Why AI Hiring Is Changing Faster Than Ever

AI hiring is changing because the technology is reshaping the work people do, the capabilities employers need, and the career paths available to employees. For hiring managers, that means reconsidering how they recognize talent and how people can develop as business needs evolve.

On The Technology Principal podcast, Belinda Macaulay, Chief People & Values Officer at Bell Integration, explores these changes through the lens of HR, leadership, and career development. Her observations raise an important question for employers: how do you plan your workforce when the roles you will need are still taking shape?

From skills-based hiring to more flexible careers, the discussion offers a useful perspective on what AI recruitment needs to account for beyond the next vacancy.

AI workforce planning has to accommodate uncertainty

Belinda describes a technology industry that has moved through successive waves of cloud adoption, digital transformation, and AI. Throughout those changes, the expectation that things would eventually settle down has become increasingly difficult to sustain.

For HR and business leaders, she explains, keeping pace means continually reconsidering the capabilities, individuals, and leaders an organization needs.

One of the hardest parts is describing future opportunities. Belinda questions whether the job families employers use today will provide the right language for the work ahead.

That uncertainty has a practical implication for AI workforce planning: a hiring plan built entirely around established positions may overlook capabilities that are becoming relevant across several functions.

Employers can respond by distinguishing between what they understand about the work today and what remains open to change. Which responsibilities are already shifting? Where are employees encountering unfamiliar demands? Which capabilities could be useful across more than one project?

Those conversations give workforce planning a broader purpose than forecasting headcount. They help the business recognize how its requirements are developing.

Skills-based hiring could open up different career paths

Belinda’s view is that careers could become less constrained by traditional job families and more closely connected to individual skills and attributes.

In the episode, she uses finance as an example. Someone with numerical ability and creativity might apply those strengths to different business problems throughout their career, rather than following a single route toward a senior finance position.

Applied to AI recruitment, this perspective encourages employers to look beyond whether someone has followed an expected sequence of job titles.

A candidate’s previous role may describe only part of what they can contribute. Their experience could also reveal strengths in understanding unfamiliar problems, connecting ideas, or helping others adopt a different approach.

Skills-based hiring makes those capabilities more visible. It lets employers consider relevant experience from different backgrounds while still meeting a position's technical requirements.

For hiring managers, this means examining what candidates have learned and where they have applied it. A familiar career history can be useful evidence, but employers should also leave room for people whose capabilities have developed through a different route.

Human capabilities deserve explicit attention in AI recruitment

One of Belinda’s central observations concerns the contribution people make alongside AI.

She suggests that emotional intelligence could become more significant as AI handles certain logical tasks. In particular, she highlights the ability to evaluate situations, conceptualize problems, and think creatively.

These are her expectations about how work may develop. For employers, they offer a reason to examine which human capabilities matter in their own environment.

For example, a technical specialist may need to help colleagues understand an unfamiliar system. A manager may need to recognize concerns about changing responsibilities. A project leader may need to bring together people with different priorities.

Those situations require communication, interpretation, and judgment alongside technical understanding.

When hiring AI talent, employers should clearly describe those expectations. “Strong interpersonal skills” gives candidates limited information. Explaining that someone will need to discuss uncertain results with business stakeholders gives a clearer picture of the work.

The balance will vary by position. The key step is to include these capabilities in the discussion rather than assuming they will emerge automatically from technical experience.

Internal mobility depends on understanding existing skills

Belinda also describes Bell Integration’s work to establish more consistent language around roles and job families.

The intention, she explains, is to use that foundation to articulate employees’ skills and capabilities more clearly, helping people move around the organization more fluidly.

That distinction matters. Consistent role descriptions can provide a starting point for recognizing opportunities beyond someone’s current position.

For employers reviewing AI workforce requirements, the implication is to examine the skills already present across the business before assuming every emerging need requires an external appointment.

Employees may have useful capabilities that their current responsibilities do not fully reveal. A clearer understanding of those capabilities can help managers identify development opportunities, project contributions, or potential moves between functions.

External AI recruitment can then address gaps by better understanding the workforce around the new hire. Internal development and specialist recruitment become connected decisions.

Early careers need room to evolve

Early careers are another important part of Belinda’s outlook.

Looking ahead for Bell Integration, she says she wants to help more early-career employees grow within the business while managing greater fluidity in their careers.

Her own experience adds context to that perspective. Belinda entered work without initially following a university route, built experience across sales and recruitment, and later moved into HR. She also returned to formal study as a mature student.

That history shows how valuable capabilities can develop across roles and life stages.

For employers, it raises a useful question: does the development path offered to an early-career employee allow their strengths and interests to evolve?

In an AI-related position, the work someone encounters may change as the business learns more about the technology. Development conversations should give employees room to discuss what they are learning, where they can contribute, and which opportunities they want to explore.

HR has a role in connecting AI adoption with people

Belinda describes her approach to HR as business partnership: understanding what the organization wants to achieve and considering how she can help make it happen.

She also explains why her title explicitly includes values. At Bell Integration, they serve as a reminder to protect and consider the culture as the business develops.

Applied to AI adoption, that perspective brings workforce conversations closer to decisions about technology and growth.

An implementation may change how employees work together, where they need support, or how they understand their contribution. HR can help leaders examine those effects and communicate what they mean for people’s development.

For AI hiring, the implication is that a vacancy sits within a wider employment experience. Candidates will join a business with existing values, relationships, and expectations about how people work. Those conditions deserve attention as roles change.

What does this mean for your AI hiring strategy?

Belinda’s discussion points toward a more flexible approach to careers and workforce planning - one that recognizes people’s capabilities while allowing those capabilities to develop.

For employers, that means:

• Reviewing how AI is changing work across existing functions.
• Making transferable skills visible alongside technical expertise.
• Creating opportunities for employees to develop and move internally.
• Connecting recruitment decisions with longer-term career development.
• Involving HR in conversations about technology, growth, and organizational change.

Franklin Fitch’s data, AI, and machine learning staffing specialists support US employers recruiting across these disciplines. If you are reviewing your AI recruitment requirements, contact our team to discuss the capabilities your business needs.

Explore more conversations with technology leaders on AI, careers, and the changing world of work in The Technology Principal.

Frequently asked questions

Why is AI hiring changing?

AI hiring is changing as employers reconsider what people will do alongside AI and what capabilities those roles require. In the podcast, Belinda Macaulay highlights how hard it is to describe future roles and suggests careers could become more focused on individual skills and attributes.

What is skills-based hiring?

Skills-based hiring focuses on the capabilities someone can demonstrate and apply to a role. Employers consider relevant experience, transferable strengths, and technical requirements, allowing candidates from different career backgrounds to show how they could contribute.

How can employers approach AI workforce planning?

Employers can examine how responsibilities are changing, identify existing workforce capabilities, and consider where development or recruitment is needed. Revisiting those decisions as projects progress helps keep workforce planning connected to the work.

How does internal mobility support AI skills development?

Internal mobility gives employees opportunities to apply and develop their capabilities across the business. Consistent language around skills and responsibilities can help managers recognize potential contributions beyond an employee’s current role.

What role does HR play in AI adoption?

HR can help leaders understand how AI adoption affects responsibilities, development, careers, and workplace culture. It connects business priorities with workforce capabilities and helps employees understand opportunities as their work changes.