All the talks from SOSU 2025 Amsterdam
RETHINKING RECRUITMENT
BRAVE NEW WORLD: SHAPING AI WITH OUR HUMANITY
The conversation with AI has begun with earnest, but who is leading it? This talk addresses how we can be “brave in the AI era” by intentionally shaping our digital counterparts with the best of our humanity. We will move past the fear of AI and into the art of co-creation.
You will leave with a new perspective on how to talk to AI, ensuring that as it becomes more intelligent, it also becomes a reflection of the humane qualities we value most.
THE BIG DROP: UNLOCKING NEW SOURCING PATHS WITH AI MADE TOOLS
Pierre-André Fortin and Guillaume Alexandre have taken their sourcing tools to a whole new level thanks to AI — and it’s time to reveal it to the community.
Join us for the biggest drop of free sourcing tools ever. We’ll show you how they work, what they can do, and how to use them to save hours and elevate your sourcing game.
Built by sourcers, for sourcers. 100% free. Don’t miss this hands-on, high-impact session!
WHAT YOUR ATS DOESN’T SHOW YOU: 3 SQL QUERIES TO FINALLY TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR SOURCING
Why should sources care about SQL (Structured Query Language)?
In an increasingly no-code world, a working knowledge of basic SQL skills can help recruiters uncover super actionable insights that most ATS dashboards just don’t surface – or make super hard to access (like forgotten candidates, ignored roles, or sources that look great on paper but don’t convert).
This session is a fascinating look at how recruiters can add to their value by learning how SQL works. It’s a hands-on session designed for recruiters who don’t code, but who want to stop relying on default dashboards to run their pipeline.
EMBRACING TALENT INTELLIGENCE FOR A BRAVE NEW WORLD
This session delves into the increasing connection between talent sourcing, recruitment, data, and talent intelligence. With rapid advancements in AI, we have a powerful solution to address some of the biggest challenges in talent acquisition. When implemented effectively, Talent Intelligence can deliver the right data to every talent acquisition function, thereby enhancing sourcing and recruitment processes. In today’s dynamic landscape, adopting Talent Intelligence is essential, and this session will demonstrate how to achieve that.
THE RECRUITMENT HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE AI GALAXY
This session offers a practical framework for implementing AI in recruitment and TA and building an Employer Brand in mere hours.
The session will showcase a maturity model featuring 5 phases and 5 progression pillars that TA teams can use to monitor their AI implementation journey.
It will start with AI literacy fundamentals and progress through each stage. There will be hands-on demonstration on how an EVP (Employer Value Proposition) for a fictional company with AI in just hours. Imagine creating personas, blog content, professional stock photos, and company recruitment videos in no time. All these outputs will be scrutinised using a A/B testing method.
FROM BOOLEAN TO BRAVERY: STRATEGIES FOR STAYING RELEVANT IN THE AGE OF AI
– What does the future recruiter look like? (+ a look back on Recruiter career 10 years ago)
– Human Principles to double-down on during the AI era
– AI Tools that actually move the needle & we’ve both seen impact our workflows.
– The meta-skill of learning how to learn & carving out to find time for personal development
This session offers practical advice and frameworks for staying relevant, adopting AI, and learning meta skills (i.e. learning how to learn).
FIX THE BRIEF. FIX THE CALL. FIX YOUR HIRING
Effective sourcing begins not with a search, but with a well-defined brief. The process doesn’t break down at the offer stage; rather, it falters earlier during the initial call.
In this presentation, Nicolas shares insights backed by scientific research on how enhancing the job briefing process and reimagining the prequalification call as an opportunity to engage candidates can significantly reduce churn.
This approach is supported by behavioral science, conversion data, and proven techniques from the field.
FROM PING TO PRESTIGE – HOW A SOURCER’S MINDSET AND AI CREATE VIP CANDIDATE JOURNEYS
What happens if you treat your candidates and applicants like royalty? What if you make their experience unforgettable?
We all know the answer – better candidate experience equals better quality of hire, stronger employer brand, and increased engagement and productivity. This session explores how combining AI, Sourcing and recruitment initiatives can give candidates the VIP treatment, and improve overall hiring.
ADVANCED PROMPTING FOR A BETTER RECRUITING WORLD
This session looks at the rapidly changing world of AI prompting to get things done. It hones in on the principal of prompting, best-practices and combining with recruitment results. The session will look at in-depth talent mapping initiatives using Gen AI. It’s productivity combined with, smart tactics a strategic overview of prompting.
RETHINKING SOURCING IN AN ERA OF RELUCTANT TALENT
Talent mobility is continuously evolving. After experiencing the Great Resignation, we are now entering a phase of the Great Stay, where many professionals are hesitant to change jobs. How can sourcers become game-changers in this landscape where talent is reluctant to move?
This engaging session will explore strategies for sourcers to attract, discover, and persuade talent to consider new opportunities in the current environment. We will take a broader look at how recruiters can leverage talent intelligence, implement effective location strategies, harness competitive intelligence, and ultimately add value to the business.
HOW TO ELEVATE RECRUITING WITH AI BASED BROWSERS
An in-depth look at how browsers designed specifically to harness the power of AI can be used by recruiters to become super efficient. The session will hone in particular on COMET and other AI browser tools, to improve overall recruitment efficiencies. This is an instance of supplementing human prowess with AI power.
SERVICE PROVIDER TO STRATEGIC PARTNER: TA LEADERSHIP IN THE AGE OF AI
Where will AI take us? How do we ensure our profession remains relevant? What’s the worth of the TA function to the organisation as a whole? What do those in the top who have the responsibility of leading think of the uncharted world recruiters are treading?
This fascinating session explores the point of view of recruitment leaders, those at the top who have a unique perspective on the changing world. Where do they think we are heading? What must we do as we face a bold new world? Is being brave and bold the answer?
10 LESSONS FROM 10 YEARS OR SOURCING TRAINING
Irina has been one of the most consequential sourcing trainer and experts in the last decade or so, she is back for one last time to share her learnings from over two decades of being on the forefront of sourcing.
PROMISES VS. REALITY: INSIDE 100 AI TOOLS CLAIMING TO REPLACE TALENT SOURCERS
Everyone and their cousin seems to have built an AI tool claiming it will replace talent sourcers. Over the past year, I’ve sat through about 100 of these pitches, fuelled by several cups of tea and my passionate curiosity.
Spoiler alert: AI won’t replace all of us. But it will change how we work, what we’re valued for, and how fast we can uncover hidden talent.
BUILD OR BE BUILT: DOING WHAT TOP 1% OF RECRUITERS ARE ALREADY DOING
Discover why AI recruitment engineers are becoming the highest-paid professionals in talent acquisition.
Then – no more slides. Just me, my laptop, and 15-20 minutes of live building. You’ll watch me create a working AI-powered recruitment automation system from scratch.
CREATIVE RECRUITING IN THE AGE OF AI
New research is emerging daily on the positive and negative effects of AI – how it impacts critical thinking, creativity and low sense of ownership (AI ghost-writing phenomenon).
In TA, Kish has always spoken about how we are the ‘Swiss army knives’ of the HR world which means we have to hone in on multiple skills. This talk is going to focus on how we’ve used our capability matrix to bolster weaker skills with AI, whilst still maintaining creativity and ownership of the parts of our roles we excel in.
TOP TALENT ON DEMAND? USE STRATEGIC PIPELINING!
We developed within our TA teams a pipelining process that engages potential hires and reduce time-to-hire, and make it easier for the company to access top talent. From reactive hiring to strategic pipelining.
CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE: THE MISSING INGRIDIENT IN YOUR HIRING STRATEGY
In today’s global talent market, hiring the right people goes beyond skills and experience. It’s about understanding cultural dynamics. In this talk, we’ll explore how Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the missing ingredient in your sourcing and hiring strategy. Discover how to navigate cultural differences, build more inclusive teams, and make smarter hiring decisions that drive success in a diverse world. This session will equip you with practical tools to integrate CQ into your recruitment and sourcing process and transform the way you hire.
FROM RETRO TO NEW TECH
This session explores what constitute retro recruitment technology and explores new available technologies. It offers a detailed examination of which older technologies can be replaced by emerging solutions and discusses whether such replacements are necessary. Additionally, it engages in a comprehensive discussion about the recruitment tech stack, identifying existing gaps and presenting strategies to address them.
VIBE CODING YOUR WAY TO SOURCING SUCCESS
Vibe coding is levelling the playing field for recruiters like no other technology has in the past. Imagine having the ability to build your own ATS, email scraping tools, CRM and any tech stack that you can imagine.
This hands-on session will explore how to vibe code. How to start from simple, even vague prompts, and let AI generate code to automate tasks. It’s an accessible approach to help recruiters build their own recruitment tools — no coding skills required, just clarity of intent.
OUTREACH AND CONVERSION: THE HOLY GRAIL OF SOURCING
In a bold new world where AI is reshaping recruitment, outreach and conversion remain the skills that separate great sourcers from the rest. But who writes better outreach, a human recruiter or AI? In this interactive session, Sofia vs. AI, the audience will decide who wins. Sofia will share real outreach messages she has written and compare them with AI-generated ones for the same candidates. Together we’ll test the thesis: “Humans are better than AI at writing outreach messages.”
FROM SOURCING TO STRATEGY: HOW RECRUITERS CAN LEAD WITH DATA
This session will explore how recruiters use data in talent acquisition, but also how some layers of HR data can be used to attract talent and improve DEI as well. Data, data, data is the mantra and how you can be bold and better with recruiting using it.
DO WE STILL NEED SOURCERS? EXPLORING HUMAN VS MACHINES
There are many new sourcers and recruiters in the industry that are heavily reliant on AI for their sourcing and research. While AI is great for pattern matching (I will argue with an entire presentation as to why it’s not true creativity) and automation, is it everything that a sourcer needs?
Could a brand new sourcer rely on AI and prompts to generate success? Or is real experience and industry knowledge still needed for success? Join us as we illustrate how sourcers can use AI to find candidates for specific industries and compare the AI results against proven industry methods.
HOW TO FOOL-PROOF YOUR RECRUITMENT CAREER IN AN AGE OF AI
AI is everywhere in recruitment right now — writing outreach, screening CVs, even pretending to run interviews. But let’s be honest: some of it works, a lot of it doesn’t, and none of it replaces what we actually do best.
In this talk, Mahmoud will share the good, the bad, and the downright ridiculous side of AI in hiring, plus what fool-proofing your recruiting career really looks like. Expect real examples, some laughs, and a no-BS look at how to stay ahead by doubling down on the skills AI just can’t touch.
UNMASKING TALENT: UNMASKING THE HUMAN SIDE OF TA
Curated & led by Marie Chaproniere, this closing session invites a mix of speakers and attendees to share stories, hidden talents, or truths you’d never see on LinkedIn.
It’s high-energy, high-emotion, and designed to reveal the human side of TA and Recruitment, reflecting the kind of honest connection and insight that Behind the Mask is all about.