In this episode of The Talent Fix, Barry Prost speaks with Andrew Hines, Lecturer in Computer Science at University College Dublin, about the real impact of AI on jobs and what skills will continue to matter most.
We explore:
What generative AI can and can’t do in the workplace
Why “AI shepherds” are emerging as a crucial role
The biggest misconceptions about AI in hiring
The skills future graduates (and current leaders) can’t afford to ignore
Whether humans will remain “in the loop” or be pushed out
Andrew also shares insights from his work in speech AI, discusses the AI arms race in recruitment, and explains why critical thinking still trumps prompt engineering.
Whether you’re a hiring leader, HR pro, or just wondering how to stay relevant in the AI era, this episode delivers the clarity you need.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro & Guest Welcome
00:49 – What Jobs Will AI Actually Replace?
02:00 – What Gen AI Can and Can’t Do
04:30 – Deterministic vs Stochastic AI
06:00 – AI’s Limits in Structured Environments
08:10 – Why Voice & Translation AI Still Fall Short
10:30 – What Are “AI Shepherds” and Why We Need Them
12:30 – The Case for Keeping a Human in the Loop
14:20 – AI Bias and Cultural Blind Spots
16:00 – Empathy, Context, and Hiring in an AI World
17:40 – The Skills That Still Matter
20:50 – Why AI Literacy Is Critical for All Careers
23:00 – The AI Arms Race in Recruitment
25:45 – Final Thoughts: Balance, Ethics, and Opportunity
Read more on AI in Recruitment: https://rentarecruiter.com/ai-recruitment-leading-with-ethics-and-accountability/
In this episode of The Talent Fix, Barry Prost talks to Vanessa Wainwright, Founder & CEO of Abodoo, about how Skills Intelligence is transforming the way we work, learn, and hire. Discover why a Skills Passport, task-based jobs, and a common skills language are key to the future of work — and how organisations can implement a winning Skills Intelligence Strategy today.As the skills landscape changes rapidly — with 56% of businesses saying their core skills changed in the last 2 years, and 59% expecting more change by 2027 (Skillnet) — understanding what skills you will need and how to acquire them is becoming critical for both employers and employees.Timestamps:00:00 – Welcome & Introduction01:01 – The story behind the name “Abodoo”01:41 – Why a skills-first hiring approach matters03:13 – Creating individualised skills pathways for every employee04:25 – The chaos of skills taxonomies & how Abodoo solves it06:51 – The outdated CV problem & rise of Skills AI07:45 – 55,000+ skills & keeping up with change08:13 – Tools like Skills Lens & Core Skills First System09:10 – The Skills Passport: What it is and how it works09:46 – Most in-demand skills of the next 5 years11:14 – Lifelong learning & empowering employees12:52 – Calculating the true cost of your skills gap14:19 – Mapping skills and personalising learning pathways15:51 – Skills marketplaces & internal mobility16:56 – Why jobs are evolving into tasks17:57 – Task-based hiring: What’s next18:39 – The importance of educating business leaders20:11 – Future role of Chief Skills Officer22:43 – Visualising your real-time skills assets23:31 – Measuring skills levels & transferable skills24:57 – Building fulfilling, flexible careers26:13 – How to sign up for Abodoo’s Skills First WorkshopSign up for the Skills First Masterclass: https://abodoo.com 💡 Subscribe for more conversations on the future of hiring, learning, and talent strategy.
In this episode of The Talent Fix, Barry Prost speaks with Dr. John McMackin, Associate Professor at DCU Business School, to explore why traditional CVs are becoming obsolete — and how a skills-first approach can futureproof your hiring strategy.From skills taxonomies to internal mobility barriers, we unpack the research and offer practical advice for HR and TA leaders navigating this evolving landscape.
00:00 - Introduction & Guest Welcome
00:54 - Skills vs Experience in Hiring
02:20 - Why Skills Predict Performance Better Than Qualifications04:55 - Challenges of Adopting a Skills-First Approach
06:45 - Importance of Shared Skills Language (Taxonomy)
09:00 - Resistance to Skills Transparency & Internal Mobility
12:00 - Starting with Pilot Projects in Skills-Based Hiring13:30 - How to Assess Skills Beyond the CV
15:40 - The Role of Self-Assessment & Performance Management
17:00 - Rethinking Job Descriptions & Qualifications
19:45 - Addressing Bias in Hiring Decisions
21:00 - Skills Passports: Empowering Employee Development
22:50 - Where to Access the Full Research
23:30 - Closing Remarks & Outro
About Rent a Recruiter
Rent a Recruiter is a B2B embedded recruitment agency helping high-growth and enterprise companies scale their talent acquisition with flexible, cost-effective hiring solutions. Our embedded recruiters work as an extension of your internal team, helping you find top talent faster, smarter, and with less risk.We specialise in scalable recruitment across sectors and empower businesses with a skills-first mindset to match the right people to the right roles.
Want to learn more or book a consultation?Visit https://rentarecruiter.com/ or connect with us on LinkedIn.
Mastering Workforce Upskilling with special guests, Breeda O’Toole from IDA Ireland and Carmel Keane of Fort Wayne Metals.
Join us as we dive into the critical topic of workforce upskilling alongside two esteemed guests: Breeda O’Toole from IDA Ireland and Carmel Keane of Fort Wayne Metals.
This podcast explores strategies, trends, and practical examples for embedding continuous learning into organisational cultures.
Key Themes from the Podcast:
1. Trends Shaping Workforce Upskilling
2. Overcoming Challenges to Embrace Continuous Learning
3. Practical Case Study: Fort Wayne Metals
4. Strategies for Building a Future-Ready Workforce
In this episode we talk to Charlotte Melkert, co-founder of Equalture, which is revolutionising the recruitment landscape. With an eye for fairness and a passion for disrupting the status quo, she's challenging the traditional reliance on CVs and transforming how we think about talent acquisition.Charlotte shares her views on which competencies (flexibility and learning ability) & traits (conscientiousness & proactivity) are the greatest predictors of a candidates success in the role. Charlotte gives some brilliant practical tips for how HR Managers can easily start to shift towards a competency based approach for hiring. For example 1) compare / contrast traits & competencies of your high performing teams vs your low performing teams; 2) Ask your Hiring Manager, what are the traits/competencies of the high performing individuals in your team? 3) Ask your Hiring Managers the 'Golden Question': if this person left the company tomorrow - what skills / competencies would you lose? Finally, Charlotte shares her view of the future of Talent Acquisition becoming a key strategic pillar of every organisation.
In this episode of the Talent Fix we talk to Caroline Reidy, the owner and managing director of the HR Suite and an HR & Employment Law Expert. Caroline is also an author and TEDx presenter.
Caroline shares her views on Employee Engagement; Flexible Working; Interview Best Practice and the main challenges businesses are facing today!Listen to Carolines recommendations on how to give objective interview feedback and link it to competencies. In addition Caroline gives her recommendations on what to do when you have an urgent requirement from an employee.
In this episode of the Talent Fix: Shayne Murphy gives his views on the top 5 traits the highest performers typically possess - how many of these do your team members have?!Shayne Murphy, is a performance coach with Manchester City Football Club and the Scottish National Football Team discussing building high performing teams.
Shayne shares his thoughts on what lessons businesses can learn from sports when it comes to culture, skills, motivation and leadership.
Joan McNaboe, Research Manager at SOLAS joins us to discuss the latest findings from the National Skills Bulletin 2023, trends in recruitment, including Skills First Hiring, as we move into 2024. We delve into how businesses and educational institutions can collaborate more effectively to address the skills gaps.
Check out our latest episode of the Talent Fix on Recruitment and Diversity Equity and Inclusion DEI best practice with Tam Hanlon and Sheryl Lynch. Sheryl is one of the core experts at Colectivo, a business consultancy, who has worked at EU level on projects that foster Diversity equity and inclusion. Tam is a HR leader who previously lead DE&I for EMEA for Indeed. In this episode Tamand Sheryl share interesting research and practical tips for employers on how to build a more inclusive recruitment practice. Areas covered in this podcast include ‘ableism’; tips for SME’s; amazing talent available in neurodiverse workers; Skills based hiring; How AI can help remove unconscious bias; organisations to reach out to support diversity; Employer branding and reviewson Glassdoor!
Check out our podcast with John Riordan Chairman of Grow Remote, a platform to make remote work accessible for everyone. In this episode John shares his insights on working from home, how the top CEOs have been doing this for a long time and how we need to change our view of work as an “output” rather than a “place”.
In this episode of the Talent Fix with CEO an HR Locker Founder, Adam Coleman, we take a deep dive into interviewing and selection techniques, Adam shares his thoughts on why he doesn’t believe candidates should have to ‘perform’ at interviews and you’ll also hear Adam’s thoughts on the best predictor of a candidate’s future performance!”
I'm delighted to be joined this morning by Hannah Wrixon, who is General Manager of WrkWrk.
As recent winner of the Image Magazine Digital & Technology Business Woman of the Year 2019 and Network Ireland’s Business woman of the year Hannah Wrixon, CEO of Get the Shifts is committed to doing things a little differently. From innovative apps to a lively and fun culture, WrkWrk is shaking up the temp recruitment sector.
Our founder and CEO was born into this hospitality and entrepreneurial family, in 1975, and she had her first business at age 11, making stuffed toys – alas most are still in stock!
Hannah leads a team to bring this new and exciting approach to temp recruitment to Ireland.
Greg founded Recruitment Solutions in 1987, and rapidly built the start-up across Australia and New Zealand, culminating in eight offices, 200 staff, and annual sales of $60,000,000. Such was Recruitment Solutions’ success that, in July 1998, the company was successfully listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, with Greg at its helm as both Executive Director and COO.
Greg acts as an Advisor & Director for eighteen recruitment and technology companies in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Singapore. In 2015 Greg was voted The most influential person in the Australian recruitment industry in the past 60 years. In 2016 Greg was named The Most Influential Business Voice on Twitter (Australia)
A new space for discussion with business owners and CEO's about the recruitment issues of the day. On today's podcast we speak with Donal O'Donoghue Managing Director of Sanderson Recruitment and President of the ERF Employment and Recruitment Federation.
A new space for discussion with business owners and CEO's about the recruitment issues of the day with Co founder and Managing Partner of Rent a Recruiter, and Propel Consult, Barry Prost. In this episode, Barry talks to Neil Dundon, Founder of Crypto Recruit the world's first recruitment/talent agency specialising in recruiting exclusively within the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency space, about the latest recruitment trends. A must listen for Recruiters and anyone interested in Crypto!
A new space for discussion with business owners and CEO about the recruitment issues of the day with Managing Partner of Rent a Recruiter Barry Prost & CEO of Reejig Sibohane Savage.
We're delighted to have Professor Na Fu from Trinity College Dublin on this episodde of Talent Fix. During this chat, Barry gets the academic perspective on the latest recruitment trends impacting organisations.
A new space for discussion with business owners and CEO's about the recruitment issues of the day with Managing Partner of Rent a Recruiter Barry Prost & Mackin President & founder Andy Mackin.
A new space for discussion with business owners and CEO's about the recruitment issues of the day with Managing Partner of Rent a Recruiter Barry Prost & SoftCO co-founder Susan Spence.
A new space for discussion with business owners and CEO's about the recruitment issues of the day with Managing Partner of Rent a Recruiter Barry Prost & Propel Consult Co-founder Jamie Groom.