On the Talent Acquisition Leaders Podcast, your host Ryan Dull of SageMark HR interviews today’s industry leaders in talent acquisition to discuss challenges, best practices, and what the future holds.
If you are working in talent acquisition and have always wanted to sit down with your peers at other companies and pick their brain, this show is the next best thing.
Topics for the show will include: recruiting, talent acquisition, recruiting technology, HR tech, and recruiting innovation..
Join us each week as we bring you a new talent acquisition interview and extract their expertise.
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Building a Strategic TA Function While Merging Three Recruiting Systems
Monday, September 21, 2026 • Duration 16:10
Recruiting often gets treated like a service desk, and the people doing it get measured on how fast they fill the order. Alison Paris will tell you that is a choice, not a job description.
As VP of Talent Acquisition at V2X, a $4.5 billion global services company with 16,000 employees, she leads a team hiring roughly 4,000 people a year across base operations, aerospace, and national security programs.
Listen in as she walks through the 9-month integration at Peraton that merged 3 recruiting teams and 3 applicant tracking systems while the team still delivered 3,500+ hires, the 6-month ATS consolidation she just finished at V2X, and why TA leaders should use data as a leader rather than a reporter.
If your team is stuck running process instead of shaping decisions, this is how the seat changes.
Key Takeaways:
[02:25] How a nonlinear path from admin assistant led to VP of TA.
[04:49] What global TA looks like across 16,000 employees and 4,000 annual hires.
[06:26] How 3 recruiting teams and 3 ATSs became one in 9 months.
[08:27] How V2X went live in a single ATS in 6 months.
[09:41] Why hires equal revenue in a services business.
[10:08] Which team behaviors Alison weights equally with hiring output.
[11:26] What 2 initiatives come next after an ATS consolidation.
[13:44] How to use data as a leader instead of a reporter.
"Approach your job and approach your craft as a strategic function versus a service desk." - Alison Paris
"My advice for TA leaders would be to use data as a leader and not as a reporter." - Alison Paris
"Our people are what generate our revenue. Hires equal revenue." - Alison Paris
About Alison Paris:
Alison Paris is the VP of Talent Acquisition at V2X, a $4.5 billion global services company where her team hires roughly 4,000 people a year and supports 16,000 employees across more than a dozen countries. She has spent nearly two decades in government contracting talent acquisition, including leadership roles at Northrop Grumman, TASC, CACI, Peraton, and Google's public sector business, where she built recruiting teams, TA operations functions, and bid and proposal recruiting from the ground up. At Peraton, she grew a 20-person team to roughly 130 over five years while the company scaled from 3,000 to 18,000 employees.
This episode is brought to you by SageMark HR.
SageMark HR can help you:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
✔ Identify opportunities to improve your talent practices and deliver tangible business results.
✔ Bridge the gap from "traditional" to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
Solving the Right Problem: How Victor Gaines Built a Data-Driven TA Function at Wellstar Health
Monday, June 8, 2026 • Duration 37:25
Most TA leaders are measuring the wrong things. Victor Gaines has spent 20 years fixing that.
As AVP of Talent Acquisition at Wellstar Health Systems, where his team hires 14,000+ people annually, Victor has led recruiting innovations across healthcare, fintech, food service, and media.
In this conversation, he shares the real work behind two of his proudest career wins: cutting turnover by 60% at Comcast using a validated assessment tool, and rebuilding clinical hiring at Aveanna from scratch during COVID by going fully digital and improving efficiency by 200%.
But none of it works if you're solving the wrong problem.
Listen in as Victor breaks down how to identify what your business actually needs, why most TA dashboards are "decoration," and how to build the credibility that earns you a seat at the table.
Key Takeaways:
[01:59] What shaped Victor's approach to solving TA problems at scale.
[04:25] How a validated assessment at Comcast reduced turnover by 60%.
[08:10] Building a fully digital hiring engine at Aveanna during COVID.
[13:32] The framework Victor uses to identify business priorities.
[18:51] The ‘5 Whys’ to identify the root cause of business pain.
[20:40] How a phased adoption strategy is making Phenom CRM stick at Wellstar.
[25:39] How to safeguard your priorities and say no without being seen as difficult.
[29:00] ROI, sunk cost fallacy, and smarter HR tech decisions
Resources Mentioned:
From Reactive Hiring to Workforce Strategy with John Heyliger of Lockheed Martin
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 • Duration 21:30
On this episode, Ryan Dull is joined by John Heyliger, Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition at Lockheed Martin. They discuss how one of the world’s largest defense organizations is modernizing talent acquisition, shifting toward skills-based hiring, embedding AI into recruiter workflows and tying TA outcomes directly to business performance. John shares practical insights on workforce planning, operational excellence, and what it takes to evolve from recruiter to strategic talent advisor.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
01:00 John's journey to talent acquisition and the roles that shaped his path.
03:00 Lockheed Martin’s scale, footprint and annual hiring volume.
04:00 The team modernizes HR and TA with a new ATS and HCM rollout, plus broader enterprise transformation and AI enablement.
05:00 TA success metrics go beyond time to fill, including candidate quality signals and funnel efficiency.
07:00 Tying recruiting speed to business outcomes — including faster hiring, enabling faster revenue recognition in some programs.
08:00 Short-term priorities include AI readiness, recruiter productivity gains, candidate experience and skills-based assessment pilots.
10:00 Candidate fraud and AI-generated résumés increase the need for stronger selection, detection and assessment practices.
12:00 Skills-based transformation requires “skills, roles and mobility.”
14:00 AI skill matching introduces adoption risks on both ends: too much skepticism or too much trust in the matching output.
18:00 Workforce planning is a strategic advantage when the business owns demand and HR owns supply, reducing reactive TA.
Building a Skills-First Workforce at Enterprise Scale with Astad Dhunjisha of AT&T
Friday, February 6, 2026 • Duration 24:01
Building talent at enterprise scale requires more than efficient hiring — it demands a long-term commitment to capability, culture and growth. On this episode, host Ryan Dull is joined by Astad Dhunjisha, Vice President Human Resources - Talent Acquisition and Learning & Development at AT&T. They dive into Astad’s career journey, how AT&T hires and develops tens of thousands of employees each year, and why shifting from process-driven recruiting to talent-driven TA is essential for building a future-ready workforce. The episode also explores how skills-based hiring, internal mobility and emerging AI capabilities are reshaping how large organizations think about talent.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
02:35 Astad shares how his broad HR background shapes his long-term focus on talent acquisition.
05:47 AT&T’s brand recognition streamlines candidate engagement across roles.
10:07 A leadership vision balances internal expertise with external perspectives.
12:19 A shift in TA to proactive talent hunting and future-facing employer-brand positioning.
15:10 Middle managers often grow internally through mobility and upskilling.
18:39 Skills-based hiring emerges as a key priority.
21:13 A university class dedicated to TA reflects its growing importance.
24:43 A strong eye for talent remains critical, despite AI-driven résumés.
Turning Candidate Care Into a Competitive Edge: The TA Shift with Stef Nikitas of Ace Hardware Corporation
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 • Duration 27:02
The journey into talent acquisition is rarely linear, and this episode brings that to life as host Ryan Dull sits down with Stef Nikitas, Director of TA at Ace Hardware Corporation, to explore her global career path and the transformation of TA at one of the most recognized brands in retail. They discuss the unique recruiting challenges created by Ace Hardware’s cooperative store model, the evolution of TA operations over the past decade and how Stef has driven major initiatives in process design, technology, data and candidate experience. She also reflects on how COVID accelerated change, why quality must replace quantity in hiring and how AI and automation continue to reshape the TA landscape.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
02:34 Stef fell into TA after a three-year HR apprenticeship in Germany.
07:01 Ace Hardware stores are independently owned and operated.
09:53 Hiring was siloed, driving the need to centralize TA.
11:56 Peak season becomes “speed dating” to hit staffing levels fast.
15:16 Grace, their chatbot, automates candidate care and keeps applicants engaged.
18:17 TA shifted from volume metrics to a deeper focus on quality of hire.
22:07 The career site was relaunched, and AI helped realign recruiter levels.
25:43 Be a sponge, say yes often and own your development.
What Adaptable TA Leadership Looks Like in Today’s Fast-Changing Hiring Landscape with Daja Davis of Avis Budget Group
Tuesday, December 16, 2025 • Duration 14:44
The future of TA is changing quickly, and leaders who embrace adaptability, data and technology are setting the pace. Host Ryan Dull sits down with Daja Davis, Director of Talent Acquisition at Avis Budget Group, to explore her career journey, the transformation of Avis Budget Group’s hiring strategy, and the mindset required for long-term success in TA. They discuss Daja’s non-linear path from retail to admissions to automotive recruiting, how she leads high-volume hiring across the Northeast and Central regions, and the innovations shaping their TA function today.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
02:30 Daja describes her path from retail to TA and her passion for recruiting.
04:25 Avis Budget Group is a global mobility provider with a large regional TA structure.
05:54 TA transformation centered on process, people and technology.
08:06 This year’s TA priorities focus on consistency, fulfillment, experience and retention.
10:10 Technician hiring surged after strengthening organization and pipeline management.
12:06 A focus on urgency led to structured outreach and faster interview scheduling.
How Transparent Leadership Accelerates Change Across Modern TA Organizations with Meg Struble of ServiceNow
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 • Duration 20:18
The pace of change in talent acquisition has never been faster, and leaders are being challenged to rethink how teams, tools and processes evolve.
On this episode, Meg Struble, Senior Director of TA Transformation, Optimization, and Excellence at ServiceNow, joins host Ryan Dull to discuss Meg’s career path, her approach to leading transformation in TA and how her team is preparing for the future of recruiting in an AI-driven landscape. She also explains how ServiceNow’s rapid growth is reshaping TA priorities, why transparency and authenticity matter more than ever and how her team uses data and new models to guide smarter decisions.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
02:38 Early work in university admissions sparks Meg’s path into TA.
04:35 ServiceNow streamlines work by unifying AI, data and workflows on one platform.
06:28 A role complexity model improves how recruiter capacity is measured.
08:44 Effective change hinges on clear communication and alignment.
10:40 Authentic, transparent leadership keeps teams aligned through complex change.
12:14 Admitting gaps in knowledge fosters stronger collaboration.
14:11 TA metrics guide performance today while AI enables more predictive insights.
18:10 TA leaders benefit from staying close to where real work and value are created.
Resources mentioned:
The TA Shift That Cuts Hiring Time by 40% with Cortney Grant of Johnson Controls
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 • Duration 19:38
Building a world-class recruiting function takes more than filling roles — it’s about strategy, technology and getting close to the work. On this episode, host Ryan Dull is joined by Cortney Grant, Director of Global Talent Acquisition of Johnson Controls. They discuss Cortney’s journey from agency recruiting to leading global TA functions, how specialization and automation transform hiring outcomes and why understanding operations on the ground drives better recruiting strategies. Cortney shares how strategic changes reduced time-to-fill by 40%, how AI is reshaping high-volume recruiting and why measuring quality of hire is just as critical as speed.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
02:35 Cortney shares how agency recruiting built her tenacity.
04:46 Leading high-volume recruiting at Amazon during the peak of COVID demand.
08:31 An opportunity to scale TA through RPO improved time-to-fill.
10:09 Two recruiter tracks built deeper subject expertise.
12:05 The two-track model isn’t one-size-fits-all and must align strategically.
14:00 AI dominates conversations, driving a shift in recruiter training.
18:14 Happy teams drive business success, and tenacity is key in today’s job market.
Blending AI and Human Insight To Define TA Success with Carin House of Grainger
Tuesday, September 23, 2025 • Duration 11:47
Navigating talent acquisition at scale requires a balance of technology, candidate experience and recruiter-driven success metrics. On this episode, host Ryan Dull is joined by Carin House, Director and Talent Acquisition Partner at Grainger. They discuss her career journey, the scale of Grainger’s hiring operations, and how her team measures success in TA. Carin also shares initiatives that shape the candidate experience and her advice for those building careers in recruitment.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
02:31 Carin graduated from law school in 2008 and joined Grainger through a temp job.
03:57 Grainger is a global MRO distributor with a mission to keep the world working.
06:08 Carin’s team measures TA success with recruiter-driven metrics.
08:24 The future of TA lies in blending AI innovation with human connection.
10:05 Always ask the question in your mind — it can spark valuable insights.
10:39 Mistakes are opportunities to learn and move forward.
Structuring Early Careers Teams To Support Large-Scale Campus Hiring with Jeff Ollinger of Sun Life
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 • Duration 26:52
Balancing innovation with the human side of hiring is shaping the future of talent acquisition. On this episode, host Ryan Dull is joined by Jeff Ollinger, Director, Talent Acquisition – Corporate and Campus, of Sun Life. They discuss Jeff’s career journey, the evolution of his role and the strategies Sun Life is deploying to strengthen both campus and experienced hiring. Jeff shares how his background in athletics and early career experiences led him into HR and TA, eventually shaping his leadership approach. He highlights the scope of Sun Life’s hiring operations, the company’s student conversion strategy and its focus on inclusion through specialized programs.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
02:36 Jeff shares how he became an accidental HR professional.
05:07 Jeff’s journey from RBC to the tech sector to broaden his campus recruitment work.
10:07 Sun Life hires 500–700 students annually, with a focus on full-time conversion.
13:45 Student recruitment is balanced all-year-round, not just in the summer.
18:03 Sun Life prioritizes manager and new hire satisfaction with a seamless experience.
20:12 Internal hiring is a priority for developing talent and filling senior roles.
22:14 AI is used to boost efficiency and insights, while decisions remain human-led.
25:10 Be open to unexpected career paths and new ways of doing business.
"You can spend millions of dollars trying to solve the wrong problem. Once you understand the problem, your success becomes much easier." - Victor Graines
“You also have to know where the real issues often are. And I think… 80+% of the time, it's something in the business. It might be comp. It might be hiring managers not doing the right thing… And you find power in finding the truth and then speaking truth.” - Victor Graines
“Having a meaningful strategy gives you leverage for saying yes where you need to say yes, and no where you need to say no.” - Victor Graines
About Victor Gaines:
Victor P. Gaines, II is the AVP of Talent Acquisition at Wellstar Health System, where his team manages over 14,000 hires annually. With nearly two decades of executive TA experience across healthcare, fintech, telecommunications, and consumer goods, he has led high-volume recruiting transformations at companies including Comcast, Fiserv, Cigna, Aveanna Healthcare, and Papa John's. He holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Kentucky and a Master's in Organizational Psychology from St. Joseph's University.
This episode is brought to you by SageMark HR.
SageMark HR can help you:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
✔ Identify opportunities to improve your talent practices and deliver tangible business results.
✔ Bridge the gap from "traditional" to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.
✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.
We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.
✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.
✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.
We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.
✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.
✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.
We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.
✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.
✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.
We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.
✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.
✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.
We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.
✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.
✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.
We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.
✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.
✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.
We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.
✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:
✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.
After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.
✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.
We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.
✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.
We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:
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