How to Survive the Latest Recruiting Tech Hype-Cycle

Lately, my inbox feels like a sci-fi convention. 

Doesn't yours? 

Every other message touts the next "game-changing" chatbot, a "revolutionary" AI, or the "cost-destroying" machine learning platform that will "disrupt" my hiring process forever. 

Like no other time in history, the industry is moving so fast I can’t even keep up. 

And I’ll admit. I’m having some major FOMO. 

But while the bloggers, podcasters, and conference speakers might be shouting that the future of recruitment is here, the truth is, for most companies, it's not attainable. 

Bleeding edge startups with no internal IT governance can probably experiment all they want. But bigger companies, with sludgy approval processes, will have to wait for their existing enterprise systems to roll out some version of AI or automation.  

But that doesn’t mean we should bury our heads in the sand. The future is here, and we need a strategy to adopt it intelligently, without falling prey to every shiny new toy that promises the moon.

So, how do we navigate the current hype-cycle filled with futurists and consultants who make you feel like you're the last one to the party? Well, it starts with a fresh look in the mirror. 

YOUR TECH-READINESS CHECKLIST:

Before you even think about adding another tool to your stack, ask yourself these crucial questions:

  • Where are we now? Take a deep dive into your existing technology. Are you truly squeezing every drop of value out of your current ATS, CRM, or other platforms? 

  • What's the compelling reason to adopt new technology? This is perhaps the most important question. Is your motivation FOMO, or is there a genuine, documented business problem that this technology is uniquely positioned to fix?

  • Are we using what we have? If your team isn't fully utilizing what you already have, why not? A lack of adoption now is a giant red flag for future implementations.

  • How tech-savvy is my recruitment team? Be honest. If your team isn't capable or willing to quickly learn and leverage new tools, even the most brilliant system will be dead on arrival.

  • How tech-savvy are my hiring managers? This is often overlooked. If your hiring managers struggle with basic tech, introducing complex new platforms could severely limit adoption and create more friction than solutions.

  • How much time can my team dedicate to enabling and adopting new technology? Buying new tech is the easy part. Getting people to use it, consistently and effectively, is an uphill battle that requires dedicated time and resources.

  • What can I truly afford, and what's the tangible ROI? Are you buying a solution because you feel outdated, or because you have a legitimate, quantifiable problem that this specific tool will solve, delivering a clear return on investment?

If you're being truly honest with yourself after reading this checklist, you'll likely realize that you’re not as ready as you would like to be.  And adding more technology may do more harm than good. 

If this is true for you, here are some tips to continue moving forward responsibly. 

KEY STEPS FOR NEW TECH ENABLEMENT

The real genius of a strong tech stack isn't about constantly acquiring the newest tools. It's about maximizing the value of what you already have while strategically keeping an eye on viable replacements or enhancements. 

Here are some tips for advancing your tech agenda…intelligently:

  • Master Your Existing Tech First: Partner deeply with your current partners. Fully optimize your existing solution before looking elsewhere. You might uncover hidden features or functionalities you didn't even know existed.

  • Get Quick Wins On Manual Tasks: Identify the parts of your recruiting process that represent simple, manual, repetitive tasks. Think recruiter phone screen scheduling, sourcing email sequences, and interview note taking with your existing video call platform. These are prime candidates for automation that could serve as a business case for more investment.  

  • Pursue Integrations: Prioritize connecting disparate systems. Seamless data flow between your ATS, HRIS, CRM, and other tools can improve efficiency. 

  • Experiment Responsibly: Set aside 1 hour per month and accept demos from new tech vendors. Listen to their pitch. Talk to their clients. If a solution sounds like it could solve a problem you've identified, ask them to run a pilot. 

Even the most progressive recruiting leaders will agree that the key to building a forward-leaning tech stack is not to have an “adopt everything” approach. The best strategy is to keep one foot firmly planted on solid ground by optimizing your current tools, while dedicating around 20% of your time to responsible experimentation. 

This is how you can lean into the future of recruiting, without getting swept away by the FOMO-creating tech marketing hype-machine.

// Supporting Resources


Use the following resources to go deeper on the topic of smart tech adoption in an age of rapid innovation. 

📚 Books to Read

  • RecOps: Recruiting is Still Broken…Here’s How to Fix It by James Colino. Slightly biased here (😎) but the core of my book covers how to think through technology selection for optimal outcomes. Book Link Here

  • Leading Change by John P. Kotter. An oldie-but-goodie, this book emphasizes urgency, strong guiding coalitions, a clear vision, effective communication, empowerment, and generating quick wins to drive transformation. Book Link Here

🎧 Podcasts to Ponder

  • Recruiting Future with Matt Alder Episode: "AI Agents - Cutting Through The Hype" (May 26, 2025). This episode highlights the importance of customer research in developing meaningful AI innovations, the necessity of building agents that can collaborate across diverse platforms, and provides guidance on how talent acquisition leaders should evaluate AI vendors. Listen Here

  • The Hackett Group's Gen AI Breakthrough Podcast: "Talent Acquisition Matrix Study" (April 3, 2025). This episode (and the accompanying study) specifically addresses how tech vendors are leveraging AI to enhance recruiter efficiency, reduce hiring costs, and improve candidate quality. It highlights key differentiators and emerging trends, directly linking technology to quantifiable improvements in talent acquisition, which is crucial for demonstrating ROI. Listen Here

  • Driving AI Adoption At H&M with Melissa Hojwall (May 25, 2025). While focused on AI, the core theme here is adoption in a large, complex organization (H&M, with over 100,000 employees). Melissa Hojwall discusses strategies around implementation, adoption, and continuous change management to make TA and HR tech projects successful. This provides real-world insights into overcoming adoption challenges and measuring impact, especially in a distributed workforce. Listen Here

📄 Articles to Skim

  • "The Biggest Reason Why New HR Technology Implementations Fail" by SHRM. This article stresses the importance of establishing clear adoption objectives, developing structured change management plans (which explicitly address the "What's in it for me?" question for employees), allocating dedicated time for user training and experimentation, employing digital nudges, and integrating small, practical applications of Generative AI to demonstrate immediate value. Read Here

  • "Strategies for Improving HR technology Adoption" by TechTarget. This post recommends involving end-users during the technology selection phase, cultivating internal user communities, engaging new hires with HR technology early in their tenure, encouraging senior leaders to champion the change, and implementing simple digital nudge techniques to guide user behavior. Read Here

🎥 Videos to Watch

  • "AI Hiring Roundtable" with Hilke Schellmann (YouTube). In this session, Bill Fanning sits down with Hilke Schellmann, author of The Algorithm and Assistant Professor of Journalism at NYU. They dive into the research behind her book, unpack the HireVue controversy, and discuss the rise of AI-generated resumes, AI-driven interview coaching, and ChatGPT. Plus, they explore how recruiting processes are changing to promote more inclusion and diversity. Watch Here

  • "AI Empowered Super Recruiters in 2025" - The Elite Recruiter Podcast. This episode dives deep into how AI is revolutionizing sourcing, messaging, and efficiency. It explores how AI tools empower recruiters to be "super recruiters" by automating tedious tasks, and discusses the evolving "arms race" between candidates and AI-equipped recruiters, providing a glimpse into a highly automated future. Watch Here

  • "How AI in Recruitment Is Changing the Game" - The HR Dialogues by AIHR. This interview explores how AI is transforming job interviews, impacting talent supply, and comparing human vs. AI bias. It gives a clear picture of how AI is fundamentally altering traditional recruitment processes and the implications for both HR professionals and candidates. Watch Here