You’ve probably heard the job title Talent Engineer by now. So I went out and started talking to some of the smartest folks I know in recruiting about it.
Talent Engineering isn’t necessarily new, but it’s entered the recruiting vernacular in a big way thanks to AI, agents, LLMs, and MCP. Someone’s gotta be the human in the loop, am I right?
Historically, I’ve been pretty outspoken about people involving themselves in hiring, and occasionally taking credit for it, without actually working reqs. But a lot of my friends work in Talent Engineering and RecOps, and I’d like to keep them as friends. So I’m approaching this whole thing with a little more curiosity and a little less criticism.
Let me clarify.
I have absolutely no problem with Systems Administrators and Recruiting Coordinators evolving into RecOps professionals, and now Talent Engineers. These are the helpful kings and queens who keep the talent machine running.
More importantly, I love seeing people get paid. If you don’t enjoy playing a part in helping people get paid, recruiting probably isn’t the career for you.
And I especially love seeing new roles emerge that create better earning potential, new career paths, and more opportunities for people who love recruiting, even if they don’t necessarily want to spend their careers working reqs.
So, in the spirit of challenging my own bias about the growing number of hands in the recruiting cookie jar, I sat down with someone whose hand I’d happily high-five.
And I actually did at RecFest in Nashville, where he delivered a baller presentation.
That internet friend is Dan McCarthy, Senior Talent Engineer at Zapier, who has helped me warm up to this whole Talent Engineering thing.
Dan works alongside Tracy, who joined me for one of my favorite episodes of The Recruiting Roadshow. His work sits at the intersection of recruiting operations, AI, automation, and internal software development.
Before Zapier, Dan worked at Shopify, where he learned to code and started building tools for recruiting teams long before AI made software development accessible to just about anyone. I love how he addressed this in our conversation, too.
We got into what Talent Engineers actually do, how the role compares to GTM and Solutions Engineering, why AI fluency matters, and what this new career path could mean for recruiters who want to advance without moving into people management.
But my favorite part of the conversation was Dan’s perspective on building software.
While everyone seems excited about recruiters building their own tools, Dan makes a compelling case that knowing when not to build might be an even more valuable skill.
We talked about build versus buy, the hidden costs of maintaining internal software, the technical skills recruiters will need in the years ahead, and the risk of spending so much time automating recruiting that we forget to actually recruit.
Because the point of all this technology should be to make recruiting better, give recruiters more time with candidates, and ultimately help more people get hired.
And on that, Dan and I are very much aligned.
Follow Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamdanmccarthy/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Meet Dan McCarthy, Senior Talent Engineer at Zapier
03:03 - AI Fluency and the Future of Recruiting
05:32 - Dan’s Journey from Recruiter to Talent Engineer
07:01 - What Recruiting Can Learn from GTM Engineering
09:47 - Talent Engineering as a New Career Path
13:17 - Defining the Role and Responsibilities of a Talent Engineer
15:21 - Why Building Everything Is a Mistake
20:37 - The Rising Technical Bar for Recruiters
27:52 - AI Automation, Human Connection, and the Purpose of Recruiting
36:00 - Rethinking Recruiting Workflows and the Future of HR Tech
Community Update:
The Recruiting Roadshow is headed to Atlanta in November for Season 3!
If you’re in ATL and want to get together for a little community building, you’re invited to the Season 3 Recap Party on November 5th at 5 p.m. co-hosted with my friend, Anna Morgan of Evolve.
Sign up here: https://luma.com/0j6ffkkj
-Brandon
