In today’s fast-moving market, small and medium businesses (SMBs) face an unprecedented dilemma: traditional job boards deliver high application volumes without high match quality, leaving lean business teams drowning in administration while top talent slips away. Meanwhile, enterprise giants leverage massive budgets to win the recruitment arms race.

In this 30-minute keynote, David Holland (MD of Talent at Employment Hero) reveals how SMBs can turn AI from a buzzword into a true competitive advantage. Technology shouldn't replace  human connections; it should expand human capacity, eliminating recruitment friction so business leaders can focus on building high-value teams. Drawing on insights from Employment Hero’s ecosystem (connecting over 350,000 businesses with millions of job seekers) David will demonstrate how AI tools like SARA, AI shortlisting and intelligent candidate matching level the playing field for growing businesses.

Key takeaways:

• Navigating the AI Arms Race: Why traditional job boards fail SMBs, and how AI-native talent ecosystems are replacing manual resume hunting.
• Intelligent Talent Sourcing: How Employment Hero’s 2.3M+ talent pool and embedded AI tools deliver candidate conversion rates 2.7x higher than third-party job sites.
• Real-World Impact (Customer Stories): Practical proof points showing how businesses streamline hiring workflows - from automated screening and instant intelligence to AI-driven candidate engagement without losing the human touch.
• Actionable First Steps: Practical strategies for SMB owners to adopt AI recruitment capabilities immediately, cutting down time-to-hire and reducing manual administrative drag.