Everyone’s a Cyborg Now: Talking Culture with Bryan Adams

Hiring used to be about looking shinier than the competition. Now that AI can polish any resume to perfection, the real work is separating signal from noise—and telling the truth about what it takes to thrive. In this episode, Bill Banham sits down with Bryan Adams, CEO and founder of Happydance, to unpack why employer branding is key to business strategy, why “friction by design” beats mindless speed, and how culture can be measured and used as a competitive advantage.

Bill and Bryan talk through the new landscape: soaring application volumes, keyword-perfect CVs, and the growing need to qualify rather than simply attract. Bryan shares how his team built focused tools—job matching, a smart employer brand manager, and a culture compass—to help candidates self-select and help recruiters spend time where it matters. Instead of showcasing 1,200 roles, the experience narrows choices to the few that match mindset, behaviors, and real capability needs. The outcome is fewer mismatches, faster clarity, and a candidate journey that respects everyone’s time.

We also explore how DEI has evolved from a label to embedded practice through authentic storytelling and social proof. By elevating employee voices and openly stating the “give and get” of work, companies help people make better decisions before they apply. That honesty can feel bold, but it reduces churn and strengthens teams that already operate in high-change environments. Along the way, Bryan offers a candid 2026 outlook, practical guardrails for AI-era hiring, and a vision for employer brand that finally earns its seat at the C-suite table.

If you’re ready to move from volume to value, design smarter hiring steps, and sell the truth without the hype, this conversation is your playbook. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a quick review telling us your favorite tactic for improving fit.

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_03 0:02

Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's most downloaded and shared podcasts designed for HR pros, talent execs, tech enthusiasts, and business leaders. For hundreds more episodes and what's new in the world of work, subscribe to the show, follow us on social media, and visit hrgazette.com.

Events And Community In HR Tech

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Welcome to another episode of the HR Chat Show. Hello, listeners. This is your host today, Bill Bannham. And joining me back on the show, I think for the third time. And he's also been on our sister show, the People and Performance pod, is the awesome, amazing Brian Adams, CEO and founder over at Happy Dance. And he's also a two times best-selling author with 20 plus years in employer branding. Brian, how are you doing? Welcome back to the show.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Well, thanks for having me on again, Bill. Uh yeah, I'm good. I'm good. Uh it's it's sunny in Surrey, UK, uh, so can't complain. Lots to be happy about.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Sunny in Surrey. I'll tell you what else was sunny was Vegas. I briefly saw you in in Vegas at HR Tech when we were walking the aisles back in September. Um, how's that for you as an event? Do you do you guys get much out of that? What are some other events that you guys make sure that you're at every year?

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Yeah, so we like that one just as a sort of touch base and a little bit of temperature check on the industry, actually, and um keep an eye on some competitors, what's new, what's popping up, uh, what are people talking about? Um uh and then there's a sort of well, you know, you're part of it, like the the people that you sort of really like to hang out with and just relax with and talk about the industry and all the rest of it in a sort of, you know, it's the sort of um community opportunity. Um, and it doesn't hurt to be in sunshine in Vegas, you know, that's that's that's always a nice one to look forward to. And then uh wreckfest in uh Nashville is a sort of always on the calendar uh for us as well. Um yeah, and then you know, we we we like to we like to hang out where uh where we can learn and just build community. We're a usual suspect in that those spaces.

What’s New At Happy Dance

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Yeah, I I was chatting to your colleague Mel um before the wreckfest in Nashville last year. Um I was very jealous. Uh I wanted to be back in Nashville doing the honky tonk, going to Mike's barbecue. It's uh it's a pretty special city, that's that's for sure. Um okay, let's talk, let's talk about this year though. Uh what's new for you guys? We're recording this interview in January 2026. What what what's what's new at Happy Dance? What's uh what are you up to? What's the team most excited about for the year ahead?

Employer Brand Matures To Strategy

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Yeah, so um I'm we're in a really privileged position at the moment. Like we've just we've just launched the uh Uber's new career site, which is amazing. It's I'm really, really proud of that. Um a big project for the for the team. Uh Hubspot have just come on board, and um, we just continue to work with some amazing brands. And what that means is you know, it gives us the sort of confidence and also opportunity to to learn from our customers in terms of like what they want, and we we're always pouring their ideas or their problems and challenges and issues into the tech roadmap at Happy Dance. And I think, Bill, because we only focus on just the career site, it really gives us the opportunity to go um deep and just own that little space and really innovate, try new things and so on and so forth. So we've got our job matching, our um our smart employer brand manager, we've got the culture compass. Um, so there's there's a lot about personalization and really trying to um help the candidate get to the truth of what it's like to work at our customers' organizations, as well as the big thing for our customers now. I'm sure we'll get into this with the uh rise of AI and all the rest of it, is not so much trying to attract an increase volume of applicants, it's more trying to qualify because across the board we're noticing this the noise is getting louder and the signal is is getting harder to find in terms of what's a good candidate. Uh, because everybody's a cyborg these days. They're all sort of you know using AI to sort of level up their CV and make sure it matches with skills and so on and so forth. So, an element of smart assessment and better matching um is is essentially what we're focused in on. So we're really excited about the space um at the moment because it's a it's a brand new challenge. And being um 20 years a lover of employer brand, we're also seeing that like now is the for me, it's the year I've said this a couple of times actually. So um, but I think now is the year for employer brand to really finally reach maturity and be respected at the C-suite level because it's an essential tool to really confident and declaratively show the world exactly who you are as a company and not just the hype of what you offer talent, but finally being super clear with what your expectations are in return and what it takes to thrive in an organization and contribute to what the real capability needs to be for an organization. So it's a perfect storm of those things at the moment, Bill, which makes it a very exciting place for us.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Thanks for listening to this episode of the HR Chat Podcast. If you enjoy the audio content we produce, you'll love our articles on the HR Gazette. Learn more at hrgazette.com. And now back to the show.

Tough 2025 And Outlook For 2026

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Okay, lots of interesting things that you said there. I was gonna I was gonna um take you to point on this culture compass because I think that sounds awesome. But actually, what you said just at the end there, in terms of um the employer brand, the opportunity today in 2026, is being I think you said something along the lines of being more clear around the expectations of the candidate. That's really interesting. So let's just pull that apart a little bit more. Five years ago, I was I was doing interviews on this show, and what the employer brand essentially meant, or at least what I was taking from that, is getting ahead of your competitors and finding in finding top talent was the term that everybody was using at the time, you know. Um, the the war for talent. It ain't like that anymore. A lot of these certainly entry-level jobs are being replaced. You and I both know this. Um, that the job the job market is being squeezed. So are you saying that the employer brand, what that what that means now, in practice, is actually it's a tool for want of a better term, in terms of um identifying the right fit for a company. Maybe they don't have all of the qualifications, but they've got the mindset um to learn new tools, to learn AI and whatnot. So the employer brand today is actually about um being able to present yourself in a way that you can be more selective about who you bring into the organization.

AI Floods The Funnel And Raises Bar

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Yeah, absolutely. But I think there's a step step before that because um what you've just said there is on the assumption that an organization is clear and confident on what those things are, you know. So I think in the past, employer brands have been about being more shiny and more hyped and more attractive, which is a word I've got a real issue with. Um so you can be more shiny than competitors and just attract more uh candidates and applications. And that's just not the case now. It's much more of a it's much closer. What we're seeing anyway with the with the customers and the brands that are getting ahead and really sort of leading into a mature approach. Employer brand is a lot closer to business strategy, um, such that we understand that if culture can be a competitive advantage, what culture do we have? What behaviors um and characteristics and ultimately capability do we require from our talent, which is different to skills, in order to create a galvanized culture that is effective enough to move the organization forward. Now, there's some big stuff in there, and it's all leadership level um business strategy rather than um on the like on the periphery where look, we just need something shiny and attractive to make us stand out and and and and and all those things that you said. So so yeah, that's that's how the landscape has changed, in my view, and it presents a huge opportunity to finally leverage um talent as the ultimate competitive advantage. And that I've I've been talking about this for years and years now, but finally I think leaders are are catching on to this, and technology is such that it's everything is possible.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Okay, everything is possible. So is this the year then, Brian? Because 2025 was let's let's face it, one of the toughest years for talent attraction recruitment. Um I've I've got buddies who run recruitment firms of 20 plus years, for example, and they've said to me, Bill, Bill, we've never had never known a time like it. Um what what signals are you seeing for 2026?

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Well, I think the first thing is you're right, let's acknowledge how tough that was in 2025. Um, and not a lot has changed in the world and the sort of business landscape. The only thing that's changed is I think we've all realized that the volatility in change isn't going away. So those that are waiting for it to end have now finally realized actually this is kind of reality and we need to get on with stuff. So, you know, we're we're moving ahead and all the rest of it. But one of the biggest challenges has been the disparate um void in between the talent leaders that have just got to run behind a company moving fast and trying to deal with change, not having uh appropriate or any visibility on resource planning and what's required to support an organization in transition, um, finding out talent demands at the last minute, and then everything's a crisis, you know, it's the perfect storm. I think, I think now that's finally, you know, if if the last six or nine months was was that sort of frenetic sort of panic or constant change such that the world was always turbulent. I think now we're we're starting to get ahead of that a little bit and start to plan for a future that just includes continual transition and change for the for the time being. Um, you know, so we've been through some very early stages of difficulty, and I think it's just a case of we're pulling together, getting our head around the current situation and having to move forward. Um so uh so yeah, the the the outside conditions are still very similar. It's just a case of I think we've all got used to it now.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Yeah, uh some you you you've you've said something very similar to someone who um summed it up for me uh slightly different uh just last week. Um and uh he used the expletive, but um it was along the lines of um people people are now at the point, Bill, where that they've gotten used to the uncertainty and they're like eff it, we're just gonna get on and do business in 2026.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

So uh yeah, if if there was a t-shirt to describe how everybody felt and like the sentiment of the moment, it would probably be what you just said, yeah.

Friction By Design And Better Matching

SPEAKER_02 11:40

Uh brave new world. Okay, so um let's talk about AI. You you you you briefly touched upon AI earlier. Uh, there's no question that AI and automation is changing the talent landscape, Ryan. What's the what's the most significant impact AI is having on how companies are attracting, engaging, and hiring talent at the moment?

DEI, Storytelling, And Culture Signals

SPEAKER_00 12:00

So the first big overwhelming challenge that most of our customers and the community is facing is now um all candidates are made equal. Like the CVs are all spot on, they're ideally match to the job description. Miraculously, they have the vast majority of skills that are a prerequisite. Uh the letters are uh eloquently crafted and so on and so forth and so forth. So um, and and because of the use of AI in order to do that, uh it's also easier to apply for roles. So volumes across the board are going up. Like we're seeing across our entire portfolio of career sites, uh the average number of uh applicants per vacant role is is increasing all the time. Uh, in some cases, it's four or five fold. Um, and that creates a tremendous challenge for organizations trying to um sift through all of this. And you know, what do we do with it? Like we're literally building technology to sort of then deal with the um the onslaught of uh increased volume of applicants. So actually, like we talked about this many years ago, and it's sort of coming back. It's like, okay, so how do we better assess at scale? Uh, how do we deal with that volume? Uh, such not to overwhelm our recruiters, not to present bias, um, and also not to miss out on the best talent possible. So, you know, that's been a doozy of a challenge that we've sort of really faced into, and we've come up with some really interesting creative ways to tackle it. And then so we could talk about that and all of the amazing sort of um features and functions and tools and sort of process that we're putting in place. The flip side to that is um a lot of organizations are still grappling with the legal um and compliance side of being able to use AI. Um, so the precarious sort of situation that uh we're in, and a lot of our competitors and the whole landscape is um dealing with the transition of a complete variety of organizations at different stages of appetite for the for the new technology. Um but you know, this hasn't stopped candidates um using AI and applying for more jobs and all the rest of it. So uh so that's been the the biggest change, certainly. Um, you know, and the the point about employer brand maturing, such that it's now a strategy, trying to help candidates decide not to apply by giving them real truthful, authentic stories of how difficult it might be if you haven't got certain capabilities. Um trying to assess for soft skills like um learning agility, resilience, adaptability, commitment, determination, and those sorts of things, um, as well as understanding the culture and and selecting an organization that you think you'll thrive in. So there's there's there's there's a lot going on, Bill, you know, because the the challenges, the challenges are are real. I don't think we've faced anything quite like this before. Um you know, so there's definitely going to be a lot of change in the landscape in the next 12 months, certainly.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

So does it mean the hiring process has changed a little bit then? So if you've got all of these uh cover letters and resumes, which are 100% correct, they're perfect, they've got all the right keywords and all the rest of it. Um, does that mean that there needs to be an extra interview in the hiring stage? Um what what are the what are the guardrails to make sure that you can sort of um sift through the rubbish and actually get to what those what those real experiences and skills are of the candidates? Can you give us an insight around that?

Radical Transparency And Fit

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Yeah, so I mean a lot of organizations, and obviously roll by role it can it can vary. Um, but a lot of organizations are moving back to in-person um selection events and uh in-person interviews and so on and so forth to look people in the eye and really get an idea of you know who they are. That's not possible for for different types of roles, of course. It's not necessarily putting extra steps in, but it's looking at every step and and really understanding okay, what's the intentionality that we're putting uh here with our candidate experience start to end? Um, you know, and it's now less about time to offer and time to hire, uh, and more about time to meaningful engagement. And you know, it's less about uh quantity and very much more about quality. And just a couple of years ago, um, everything was about removing friction and making it easier because that was stopping the volume of applicants, which everybody desperately wants. And now we're increasingly talking to our customers about um friction by design. Like if there is a fiery hoop that we can create such that only qualified candidates will jump through, what does that look like and how is it best representative of your culture? You know, so the sort of culture compass um experience you'll go through where we can match whether you know your mindset uh is a match for the for the culture, we can look at uh the skills and experience, and uh instead of showing a candidate you know 1200 jobs, we can say, look, we we think you're you're a good fit or a well-matched, uh not fit, a good a good match for just these roles. Um, you know, and then beyond the application, um which our journey has stopped as a as a technology company, um we are then seeing making sure that there's um some continuity and consistency. Uh and TA leaders are taking that very seriously, as I say, in terms of okay, how do we now qualify um and narrow down the selection um in a in a in a smart way? And you know, we're I'm seeing them having to come up with very different um solutions as as from time gone by. So so yeah, there's a there's there's a lot going on there, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

You and I have both spent a lot of time in North America. We both know right now, um, specifically in the in the US, there's been uh lots of rollbacks um around equity. Um a few years ago, um before before the current admin administration got in, um, uh Sherm made the decision to get rid of the D, uh get rid of the E, sorry, and DEI, um, which caused a big hoo-ha at the time. How's that translating into companies that you're working with? You mentioned a couple of amazing new companies that you guys are working with, Uber being one of them. Are you seeing this with with the companies that you work with in terms of less of a focus on that E, on the equity piece?

Plugs, Book News, And How To Connect

Closing And Subscribe Reminder

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Um the the quick answer is no. Uh, I think it's just becoming part of uh a wider cultural conversation of are we a good match for you? Um, going back to um values, how it feels, the reality of uh employee experience. Um, you know, and this is showing the rise of uh storytelling, storytelling at a brand level, um, to create more relevance and engagement uh at a brand level, but then from a social proof and authenticity perspective, encouraging uh employees to tell their stories, where DEI messaging um is coming still coming through and is still you know very vibrantly important to most of our customers, actually, but it's just been labeled and positioned differently. And I actually think we might look back in a few years' time, uh, and although we might many of us might disagree with um the force of change for taking these labels and you know looking at DEI differently, actually, the outcome I think has been and it is continuing to be extremely positive because it's forced us to really appreciate um what a galvanized culture and what inclusivity can achieve and the power of um being open and authentic about what it really takes to thrive in an organization, how it feels, um, you know, where people get their sense of purpose, impact, and belonging inside of an organization, which is the heart and soul of DEI. It just doesn't need the label. Um, you know, so those things have definitely not gone away. They certainly haven't slowed down quite the opposite, but I think it's been positioned uh in a in a more in a more valuable, effective way, if anything, actually.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Okay, you you mentioned a moment ago, um, important to be authentic, of course. Uh, just a quick follow-up on that. Um uh how much how much authenticity is too much authenticity, I guess. How much truth is too much truth when you're trying to project that employer brand? How much can you give away? How much do you need to retain to be an attractive employer?

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Well, um, do you need to be an attractive employer? You know, I think I would challenge that um, you know, that assumption because we live in a world of transparency, whether we like it or not. It's just a case of are we confident and comfortable with what the truth is around what it feels like to be part of this organization, what the give and get proposition truly is. And I think you know, we really need to dig under this little sort of topic and unearth and appreciate the value of knowing exactly what it really is like and what it really does take to thrive inside of an organization and organizations waking up to the idea that look, if you grip this, you can. wield it in such a way that you can galvanize a culture that really does have the true capability required to move forward in this volatile um transitional landscape and come out a winner you know so um you know you there's places like Glassdoor and you know there's well there's there's so many destinations now that uh every just mainstream social media channel where people will be super quick to tell you what they think about an organization from the inside out you know so owning that defending it where appropriate because sometimes it is appropriate um or learning from it and fixing it um is another opportunity but more than anything else um leaning into it so you can at least influence the narrative and add the context sometimes people complain about an organization because they don't have what it takes to thrive it's not their fault because they bought into the hype on the front end and when they got on the inside of the organization they found something that they weren't expecting. That doesn't mean that it's a bad culture and it doesn't mean that that is a bad employee either. It just means that the match wasn't smart and it wasn't a good idea from the outset. And I think now we're in a world where we've got the opportunity to fix both sides of that equation very eloquently where everybody benefits. The candidates benefit from not applying in the first place or being displaced quickly and the organization benefits from hiring people who um are expecting those challenges as much as the upside and the opportunity and all of the the positivity that comes along with working in a great company as well.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Very good and uh regular listeners of the show know that I love a shameless plug. Brian mentioned Glassdoor um listeners please do check out my HR chat episode with um recently uh he's now just left it so he's now the former CEO of Glassdoor uh Christian Sutherland Wong it was a good conversation with him a couple of years ago uh Brian before we wrap up for today sir uh what's coming up for you any any events for example that you want to highlight that you're involved with um any any white papers any initiatives that you want to talk about um how can folks connect with you tell us more yeah so we're we're doubling down on um a lot of really good valuable content on our our website at the moment which is happydance.love l-o-v-e um I can be found on LinkedIn always quite active on LinkedIn it's Brian Adams just like the Canadian singer with a number one if you type that in you'll find me or Brian Adams happydance uh I'll be uh I'll be it's uh TA week next week but I think that will have happened by the time this comes out in San Diego um I'll be in Nashville again later in the year and I've got my third book coming out in September which is called Sell the Truth um we know the value of telling the truth but in this world we need to learn to sell it with authenticity uh so that's uh a storytelling and employer brand strategy book coming out in September look out for that on Amazon and all good reputable bookstores I have a funny feeling we're gonna get you back on the show around about September to it that just leaves me to say for today though thank you very much for returning to the show it's always a pleasure chatting with you um delighted to hear that you're back over this side of the pond more these days so hopefully we can get together soon and have a coffee. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

Yeah look forward to that thanks again Bill and listeners as always until next time happy working thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show if you enjoyed this episode why not subscribe and listen to some of the hundreds of episodes published by HR Gazette. And remember for what's new in the world of work subscribe to the show follow us on social media and visit hrgazette.com