AI in recruiting fails most often because companies apply it to the wrong problem. In this episode of The Missing Manual, Julia Levy and Jenny Cotie Kangas bring back what they heard at RecFest Nashville. Their main observation is that many organizations are using AI to get to the wrong answers faster.

The clearest example of AI used well came from a team that pointed AI agents at its recruiting funnel conversion data instead of adding more applicants at the top. The analysis showed that Indeed was not producing quality candidates for those roles. The team turned it off and ended up with stronger candidates. The counterexample was a large company that fixed its internal process but never brought its MSP along. Candidates got a worse experience, and that experience reflected on the employer's brand, not on the MSP.

Julia Levy explains why AI screening breaks down when job postings are never fixed. Candidates use AI to match their resumes to the posting, and screening tools grade them against that same posting. If the requirements are wrong, both sides are optimizing toward the wrong target. She also shows how a weak needs analysis and a rushed intake conversation lead to scope creep three months into a search. Jenny Cotie Kangas calls this the same problem wearing different clothes: misalignment that never gets captured in the process. Her fix is to treat AI change as a program rather than a project, and to use AI to build a runbook that helps a first-time hiring manager pre-mortem the search before the role opens.

The Missing Manual is a podcast for working professionals about the unwritten rules of work, careers, leadership, and AI strategy, with every episode under 20 minutes. Find The Missing Manual wherever you listen to podcasts.

Talent acquisition teams do not need more convincing to use AI. At RecFest 2026 in Nashville, most of the leaders in the room already had leadership buy-in and access to tools like Claude and ChatGPT. What they wanted was the actionable how: which use case to start with and how to build it. In this episode of The Missing Manual, Julia Levy and Jenny Cotie Kangas recap two days of hosting, speaking and listening at one of the biggest TA and HR conferences in the US.

Jenny Cotie Kangas spoke on the applied AI stage. When she asked the standing-room-only audience who had leadership buy-in and who had AI tools at work, almost every hand went up both times. The notes came out when leaders described agents they had actually built, such as a job posting checker and a signal brief. Julia Levy spoke on the "Your ATS Sucks" panel, where teams of every size described the same problems and different ways to work around them.

The hosts also explain why RecFest feels like an unconference, and why the relationships built there matter. On the Unplugged Stage, they gave every audience two minutes to meet a stranger, and attendees kept telling them about those connections for the rest of the event. Julia connects this to her relationship bank account idea and to the peers she has called for advice over the years, including people at competing companies, because the problems in TA rarely change from one company to the next.

Julia is also honest about her plans that never happened: the QR code business cards, the badge photos and the notebook that stayed blank. The takeaway for your next conference is to go in with a plan, meet people outside your own team and follow up afterward. Find The Missing Manual wherever you listen to podcasts.

To get the most out of attending a conference with AI, have it interview you first. Define your goals, the problems you need solved and the tools you already use. Then send AI to research the sessions, speakers and exhibitors that match. On this episode of The Missing Manual, Julia Levy and Jenny Cotie Kangas explain how to plan any event around what you actually came for.

Jenny Cotie Kangas starts with step zero: know your current state. When AI asks about your goals and your tech stack, it shows you the gaps worth closing and gives your research a direction. Julia Levy adds the next layer. Filter speakers by industry and company size, because they likely face the same problems you do. Then use AI to narrow everything into a schedule that balances sessions, exhibitor conversations, networking and some fun. You cannot boil the ocean in two days.

The hosts also cover how to check what a vendor claims. Software companies put their best foot forward, much like an online dating profile. G2 ratings help, although G2 leans positive, so read the lower reviews too. Julia recommends asking peers in professional communities, since a vendor will not hand you a reference who will criticize it. Jenny shares a client project where AI agents collected every speaker's company, found its career site and identified its applicant tracking system, which confirmed her hypothesis about which ATS dominated the lineup.

The Missing Manual gives working professionals the practical how behind work, careers, leadership and AI strategy, in under 20 minutes.

Find The Missing Manual wherever you listen to podcasts.