Two cities. Two mornings. One recurring theme. Recruitment leaders, operators, customers and industry partners gathered in Sydney and Melbourne to discuss AI, productivity and the future of recruitment.
AI, Custom Desserts and Honest Conversations
Two cities. Two mornings. One recurring theme.
Recruitment leaders, operators, customers and industry partners gathered in Sydney and Melbourne to discuss AI, productivity and the future of recruitment. The sessions took place at the Museum of Contemporary Art (13 June) and State Library Victoria (16 June), bringing the industry together in two of Australia's iconic venues.
So what actually happened?
The Recruitment Intelligence Exchange Series wasn't designed to be another conference or product showcase.
Each morning combined JobAdder's perspective on AI adoption and Recruitment Intelligence with customer stories, industry panel discussions, interactive workshops and, depending on which city you landed in, a fireside chat. The aim wasn't to create another event full of presentations. It was to create an environment where recruitment leaders could learn from one another, challenge ideas and leave with practical insights they could take back to their own businesses for immediate results.
Attendees heard from APSCo, recruitment leaders, customers, partners and JobAdder before breaking into practical workshop sessions or a fireside chat covering AI, productivity, operational efficiency and real-world customer workflows.
The result? Well, it was witnessed in both cities: people weren't just there to listen, they were there to participate.
What emerged wasn't another conversation about whether AI is coming.
It was a conversation about what happens next.
Our Senior Director, APAC Sales & Global Customer Success, Dan Hill, perfectly captured the optimism in the room when he said:
"This is the best time to be a human ever."
It might sound like an unusual statement at an AI event. But that was exactly the point.
Not long ago, every industry event was asking the same question:
"Should we be using AI?"
That question has largely been answered.
Instead, agencies are now asking:
- Where do we actually start?
- Which AI tools create real value?
- How do we bring our teams along for the ride?
- What should we stop doing manually?
- How do we know if it's actually working?
The discussion wasn't about replacing recruiters.
It was about helping recruiters spend more time doing what they do best.
As Chris South from ROI-AI put it during the Sydney panel, AI isn't creating a 20% productivity advantage anymore.
It's creating a 20% productivity expectation.
That's a very different conversation.
The people may have filled the room, but the conversation commanded the attention.
Some of the strongest feedback we received across both cities wasn't about slides, demos or technology.
It was about hearing different perspectives from people tackling these challenges every day.
Debbie Davis from Beaumont People shared refreshingly honest stories about candidates, challenges and the realities of recruitment today. The audience immediately connected because the examples weren't theoretical, they were the conversations recruitment leaders are having every single day.
In Melbourne, Adrian Byra from Lead Group provided a practical look at how GPT is already becoming part of everyday business operations. Not as a shiny new toy, but as a tool helping his team think differently about productivity, decision making and day-to-day execution.
Darren Cottrell, CRO at APositive, rounded out the discussion by bringing the commercial lens, challenging attendees to think beyond adopting new technology and instead focus on the business outcomes, operational performance and measurable value those investments should ultimately deliver.
Together with Lesley Horsburgh's broader industry perspective from APSCo, the panel reinforced something we heard repeatedly throughout both cities:
Recruitment businesses don't just want to hear what's possible. They want to hear what's actually working, and what isn't.
Those moments mattered because attendees weren't simply looking for product demonstrations. They wanted to learn from customers, partners and peers already navigating these challenges every day.
Technology isn't the hard part.
This might have been one of the biggest surprises from the workshops.
Very few conversations centred around:
"We need another AI tool."
Instead, attendees consistently raised questions around:
- Change management
- Data hygiene
- Reporting
- Process design
- User adoption
- How to use existing technology smarter
In other words...
Technology, it turns out, is rarely the hardest part.
Knowing how to embed it into everyday recruitment workflows is.
One of the strongest pieces of feedback from both cities was how much attendees valued the interactive JobAdder workshop sessions, led by our Customer Solution Engineers.
Rather than simply showcasing features, the sessions walked through practical recruitment workflows demonstrating how AI, automations, Smart Sync, reporting and data management can support the way recruiters already work.
Just as importantly, the workshops explored the why behind those workflows. Why certain processes matter. Why clean data changes reporting. Why automation works best when it's designed around recruiter behaviour rather than technology.
Attendees weren't looking for another product demonstration.
They wanted practical guidance.
They wanted to understand how successful recruitment businesses configure JobAdder, introduce automation, manage change and ultimately get more value from the platform.
The recurring message was clear.
Don't just show us the features.
Show us how people actually use them.
Recruitment is still, fundamentally, a people business.
Perhaps that's why the networking sessions proved just as valuable as the presentations.
Throughout both mornings we watched conversations continue long after the panel discussions had ended.
Customers swapped ideas.
Partners challenged assumptions.
Recruitment leaders shared lessons learned.
Even the lighter moments where the personalised cupcakes in Sydney and the cake decorating challenge in Melbourne became conversation starters, as it encouraged people to meet someone new, rather than stand with the colleague they arrived with.
Sometimes the most valuable insights don't happen on stage.
They happen over coffee, cupcakes and cakes. And we’re not mad about it!
So... what did we learn?
If there was one consistent takeaway from both cities, it was this:
Recruitment businesses aren't looking for more noise.
They're looking for practical conversations.
Real customer stories.
Honest lessons.
Ideas they can take back to their own teams the very next day.
That was exactly what the Recruitment Intelligence Exchange Series set out to create.
And judging by the discussions, feedback and conversations that continued well beyond the events themselves, this was only the beginning.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us in Sydney and Melbourne, our valued customers, partners, speakers and attendees. You all helped shape two mornings filled with honest conversations, practical ideas and a genuine willingness to learn from one another.
If this year's Exchange taught us anything, it's that the recruitment industry is hungry for practical conversations grounded in real experience. We look forward to continuing that conversation at the next Recruitment Intelligence Exchange.
Join us at the next Recruitment Intelligence Exchange
If practical conversations, real customer stories and actionable ideas are the kinds of discussions you value, we'd love to welcome you to our next Recruitment Intelligence Exchange in Sydney on 18th November, 2026.
Whether you're looking to explore AI, improve operational efficiency or simply learn how other recruitment businesses are tackling today's challenges, we'd love to have you in the room.
Register now at: jobadder.com/resource/recruitment-intelligence-exchange
