Buzzworthy or BS? Matt Charney and I Take the Gloves Off on AI, LinkedIn, and the Future of Recruiting

If you work in HR or talent right now, you’re stuck in a strange place. Vendors keep promising that AI will make hiring faster, cheaper, and more fair. Your day-to-day reality: longer interview loops, more tools to manage, and candidates who are exhausted before they ever meet a hiring manager.

That tension is exactly why I brought Matt Charney on the Human Capitalist podcast. Matt has sat at the center of HR tech, media, and recruiting for years. He’s one of the few people who will say, bluntly, what many leaders only whisper: we may have been sold more AI than we can reasonably use.

Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/d_tfr3gJWKs

What we unpack in this episode

In under an hour, we try to answer one question: what’s actually working in recruiting and what’s just noise? We break it into four big themes:

1. OpenAI’s jobs and certifications push

   OpenAI wants to certify 10 million Americans by 2030 and position itself as a jobs platform, not just a model provider. Matt and I ask the question most earnings calls don’t: will these badges really change who gets hired and promoted, or are they another branded credential that looks good on slides but never makes it into real decision criteria?

2. LinkedIn as data factory, not just job board

   We talk about LinkedIn’s “big blue monster” status and why Microsoft increasingly treats it as a massive people-graph to train models, not simply a recruiting tool. I share how rising Recruiter license costs and vague “influenced hires” metrics forced me to rethink what we were actually buying—and whether that spend still beats targeted search or niche agencies on tough roles.

3. The uncomfortable data on AI in recruiting

   Matt brings fresh benchmark data from Gem and others: since 2021, average interviews per hire have climbed from roughly 15 to around 20; for technical roles, recruiters are now doing 35–36 interviews per filled role, spending about 26 hours of interview time per open requisition. If AI screening and matching were truly streamlining things, those lines should be going down, not up. We dig into why tech is often layering complexity onto already fragile processes instead of fixing root problems.

4. Buzzworthy or BS: the rapid-fire segment

   To make this practical, we run a “Buzzworthy or BS” lightning round on the phrases filling conference agendas:

   • Agentic AI

   • AI ethics and transparency

   • “The résumé is dead”

   • Skills-based and experiential hiring

   We call out where the ideas are genuinely useful (realistic job previews, portfolio-based assessment) and where they’re mostly rebranding of things good recruiters have done for years.

Why this episode matters right now

If you’re a CHRO, HRBP, or C‑suite leader, you’re being asked to do three things at once: cut costs, “be more strategic,” and somehow keep your teams from burning out. This conversation with Matt won’t give you another shiny framework—but it will give you language, data points, and a more honest lens you can take into your next tech purchase, intake meeting, or board update.

We talk plainly about where AI is helping, where it’s clearly not, and the boring moves that still work: internal mobility, referrals, realistic previews, and manager discipline. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re the only one questioning the AI sales pitch, this episode will reassure you that you’re not alone. And we will help you ask better questions.

Watch the full conversation

You can watch the full episode of the Human Capitalist with Matt Charney on my podcast page or your preferred platform. If you care about the future of recruiting, but you’re tired of slogans and “thought leadership” that never touches your actual requisitions…queue this one up for your next commute or flight.