Becky Fagan is one of the sharpest operators in talent acquisition. A former attorney turned recruiting leader, she’s built and scaled recruiting operations at companies like Later, Meta, Wayfair, and Moderna. She came on the show to talk about something everyone is wrestling with:
→ How do companies actually realize the value of their AI investments after the implementation is over?
We got into why AI adoption is fundamentally a management challenge, the uncomfortable “neutral zone” between rollout and real adoption, building recruiting teams through organizational change, evaluating HR technology beyond the demo, and why every company needs a different approach to AI depending on its people, processes, and goals. We also spent some time debating build vs. buy when everyone and their grandma is vibe coding something for recruiting.
There are a lot of conversations happening right now about AI in recruiting, so we focused on how investment in tech always depends on the people responsible for implementing it.
Thanks for coming on the show Becky!
Connect here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccacfagan/
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to Becky Fagan and why AI adoption starts with managers.
02:30 Why AI implementation succeeds or fails based on leadership.
05:00 The “neutral zone” between rollout and real adoption.
10:45 How to lead recruiters through AI-driven change.
15:20 Choosing recruiting technology that actually fits your organization.
19:45 Managing teams of humans alongside AI agents.
23:00 Why HR struggles to finish transformation initiatives.
28:30 Build vs. buy: making smarter technology investments.
34:30 A defense of Workday and why boring infrastructure wins.
38:45 Becky’s blueprint for stepping into a Head of Talent role.
