The Chad & Cheese Podcast

In this episode, Joel and JT break down the seismic shifts rocking the industry, from a massive restructuring wave hitting giants like Meta, Disney, and Snap to the high-profile leadership exits at JobCase and SeekOut. With over 80,000 tech layoffs already this year, we explore why VCs are now hunting for distressed assets and how companies are desperately pivoting toward AI to survive. We also dive into how Gen Z is navigating this "Darwinian" job market by ditching traditional networking for startup hustles, skilled trades, and a surprising return to "analog culture." The conversation takes a futuristic turn as we examine the rise of the machines—from Russia’s robot-led battlefield losses to China’s marathon-running humanoids and the expansion of Tesla’s RoboTaxis. Finally, we look at the "Art Washing" of LinkedIn, where stars like Grimes and top NFL prospects are trading stages and stadiums for B2B brand deals and AI tech ventures. Whether it's the death of the traditional music industry or the birth of low-casualty robot warfare, this episode covers the rapid evolution of how we work, fight, and build brands. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Seasonal Reflections 02:59 - Gen Xers Learning to Code and AI Opportunities 05:58 - Shout Outs and Personal Updates 08:25 - Layoffs and Industry Changes 12:13 - Young Entrepreneurs and the Shift in Job Market 18:05 - The Role of Robots in Modern Warfare and Transportation 28:43 - Navigating the Future of Transportation 34:28 - The Evolution of Warfare and Military Recruitment 37:24 - Energy Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities 45:06 - Musicians on LinkedIn: A New Era of Branding 53:11 - The Changing Landscape of Live Music and Concerts

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Forget the "walled gardens" of enterprise tech; it’s time to talk about what happens when the walls finally come down. In this episode of Mallorca Talks, Chad Sowash and SmartRecruiters CEO Rebecca Carr strip away the corporate ego to reveal a future of radical connectivity. Backed by a fleet of 120 SAP engineers, they’re ditching rigid job descriptions for a world where AI agents handle the grind and humans are free to create. It’s bold, it’s transparent, and it’s changing everything. Chapters: 0:00:24 — The Vision of Connected Ecosystems 0:04:46 — Agentic Workflows and Messaging Connectivity 0:06:26 — Case Study: Real-Time Behavioral Feedback 0:08:43 — The New Model of Partnerships and Pricing 0:12:27 — SAP’s Commitment: The Engineering "Fleet" 0:21:12 — Fixing the "Leaky Bucket" of Recruitment Marketing 0:25:46 — From "Jobs" to "Tasks-to-be-Done" 0:37:06 — Creativity Unleashed: The Future of Work

Buckle up, HR tech nerds, because the boys are back to save you from your own snooze-fest industry. On this episode of HR’s Most Dangerous Podcast, Joel and Chad are diving headfirst into the chaotic vibes of 2026. They kick things off with a wild ride through the future—from the engineering feat of cleaning toilets on the Artemis moon missions to the "side hustle seduction" of the AI training gold rush. While platforms like Handshake and Mercor see revenues skyrocket, the big question remains: are experts actually mentoring AI, or just training their own replacements? The cynicism stays high as the duo tackles the latest drama from Silicon Valley elites, including Molotov cocktails at Sam Altman’s house and Mark Zuckerberg’s creepy AI twin. They dig into the "existential threat" AI poses to Gen Z, who are using the tech weekly but fear it’s gutting their wages and killing their creativity. On the industry front, they break down Humanly’s acquisition of Anthill, questioning if this is a masterstroke in the frontline workforce game or just a high-speed fire sale. Expect the usual blend of sharp analysis, 90s music nostalgia, and enough dad jokes to make you regret your career choices. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction to the Podcast and Current Events 03:00 - Reflections on Space Exploration and Sports 05:58 - Oasis and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 09:55 - Candidate Fraud and AI Training Market 14:58 - The Future of AI and Human Involvement 21:47 - The Future of AI and Human Interaction 24:21 - Silicon Valley's Controversial Figures 27:43 - The Impact of AI on Jobs and Society 35:10 - Generational Perspectives on AI 41:14 - Humanly's Strategic Acquisitions and Market Positioning

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Recruiting hasn’t just evolved—it’s being completely rewritten. For decades, the hiring process has been a "black hole" of static resumes and guarded information, but the walls are finally coming down. In this episode, Allyn Bailey (SmartRecruiters) joins Chad Sowash to expose why traditional systems are becoming irrelevant. They dive into the shift from isolated tech to AI-driven, data-connected ecosystems where agents live directly within your daily workflows. More importantly, they tackle the industry’s biggest taboo: Transparency. From real-time candidate scoring to the end of salary secrecy, learn why the redistribution of power is inevitable—and why companies clinging to the old ways of "control" will be the first to lose the war for talent. Key Takeaways: Why integration with AI is a real breakthrough. The transition from static job descriptions to dynamic talent maps. How AI is replacing candidate silence with actionable feedback and roadmaps.

This week on HR's most dangerous podcast, Chad and JT are cutting through the seasonal slush and corporate spin. The BLS Fairy Tale: The White House is hailing a "golden age" of job growth, but we’re pulling back the curtain on a report filled with striking workers returning to payrolls and construction crews finally seeing the sun. The Agentic Takeover: Paylocity acquires Grayscale as the industry pivots from simple SMS pings to full-blown AI orchestration. Is this a high-value play or just an "aqua-hire" to survive the tech-debt race?. Uncle Sam’s Playbook: Healthcare startup Clasp raises $20M by dusting off a 100-year-old military model to trade student loan debt for employee tenure. The Dorsey Doctrine: We dive into Jack Dorsey’s "heady" vision of a remote-first world where AI maintains a company’s "world model," effectively flattening the hierarchy and making middle management obsolete. Is the economy actually booming, or is it just a "two-week" soundbite on loop?. Grab a whiskey (preferably Blanton's) and find out.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

It’s the podcast your mom warned you about, and this week, Chad & Cheese are digging into the trenches of the medical imaging world with Josh Block, author of People Matter at Work. From the "FUNCY" streets of Muncie, Indiana, to unexpectedly becoming the president of a $30M family business over a single weekend, Josh shares his wild ride of scaling an organization to over $200M by betting everything on healthy culture. In this episode, the guys tackle why healthcare management is notoriously broken, the reality of imposter syndrome when you're handed the keys to the kingdom at 29, and the "stop sign revelation" in Indiana that sparked a six-year journey to prove that people actually matter in the workplace. Forget the polished marketing fluff; this is a raw look at workforce leadership, Big Ten rivalries, and whether or not Josh was actually tapped on the shoulder by a ghost—or just a local in Muncie—to tell his story. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction to Josh Block and His Journey 03:04 - The Importance of Culture in the Workplace 05:56 - Challenges in Healthcare and the Role of AI 08:56 - Creating a Healthy Work Environment 12:05 - Navigating Growth and Change in Organizations 15:07 - The Impact of Remote Work on Company Culture 18:04 - Flexibility and Retention Strategies 20:51 - Addressing Politics in the Workplace 23:58 - Cultural Identity and Employee Engagement 26:58 - Retention and Employee Tenure Insights

Get ready for another round of high-stakes industry talk and "light-hearted" chaos on this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast. The boys are back, with Chad recapping a whirlwind UK tour of scotch and golf while revealing a brand-new tattoo that has Joel feeling a bit "cheated" on. Between Emi’s pivot from Sri Lanka to Brazil and a heated debate over whether they’d sell out their friends for a MrBeast-sized jackpot, the team dives into the heavy hitters: Oracle’s massive AI-driven layoffs and the fallout of the Mercor data breach. The conversation turns sharp as they dissect the US Senate’s investigation into data brokers like Findem and LinkedIn’s latest power move to kill spontaneous live streaming in favor of monetization. From Citi banker Jay Collins’ dire warnings about AI threatening the middle class to Melania Trump’s vision of humanoid robots in the classroom, no stone is left unturned. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Personal Updates 03:20 - Travel Tales and Experiences 06:21 - Shout Outs and Current Events 09:37 - Tech Layoffs and AI Concerns 11:16 - Entertainment and Reality Shows 15:47 - Beer and Events: A Lighthearted Start 17:10 - Upcoming Events and Networking Opportunities 19:06 - Traitify Acquisition Update 21:12 Mercor Data Breach: A Serious Concern 30:31 Senate Investigation into Data Brokers, Findem 39:04 The Value of Transparency in Data Handling 40:01 The Future of Live Streaming on LinkedIn 47:05 AI and the Threat to Capitalism 58:08 Education in the Age of AI

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Is "Agentic Recruiting" the end of HR friction? Chad Sowash sits down with Shiran Yaroslavsky to discuss the shift from clunky dashboards to seamless AI orchestration. Shiran shares how to wake up "zombie" talent pools, slash ATS migrations from months to weeks, and build transparent, bias-monitored systems. It’s a masterclass in making AI work for the recruiter, not the other way around.

In this episode of HR’s Most Dangerous Podcast, Joel Cheesman is joined by guest host JT O’Donnell for a candid, high-energy deep dive into the chaotic labor market of 2026. The duo kicks things off with "girl talk," debating the age-old GIF vs. Jif controversy and sharing a wild March Madness story involving a chance elevator encounter with a college coach. The banter quickly turns to the business of sports, exploring how NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals are shifting the coaching landscape and the mental health hurdles athletes face when the big checks stop rolling in. The heart of the episode tackles the "don’t know what’s real anymore" era of Artificial Intelligence. Joel and JT dissect the drama surrounding OpenAI’s Sora and a viral TikTok "roast" that turned out to be AI-generated marketing slop. They explore the booming AI-clip economy, where creators are using tools like Opus Pro to rake in six-figure incomes without ever stepping in front of a camera. However, the corporate side of AI presents a grimmer reality; according to the Randstad Workmonitor 2026, 76% of employers expect half of entry-level roles to vanish within five years due to automation—a looming crisis that many workers have yet to acknowledge. The conversation gets real about the current white-collar job market, noting that 40% of job-switchers are taking massive pay cuts just to stay employed. They pull no punches on the rise of "reverse recruiting," labeling services that charge desperate job seekers thousands of dollars as potential scams. From rumors of massive layoffs at Talent.com to the surge in demand for "AI Trainers" and "agentic" skills, this episode is a must-listen for anyone trying to navigate a world where traditional career paths are breaking. Whether it’s legal drama at Deel, LinkedIn virality in the NBA, or JT’s upcoming appearance at Harvard Business School, this episode blends snarky industry critiques with essential survival tips for the modern workforce. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Banter 03:09 - Streaming and Content Consumption Trends 05:52 - March Madness and Coaching Dynamics 08:55 - NIL and Financial Literacy for Athletes 12:00 - AI in Recruitment and Marketing 15:59 - The Evolution of Influencer Marketing 19:59 - Shout Outs and Unique Stories 21:57 - Sperm Donation Controversies 23:36 - Shout Out to Harvard Business School 27:11 - Upcoming Events and Networking 28:02 - Talent.com Layoffs and Domain Investments 31:49 - Salary Cuts for White Collar Workers 38:10 - AI's Impact on Entry-Level Jobs 40:43 - Generational Perspectives on Work 47:42 - Understanding Reverse Recruiting 47:52 - The Rise of Reverse Recruiting 52:10 - AI Integration in Corporate Structures 55:48 - The Future of Executive Decision-Making with AI 58:38 - Opportunities in the AI Job Market 01:00:10 - Industry News and Trends

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

In this episode of "HR’s Most Dangerous Podcast," Joel and Chad sit down with Paul Price, CEO of CodeWall, to discuss a startling security demonstration involving the AI recruitment startup Jack and Jill. Price explains how his autonomous AI agents "chained" together several minor, trivial vulnerabilities to gain full access to the recruitment data of major companies like Monzo and Anthropic. The conversation takes a futuristic turn as Price describes how his AI began socially engineering Jack and Jill's own AI voice agents, even attempting to pose as a TechCrunch journalist to extract exclusive funding details. Price warns that we have reached a dangerous "inflection point" where attackers use AI to clone voices with just ten seconds of audio to deceive employees and recruiters. With deepfakes already being used by international hackers to ace job interviews and infiltrate corporate systems, this episode serves as a sobering wake-up call for the industry to build its own AI defense armies.

The Chad & Cheese Podcast is back with another explosive episode, and this week, hosts Chad Sowash (when he's not beach-bound), Joel Cheesman, and Lieven dive headfirst into the escalating "cage match" between recruiting's two 800-pound gorillas: Indeed and LinkedIn. Is Indeed getting desperate? The trio dissects rumors of a bold (and highly suspicious) "spend-matching" pilot program—think a direct "Pepsi Challenge" aimed at poaching market share from LinkedIn. As Chad highlights, this incentive play comes loaded with major strings attached, raising questions about long-term sustainability and whether it's a genuine innovation or a frantic defensive move in a shrinking ad-spend pie. Meanwhile, LinkedIn isn't playing defense. They're rolling out AI-powered initial interview screening (now in early testing for Hiring Pro users), where an AI interviewer handles audio/video screens for up to 40 candidates per role. The system generates questions based on the job description, suggests ideal answers for recruiters to tweak, and scores responses on alignment—potentially streamlining the funnel but sparking debate on whether it truly improves quality or just adds more automation noise. The conversation gets spicy with "banana in the tailpipe" tactics (classic sabotage vibes), the real cost of Indeed’s incentives, and whether LinkedIn's automated screens will actually fix the hiring funnel—or create new bottlenecks. They also touch on emerging trends like the rise of "vibe-coding" (AI-assisted low/no-code hacks) making ATS integrations faster and easier than ever, plus Travis Kalanick's big reveal: his long-stealth company Atoms launching fleets of specialized industrial robots for food, mining, transport, and beyond—wheeled "gainfully employed" bots, not sci-fi humanoids. If you're in HR, recruiting, or just love watching tech titans slug it out, this episode is pure chaos and insight. Tune in for the unfiltered takes on who's winning the war for talent acquisition dollars in 2026. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Light Banter 02:48 - Chad's New Car Adventure 04:44 - European Perspectives on American Politics 07:24 - Midterm Elections and Political Climate 08:44 - Shout Outs and Industry Insights 12:34 - The Future of ATS Integrations and AI 15:11 - The Challenge of Change in HR Tools 15:59 - Vibe Coding: Revolutionizing Prototyping 17:05 - Travis Kalanick's New Venture: Industrial Robots 18:35 - The Future of Work: Robots as Employees 19:42 - The Impact of Automation on Jobs 22:45 - Upcoming RLX Retreat: AI and Hiring Discussion 23:17 - Rumors of Acquisition: Paradox's Tradify 24:32 - Indeed vs. LinkedIn: The Battle for Recruitment 30:51 - The Future of AI in Recruitment 32:56 - LinkedIn's Slow but Steady Progress 35:59 - The Rise of AI Agents and Automation 42:58 - The Future of Employment in an AI-Driven World 46:13 - Government Regulations and AI: A Double-Edged Sword 53:05 - Cybersecurity Challenges in the Age of AI

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Chad is back, this time in Mallorca, with Rebecca Carr who just dropped a Molotov cocktail on traditional recruiting. This isn’t “optimize your ATS” talk—this is burn it down and rebuild with AI agents running the show. SmartRecruiters went from “just another platform” to SAP’s shiny new weapon, and Rebecca’s here to explain how betting big on AI turned a commodity into a category killer. We dig into: Why ATS platforms are living on borrowed time How AI agents will replace interfaces with conversations The real reason candidates don’t trust hiring tech (hint: black box BS) Why most companies are stuck in Frankenstein tech stacks they’re too scared to leave And how SAP is using SmartRecruiters as a test lab for the future of work Rebecca also pulls back the curtain on leadership—making hard calls, killing distractions, and why playing it safe is the fastest way to get left behind. Bottom line: if your hiring strategy still looks like 2015… you’re already screwed.

Buckle up for another chaotic ride with HR’s Most Dangerous Podcast, where the banter is sharp, the takes are hot, and no industry sacred cow is safe from the slaughter. In this episode, Joel Cheesman, JT O’Donnell, and Maureen Clough (with a hit-and-run cameo from Chad Sowash) navigate a conversational minefield that stretches from high-stakes geopolitical dread to the gritty future of how we all get paid. The crew kicks things off with a dive into the "dark humor" of global escalations and movie hot takes before pivoting to the real-world anxieties of the modern professional. Is the resume finally dead, or is it just being fitted for a digital tuxedo? The team squares off on whether AI "slop" has officially broken the application process, leading to a fiery debate on why your personal brand might be the only life raft left in an unstable sea. From the rise of video-first branding to the "human-in-the-loop" reality of Anthropic’s latest AI study, the hosts dissect who is actually at risk of being replaced and who is just being handed better tools. The episode also serves up a masterclass in modern marketing, dissecting a viral $80M funding round that proves "knowledge creators" might be the new kings of recruiting—though Joel isn’t sold on the hype just yet. Between legacy tech acquisitions that feel a little too "desperate" and a sobering look at the "broken rung" still stalling women in leadership, this episode balances cynicism with a blueprint for survival. Whether you’re worried about flying cars or just trying to survive the next wave of AI-driven layoffs, this is the snark-filled reality check you need. Ready to hear why your LinkedIn engagement is tanking and why a Big Mac video might be the future of executive branding? Hit play and join the conversation. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Light Banter 01:20 - Current Events and Global Concerns 05:33 - Shifting Perspectives on War and Politics 08:30 - Innovations in Transportation: The Rise of EV Talls 10:51 - The Importance of Executive Branding 18:09 - The Death of the Resume: A New Era in Hiring 33:06 - AI's Impact on the Job Market 34:24 - Craftsmanship in the Age of AI 35:20 - The Importance of AI Literacy 36:49 - The Digital Renaissance and Career Opportunities 41:29 - Navigating Job Market Changes 56:23 - Women in the Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.