Most recruiting is broken because it treats hiring like a transaction instead of a relationship. In this episode of Localization Fireside Chat, I sat down with EA Clarke, founder of Pivot and Edge, to unpack why early stage and growth companies keep missing on talent and how AI is being misused across the recruiting industry. EA built his career inside corporate recruiting, startups, and executive search before founding Pivot and Edge as a marketing first recruitment company. His core belief is that small and high growth companies do not have brands like IBM or BMW, so their real brand is their leadership team. If you want to attract people who fit your culture and vision, you have to tell the story of the C suite and let the right people self select. That is why Pivot and Edge focuses on storytelling and amplification across social channels instead of simply posting jobs and filtering resumes. Fit matters more than ticking boxes, especially in early stage environments where people are hired because they will figure things out, not because they already know everything. When the culture and vision align, people bring the energy needed to build. The conversation then turned to AI and the biggest myth in recruiting, that it should be used primarily to cut costs. EA rejects that logic. AI should be judged on whether it adds value to the customer and improves the hiring process, not whether it replaces people. Pivot and Edge evaluates software continuously, including AI tools, but only adopts what makes the experience better for candidates and hiring managers. One area where AI already adds value is interview note capture and summarization. Hiring managers are busy and often do not provide detailed feedback, so using AI to draft notes that managers then review and approve helps the team target better candidates in the next round. But EA draws a hard line at letting AI reason about people. He does not believe bots should interview candidates, decide fit, or sit between a CEO and a potential hire. Culture, vision, and belief cannot be translated by a machine. He also shared how AI driven research tools failed when tested against his human research team, returning lists that were mostly wrong because the tools could not understand nuance, context, and what was truly required for the role. That is why Pivot and Edge continues to rely on human judgment for sourcing and screening while using technology for administrative and support tasks. Transparency is also becoming critical as regulations emerge that require companies to disclose when AI is used in hiring. EA believes this will make organizations more cautious about inserting AI into the candidate journey. Candidates themselves are now using AI to generate resumes and profiles, but EA warns that lazy automation leads to mass applications and zero results. The candidates his firm finds are people who research the company, understand its culture, and write targeted resumes that show alignment. Pivot and Edge reaches most of its candidates through direct marketing rather than job boards, tapping into employee networks, partners, investors, and social amplification to reach people who are not actively looking but are open to the right opportunity. That is why their customers continue to struggle to find great people and continue to come back to Pivot and Edge for help. The Canadian job market may look uncertain in headlines, but companies that care about culture and fit still need great talent and are willing to invest in finding it. EA’s final message is that AI is a tool, not a savior. Everyone has access to the same technology. What creates advantage is professionalism, judgment, and the ability to build real relationships. In recruiting, the human must stay in charge or you risk turning the most important decision in a company into a bot driven gamble.
Watch the full conversation https://youtu.be/fMux8G4ztzo
Localization Fireside Chat
Unscripted. Unbiased. Unfiltered.
https://www.l10nfiresidechat.com
Robin Ayoub 
Leave a comment