AI & OJ: The HR & TA Leaders Breakfast - Feb, SF

About 15 people gathered at our AI & OJ event in early February to talk through what's actually happening in AI hiring right now.

The biggest thing everyone kept circling back to was that companies are looking for unicorns that basically don't exist. We're talking staff engineers with 2+ years of hands-on agentic/LLM experience, who've shipped complex systems at scale, AND can do data engineering, AND have product sense. The math just doesn't work.

What TA leaders are doing about it:

• Using data to push back on unrealistic job specs (like showing hiring managers that 30 candidates failed the first screen, maybe the bar needs adjusting)

• Running sourcing jams with engineering teams to get warm intros

• Boosting referral bonuses to $5-10K for hard roles

• Having CTOs reach out directly for "network conversations" instead of formal interviews

• Looking at Canada (Toronto, Vancouver) where comp expectations are lower and visa processes are easier

The AI tools conversation got interesting. People are using ChatGPT/Claude for message personalization, specialized sourcing tools like Juicebox for filtering target companies, and building internal AI knowledge bases instead of Confluence docs nobody reads.

The group included recruiters from Prophecy, Single File, Argonaut, and folks with agency and startup experience. Good mix of perspectives on creative, tech, and AI-specific hiring challenges.

The main point was to hire for strong fundamentals and potential, not impossible experience requirements. Train people on the cutting-edge stuff. Build teams that can absorb and develop talent instead of demanding it walk in the door fully formed.

Want in on the next one? We're running SF AI & OJ again in March. Same vibe, real conversations about what's working (and what's not) in AI hiring. Sign up here!