-core work to specialists, allowing them to focus on core product and growth while maintaining rapid execution.
EP 218: Don't Hire
Q: From a talent acquisition standpoint, what is most important for your business when it comes to hiring and how you do it to stay successful?
He argues for reducing reliance on hiring, advocating for leveraging contractors and AI-enabled processes to scale efficiently, and emphasizes a rigorous, test-driven, non-AI shortcut hiring process to ensure fit; the core idea is to hire selectively and delegate back-office work to specialists.
EP 219: Building Talent Programs at Hulu, Activision, and Take-Two
Q: So in your current role, right now at Take-Two Interactive, there are, as far as my understandings, it's a parent company, right? And you have three different labels funneling up to you and there is, in this year, you're looking at combining essentially the operations of the three labels into one center of excellence for talent acquisition, as I believe you put it. Did I say that properly?
Yes, the work to unify the three labels into a COE has been progressing and this year we're focused on operating as a single centralized team with harmonized processes, while still allowing regional flexibility where needed.
EP 215: Building Human-Centered Talent Acquisition in the AI Era
Q: Could you elaborate on value-based hiring?
Values over time become a core hiring filter; the company aims to hire people who embody the organization's values and can contribute to culture as well as skills, using structured assessment to judge fit.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
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Frequently Asked Questions About This Podcast

What is This Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A pragmatic show focused on building scalable hiring systems, AI-enabled recruiting, and people-first leadership in tech. Across episodes, listeners hear real-world TA strategy, practical interviewing practices, and how leaders balance fast growth with culture, candidate experience, and governance. Notable is the consistent emphasis on using technology to augment human judgment, plus a strong view that talent strategy should drive business outcomes rather than just fill roles. The format frequently features senior TA leaders and executives sharing playbooks, lessons from scaling, and thoughtful approaches to remote/hybrid work, making it a valuable resource for founders, HR leaders, and recruiters aiming to turn talent into a competitive ad... more

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Which podcasts are similar to this podcast?

These podcasts share a similar audience with this podcast:

1. Recruiting Future with Matt Alder - What's Next For Talent Acquisition, HR & Hiring?
2. The Daily
3. Up First from NPR
4. Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald
5. Giggly Squad

How many episodes of this podcast are there?

this podcast launched 4 years ago and published 221 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on this podcast?

Recent guests on this podcast include:

1. Jessica Wheeler
2. Adam Spector
3. Mary Price
4. Katie Potter
5. Kelsey Hersh
6. Liam Naughton
7. Lauren Valencia
8. Mallory Planck

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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