First, some awesome news: readers of the ERE Weekly will already be familiar with Matt Charney. I have been linking to his thinking on talent acquisition and technology lately, and in an age of mealy-mouthed AI slop masquerading as “content,” there is no one who writes more thoughtfully about the recruiting profession and TA tech. Matt will be joining the team as our new Editor at Large, and we’ll be seeing a lot more of his writing on ERE.net in the coming days.

Earlier this week I got the chance to speak with Jay Olson, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Medtronic, which is the world’s largest medical technology manufacturer. We spoke mostly about AI, how it is changing talent acquisition, and the new release of Ghost of Yotei.

With more than 95,000 employees around the world, Medtronic has a large talent acquisition team, with roughly 100 people in-house and another 200 through RPO partners.

Currently, a lot of that recruiting team’s time is spent in polite interviews even after the recruiter knows within minutes that they are not going anywhere, because no one wants to be rude or damage the candidate's experience.

Jay sees this lost time as low-hanging fruit. In his vision, AI will handle the administrative tasks at the top of the funnel and automate the most obvious screening decisions. Obvious fits and clearly unqualified candidates will be fast-tracked to interviews with hiring managers or sent polite rejections, freeing human time to be spent on what Jay calls the “messy middle,” candidates who do not check every box on paper but might shine with a few thoughtful conversations.

Medtronic is currently assessing AI tech partners to do this prescreening, and will bring the technology to their process soon. The company already is using an internally developed AI agent to automate HR reporting, and has an internal TA transformation group that is working on creating AI agents that will work alongside their human recruiting team. With these agents, the goal is to enable recruiters to spend their time on more high-impact activities, and the hope is that some teams will be able to go from each recruiter owning 20 requisitions to 30 or 40 each.

Jay is going to present at ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit in a few weeks to discuss Medtronic’s AI strategy with two of the smartest people in talent acquisition that I know, Jeremy Roberts from Tenzo and Jen Jones from Cedar. They will be discussing a framework for how to make sense of the dizzying array of AI technology hitting the recruiting market, and identify where change will be most impactful.

Join us in San Diego on November 4–5, 2025. If travel or time is tight, attend virtually with live Q&A access and on-demand recordings so you won’t miss a thing.

— David

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Sponsored Content

At the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit, senior talent acquisition leaders come together to tackle the biggest challenges in recruiting today: AI adoption, employer branding, sourcing breakthroughs, and what truly drives hiring success in 2025.

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Featured Story

When Hiring, Don’t Silence Your Intuition. Hone it.

I love it when we get great pieces from talent acquisition professionals who are doing the work. In this one, Matt Tzuker argues that intuition is our great advantage over the machines - we are hiring and connecting with other humans, and that it should not be eliminated from hiring but refined. (ERE)

More Recruiting Insights

The Great Exit. KPMG finds that college-educated mothers of young children have been leaving the labor force since late 2023 amid childcare shortages and rising inflation costs. (KPMG)

Is the Vibe Coding Bubble Starting to Burst? I’ve tried vibe coding a couple of apps. The initial pass on each was like magic. But as the flaws started showing, it became increasingly hard to fix them without digging into the code the old fashion way - every fix introduced new problems. According to these numbers from Barclays, traffic peaked for the major vibe coding players around May or June and have been coming down since. (Final Round AI)

Private payrolls declined in September by 32,000 in key ADP report coming amid shutdown data blackout. The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not release their expected report last week due to the government shutdown, so the ADP data on private payrolls is all we have to go by to measure the health of the US labor market. It’s not pretty. (CNBC)

Conferences

ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit

San Diego, CA

November 4-5, 2025

The ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit is the premier independent, practitioner-led event designed to deliver actionable insights for talent acquisition professionals. Join your peers to explore practical ideas, proven best practices, and case study solutions from leaders who are tackling the same recruiting challenges as you.

The full agenda is now live—see what’s in store and start planning your experience.

(ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit)

Webinars

Unleash Creativity with AI for Talent Acquisition

October 15, 2025 | 2:00 PM EDT | 1 Hour

Rediscover the creative side of recruiting in this interactive, 1-hour webinar built specifically for Talent Acquisition teams. Led by award-winning sourcer and Riot Games recruitment partner Alla Pavlova, this session goes beyond the AI basics to spark imagination, boost productivity, and bring some fun back into your workflow. (ERE)

Is Your Talent Acquisition Tech Ready for 2026?

October 22, 2025 | 2:00 PM EDT | 1 Hour

As 2026 approaches, Talent Acquisition teams face growing pressure to move faster, compete smarter, and prove ROI from every hire. The right tech stack – especially your ATS – can be the difference between hitting headcount goals or falling behind. (ERE)

Managing Change in Unprecedented Times

October 24, 2025 | 2:00 PM EDT | 1 Hour

Join Aaron Barlin of Elynndí for a practical, thought-provoking session that introduces the concept of “change languages” — six unique ways people interpret and respond to change. Whether you’re guiding your team through new tech rollouts, onboarding in a volatile market, or making a career shift yourself, knowing your change language can dramatically improve your approach. (ERE)

Maximizing Talent Acquisition Efficiency Without Burning Out

October 29, 2025 | 2:00 PM EDT | 1 Hour

In this webinar, we’ll break down what’s actually working for lean, effective TA teams right now. From building outbound strategies that don’t rely on increasingly expensive InMails, to identifying which technologies can truly drive efficiency, you’ll get practical strategies for navigating today’s challenges while planning for what’s next. We’ll also cover how to strengthen workforce planning through reskilling, internal mobility, and better use of your existing tools — all without burning out your team. (ERE)