Stop Digitizing Dysfuntion | EP96

An insightful conversation with one of the “God -Father’s” of recruitment. What happens when technology moves faster than the systems and people expected to use it? Craig Fisher has been in this game a long time and if you know Craig, you know he has a habit of seeing what’s coming before the rest of the industry catches up. Employer brand before it became a function. Community before it became a strategy. Recruiting technology before we had a tech stack for everything. And now, AISO AI Search Optimization before most organizations have even considered what AI is saying about them. In this episode of Inside the C-Suite, I sit down with Craig to talk about much more than the next shiny piece of technology. We get into the strategy behind the technology and the leadership decisions that determine whether any of it actually works. Because Craig’s perspective is pretty simple: Technology doesn’t fix bad strategy. And it definitely doesn’t fix broken process. You can automate a workflow. Implement AI. Buy the latest platform. But if you haven’t defined the problem you’re trying to solve, fixed the process underneath it, and put the right people in place to execute it, you’re not transforming recruiting. You’re just digitizing the dysfunction. We talk about why user adoption continues to be one of the biggest misses in HR technology. Recruiters are hired to hunt, build relationships, assess talent, and move people through the funnel but too often they’re buried in administrative work. Hunters want to hunt. The strategic question for leaders isn’t simply, What technology should we buy? It’s: What work should humans be doing, what should technology be doing, and have we designed the system so both can perform at their best? Then we get into AISO: AI Search Optimization. The way candidates discover and evaluate employers is changing. They’re not only searching Google, LinkedIn, and career sites anymore. They’re asking AI questions about companies, cultures, leaders, jobs, and employee experiences. That means your employer brand is increasingly being interpreted not just marketed. Craig breaks down why leaders need to understand what AI already knows about their organization, how their digital footprint influences those answers, and why discoverability is quickly becoming a strategic talent issue. And Craig knows something about getting ahead of shifts like this. He was thinking about employer brand before everyone had an employer-brand strategy. He was experimenting with recruiting technology before automation dominated the conversation. And through TalentNet Live, he was building meaningful professional networks before “community-led growth” became corporate vocabulary. That’s what makes this conversation bigger than recruiting technology. It’s about pattern recognition. It’s about knowing the difference between a trend and a fundamental shift. It’s about building the strategy and operating model before buying the solution. And it’s about remembering that efficiency isn’t the same thing as effectiveness. Because as AI gets smarter and recruiting becomes more automated, the competitive advantage may not be who has the most technology. It may be who has built the smartest system around it. Craig may be an OG in recruiting, but this conversation isn’t about looking backward. It’s about what he sees coming next. Better technology isn’t the strategy. Building a better system is. At the heart of the conversation is a reminder that the future of recruiting isn't simply about adopting more technology. It’s about using technology thoughtfully while making sure the humans inside the process still have the time, support, and connection to do their best work. 03:35 – What is AI Search Optimization (AISO)? 07:35 – How candidates are researching employers with AI 09:47 – Three things companies should do before 2027 11:21 – Why technology cannot fix broken recruiting processes 14:27 – Have we optimized the humanity out of hiring? 16:21 – Launching a business during the Great Recession 19:49 – The defining leadership moment at CA Technologies 27:11 – Creating a community where everyone learns from each other | Connect with Us | Follow Craig Fisher: LinkedIn:   / wcraigfisher   Website: https://talentnetlive.com/ Follow Inside the C-Suite: Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2gk39Ev... Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Follow Christy Honeycutt: Website: https://www.christyhoneycutt.com LinkedIn:   / christyhoneycutt   Instagram:   / christyhoneycutt   Facebook:   / christyhoneycutt   TikTok:   / christyhoneycutt   Book: https://a.co/d/0a7n4asT Want to be on the show or know someone who would be a great guest? Podcast Nomination Form: https://www.christyhoneycutt.com/podcast