Mary Price has spent her career building and scaling talent functions inside companies that were still becoming what they are today. From Apple and LinkedIn to Slack, Abnormal AI, and OneTrust, she has operated at the intersection of growth, pressure, and accountability.
In this episode of Building the Talent Machine, Mary and I talk about what it actually means to be a builder in recruiting. We get into how systems create leverage, why structure earns trust with executives, and where human judgment still matters even as AI accelerates recruiting workflows. This is a grounded conversation about RecOps, leadership, and what holds hiring together when conditions change.
Mary also shares leadership lessons from her time working closely with Steve Jobs. Not quotes for slides, but principles he lived by. Focus, accountability, and maintaining a high bar even when it is uncomfortable. Those lessons still shape how she leads talent teams today.
If you are a recruiter, TA leader, or people operator responsible for outcomes, this episode is for you.
What we cover in this episode:
• Why recruiting systems, not individual heroics, determine outcomes at scale
• How talent acquisition connects to onboarding, development, and long-term performance
• Where AI meaningfully helps recruiters and where it cannot replace judgment
• How data resets hiring manager expectations when emotion takes over
• What building long-term talent density actually looks like
Follow Mary Price on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pricemary/
Special thanks to our sponsor, Grayscale. Grayscale is the AI assistant built for recruiting teams that want to move faster, reduce busywork, and deliver a better candidate experience directly inside the ATS.
Learn more at: https://grayscaleapp.com/
Subscribe to Building the Talent Machine for more conversations with operators building real recruiting systems.
