The Full Desk Experience

Kortney Harmon [00:00:00]:
Hi, I'm Kortney Harmon, Director of Industry Relations at crelate. Welcome to FDE Express, a short, sweet format of the Full Desk Experience Crelate Original podcast. We'll be diving into specific topics to show you how you grow your firm within 10 minutes or less. Each episode will cover quick hit topics to give you inspiration and food for thought for your talent businesses. Welcome back to another episode of the Full Desk Experience. I'm your host Kortney Harmon, Director of Industry Relations here at crelate, and today I need to have a very direct conversation with you about where your recruiting team stands in what we call this post AI era. I recently did a piece with Aaron Elder, Crelate CEO on the post AI era and honestly, the response has been intense. Some leaders are truly relieved to finally have a framework for understanding where they stand.

Kortney Harmon [00:01:03]:
Others are uncomfortable with what they're discovering about their own operations. But here's the thing. Discomfort is at the price of growth. And right now there's a great divide happening in our industry between those who are debating AI and those who are implementing it. The performance gap between these two groups is becoming seemingly impossible to ignore. Today I'm going to walk you through exactly what post AI era looks like. The warning signs that you're falling behind, and most importantly, your roadmap to catch up. Because the uncomfortable truth is there is.

Kortney Harmon [00:01:37]:
It's not about fearing what it takes to catch up. It's about fearing that you'll never be able to catch up. So let me start by clarifying what that post AI era means. This doesn't mean that AI is behind us. Quite the contrary. It means that AI is surrounding us. It's coming as essential as electricity. In top performing recruiting teams, you don't necessarily think about recruiting when you flip on a light switch.

Kortney Harmon [00:02:04]:
It just works. Similarly, AI is not an experimental technology anymore. We're talking about proven solutions delivering real results that can solve problems, or even complex works in minutes that maybe traditionally would take much longer, even weeks. So here's what the numbers tell us today. 38% of HR leaders are now using AI for talent discovery, cutting that shortlisting time by 50%. Companies that are using AI are seeing 50 to 70% reduction in the time to hire, with the 81% reducing time to fill up to 90%. These aren't just future predictions. This is happening right now.

Kortney Harmon [00:02:51]:
But here's the critical shift when AI can deliver solutions that will replace weeks worth of work or maybe market expectations. Accordingly, your client now expects faster turnarounds. They expect more sophisticated analysis. They Expect higher quality of deliverables at a faster time because your AI enabled competitors are already delivering that. This honestly creates a fundamental divide in our industry. There's that behind group that we talked about and those that are still debating its capabilities, feeling out the water, so to speak. And there's that ahead group they're already implementing. The performance gap between those two groups is, like I said, impossible to ignore.

Kortney Harmon [00:03:36]:
The behind group is stuck, maybe asking if they should use AI, if they're focusing on risk rather than opportunities, if they're waiting for the perfect solution or the one that'll never come. Meanwhile, the ahead group has already integrated AI across many business functions, from sourcing to screening to client relationships with entire teams. Using AI on a daily? Not occasionally. So let me give you a framework for determining where you stand. There are three critical areas where warning signs emerge. Think about process indicators, market indicators, and team indicators. Starting with process indicators, take an honest audit of your current operations. Are you still doing manual tasks that could be automated? Here's a telling statistic.

Kortney Harmon [00:04:31]:
61% of staffing leaders cite sourcing as their top challenge, with 30% of this group blaming it on inefficient tools. If your team's daily routine looks identical to what it did two years ago, you are not adapting fast enough. The most revealing question when your recruiters need to find someone, are they going to LinkedIn before they check your own database? Because that's exactly what we're seeing. I've seen it for years and I've seen people not make a change. People are bypassing their system that they've invested thousands in because those systems aren't intelligent enough to be trusted. When we think of market indicators, that's often your first sign that you're falling behind. Your clients are asking about AI capabilities that maybe you just don't have. Are your competitors consistently delivering faster results? Here's the data that should concern you.

Kortney Harmon [00:05:26]:
Companies using AI agents are seeing 75% faster placement cycles and 30% cost reductions. If you are competing with the traditional methods, you are fighting an uphill battle. And the ultimate market indicator is losing business. And we absolutely don't want that to happen. There are more innovative firms who can deliver better, faster results at lower cost. And when your competitor can fill a role in 10 days and you're taking 40, you're not just losing individual placements, you're losing entire clients. Let's think about team indicators. Team indicators might be more crucial.

Kortney Harmon [00:06:07]:
Warning if your staff is unaware of maybe AI applications in recruiting showing no interest in experimenting with tools or maybe actively resist new technology adoption, you have a culture problem that needs absolute immediate attention. Here's what really concerns me. If your hiring plan still focuses exclusively on traditional roles without considering AI literate skills, you're building a team for yesterday's market. We know that 83% of professionals report AI enhances their capabilities rather than just replacing them. And we're looking at a transformation where AI will shift 80 million jobs but create 97 million new ones by the end of 2025. But this only benefits teams that who are really positioned correctly for that transition. And it's like the foundational processes. So let me paint this picture for you of what capability gap might actually look like in practice.

Kortney Harmon [00:07:09]:
While traditional firms really spend days on candidate research, AI enabled day team delivering comprehensive profiles in hours, there's a big difference between those two pieces. While manual process takes weeks to identify passive candidates, AI agents are continuously discovering and rediscovering talent in real time. The speed differences are truly staggering. It's not just about speed though. It's about quality. It's about strategic value. AI enabled teams aren't just for working faster. They're about solving problems differently and entirely.

Kortney Harmon [00:07:47]:
They've moved from operational recruiting to strategic talent consulting. Here's what I'm seeing in the market today. Top firms are using AI sourcing agents to transform their existing candidate databases into revenue drivers. They're discovering talent they've already had relationships with. They're re engaging candidates who have grown in their careers and identifying opportunities that would have been impossible to spot manually. The financial impact is truly significant here. We're talking about companies generating 30 to 50% more revenue per recruiter, not by working harder, by working smarter. Meanwhile, those traditional firms who are struggling just to justify their pricing when it comes to competitors who offer AI solutions.

Kortney Harmon [00:08:36]:
Now here's the most concerning trend. The gap is widening every single day. Every day the behind group waits to catch up. It becomes harder and harder. We're seeing a compound effect where AI enabled capabilities build on themselves, creating advantages that become increasingly difficult to replicate. The firms in the ahead group aren't just using AI. They're developing institutional knowledge about how to apply it effectively. They're building business processes, they're training teams.

Kortney Harmon [00:09:12]:
They're creating competitive moats in their traditional firms will really find truly difficult to overcome. Now, the good news is it's not too late to catch up. But you need to start acting decisively. So let me give you a clear roadmap. In the next 30 days, you need to start immediate Action. You need to conduct that comprehensive audit for your current process to identify AI opportunities. Don't transform or don't try to transform everything all at once. Implement basic AI tools for your daily teams to start experiments in your target areas.

Kortney Harmon [00:09:48]:
Most importantly, begin training your team on AI applications in recruiting. Remember, 46% of organizations cite skill gaps as their biggest barrier to AI adoption. Now, 37% struggle with poor integration, but 81% see faster hiring when they're implementing responsible AI practices. So the key to that is start with education and small wins. So for your short term strategy over the next 90 days, focus your efforts on identifying three to five specific workflows where AI integration will have the highest impact. So choose those specialized AI tools and designed for recruiting functions rather than generic solutions. This is where most organizations use human assisted AI sourcing and really, truly seeing that positive return. Within three to six months.

Kortney Harmon [00:10:41]:
You need to develop a framework for client conversations that highlight your AI capabilities. Your clients are starting to ask different questions. Instead of how many recruiters do you have? They're asking how are you using AI to give us that competitive advantage? And you need to be answering that confidently for strategic positioning over the next six months. This is where real transformation is going to happen. Begin shifting your positioning from people placement to strategic consulting. Develop deep expertise in AI driven workflows and planning and building capabilities for future focused recruiting challenges. So here's the mind shift that is critical. Think beyond current AI capabilities to broader automation trends.

Kortney Harmon [00:11:29]:
Ask bigger questions about industry transformation rather than just tactical improvements, focusing on solving problems that won't exist in two years, but to build an adaptable and learning oriented culture for your teams internally. So let me address the elephant in the room. It's the fear factor. Many recruiting leaders are paralyzed by fear of making the wrong choice, investing in the wrong technology, or disrupting successful operations that work today. But here's the uncomfortable truth. It's not about fearing what it'll take to catch up. It's about fearing that you'll never be able to catch up. Every day you delay, your AI enabled competitors are pulling further ahead, building additional capabilities, refining additional processes and truly capturing market share.

Kortney Harmon [00:12:23]:
We're seeing that fundamental shift in client expectations. When competitors are delivering 75% faster results and 30% cost savings. Those become new baseline expectations. Your traditional approach isn't just slower, it's becoming unacceptable to clients who know better operations exist. So in the post AI era, it's not just coming, it's here. The question isn't whether to adopt AI, but whether you can catch up fast enough to remain competitive. The firms that recognize this reality and act on it will thrive. Those that continue debating will find themselves increasingly irrelevant in the market that has moved on without them.

Kortney Harmon [00:13:06]:
So here's what I want you to understand. Perfect doesn't exist in this space. This technology is evolving rapidly. Client expectations are shifting every day and the competitive dynamic are changing monthly. The firms that succeed are those that start implementing, start learning, and start iterating quickly. Action beats analysis every single time. Your competitors aren't waiting for the perfect solution. They're implementing good solutions and improving them through experience.

Kortney Harmon [00:13:40]:
Every day you spend in analysis mode, they're building advantages through actual implementation. So let me bring this full circle. The great divide in our industry isn't about technology adoption. It's about mindset. My question to you is, are you building a business for the market that existed five years ago or the market that's emerging today? The behind group is still thinking in terms of traditional requirements and traditional metrics. The number of placements, the cost per hire, the time to fill the head group is thinking in terms of strategic business impact, helping clients navigate workforce transformation, building competitive advantages through talent, solving problems that don't even exist yet. Your clients are facing unprecedented challenges. They need to transform their workforce to take advantage of AI.

Kortney Harmon [00:14:30]:
They need to adapt to massive macro challenges, reshoring supply chain distribution, new regulatory environments. They need to build teams for challenges they've never faced before. And the question is, are you positioned to help them with these strategic challenges? Or are you still focused on operational recruiting tasks that AI can increasingly handle better than humans? Here's what I'm seeing with the most successful firms. They're using AI to handle operational work so their human talent can focus on strategic consulting, relationship building, and solving complex business problems. They're not replacing recruiters with AI, they're augmenting recruiters with AI so they can deliver exponentially more value. I want to leave you with this thought. In the post AA era, it isn't a future state we're moving towards. It's currently the reality for top performing recruiting teams.

Kortney Harmon [00:15:23]:
The warning signs I've outlined today aren't theoretical concerns. They're practical indicators of competitive positioning. If you recognize your organization is falling in the behind group, that recognition is the first step towards your transformation. And the roadmap that I've shared isn't just about catching up. It's about positioning yourself to lead that AI enabled market. The firms that act on this information quickly will find themselves with increasingly significant competitive advantages. Those that continue to delay will find the gap increasingly difficult to close. So now remember, the data tells a clear story.

Kortney Harmon [00:16:02]:
75% reduction in time to hire, 30% cost savings. 50 to 70% improvement in efficiency metrics. Those aren't just aspirational goals, they're the current reality For AI enabled teams. The choice is yours, but choose quickly. The gap is widening every single day and speed matters more than the perfect in this transformation. So thanks for joining me today on the Full Desk Experience. I'm Kortney Harmon, and until next time, stop debating and start implementing. The future belongs who those who embrace it.

Kortney Harmon [00:16:40]:
If you want to learn more about AI sourcing agents and how to position your team for the post AI era, visit us@curtly.com and if this episode was a wake up call, please share it with other recruiting leaders who need to hear this message. Until next time.

Kortney Harmon [00:16:57]:
That's all for today's episode of FDE Express.

Kortney Harmon [00:17:00]:
I'm Kortney Harmon with Crelate.

Kortney Harmon [00:17:02]:
If you have any questions or topics you'd like for us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to submit them to fulldeskrelate.com or ask us live next session. And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast wherever you listen and sign up for our monthly events to keep learning and growing your business. Thanks for tuning in to FDE Express, a short and sweet format of the Full Desk Experience. We'll see you next time.