The Consultant's Balancing Act: Career, Travel, and Everything In Between
with Belgin Kocaman, Nina Loske, Madina Makhmudova
The Hiring Gap: Why Most Companies Are Looking for AI Talent in All the Wrong Places
Meg Alexander, Jennyn Herrera, MBA, SHRM-SCP, Fran Griffin, Katy Peichert, Aniya Grimm
October 14, 2026 01:00 PM EDT
October 14, 2026 01:00 PM EDT
Virtual
Finding great AI talent isn’t just about technical skills anymore, and the companies figuring that out are moving faster than everyone else. They’re looking for people who already understand their industry and can bring real-world context. Join us to learn what smarter sourcing looks like these days and why representative talent pipelines consistently produce stronger AI teams.
Topics will include:
- Technical skills alone no longer identify the best AI talent. The companies pulling ahead are looking past credentials and coding ability to find people who understand the industry the AI is being built for, because that context is what turns a technically sound model into one that actually works for real users.
- Industry context is a sourcing criterion, not a nice-to-have. Candidates who already understand the domain, whether that's healthcare, finance, retail, or another industry, bring real-world grounding that speeds up development and reduces costly blind spots down the line.
- Representative talent pipelines consistently outperform narrow ones. Teams built from a wider range of backgrounds and experiences produce stronger AI outcomes, which means sourcing strategy itself is a competitive advantage, not just an HR function.
This event will be eligible for SHRM credits.
Meet The Speakers
Meg Alexander
Virtual Event Host, PowerToFly
Meg Alexander joined the PowerToFly community as a job-seeker in 2014, eventually landing her first remote role working for PowerToFly’s Delivery Team. She now serves as a virtual event host, having hosted hundreds of events with both community thought leaders and some of the world's leading companies. Her professional experience includes roles as a Talent Advocate, Head of Purchasing for a window factory, audiobook publishing, & more than 5 years as a paralegal. She has a bachelor's degree in Art History from Indiana University (mint condition, never been used!), where she also earned a varsity letter for Women's Rowing. She loves DIY projects and will never say no to french fries. She lives in Toledo, OH with her husband Aaron, an engineering technician, and their dog.
Jennyn Herrera, MBA, SHRM-SCP
Head of Talent Acquisition, Biola University
Jennyn has worked in the talent acquisition space of higher education for 21 years. She has a passion for innovative approaches to service and business operations. She holds her bachelors and masters of business administration degrees from Biola University, the same institution where she proudly serves from within the Human Resources department. She is also a SHRM Senior Certified Professional. Feel free to connect! https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyn-herrera/
Fran Griffin
Talent Acquisition Manager, PowerToFly
Fran Griffin is Talent Acquisition Manager at PowerToFly, where she partners with global organizations to build high-performing teams across AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and enterprise technology. With over 18 years of international recruiting experience, Fran specializes in identifying hard-to-find technical talent while advising hiring leaders on talent strategy, market trends, and the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
While she doesn't build AI solutions herself, she spends her days working with the people who do—from machine learning engineers and AI architects to founders and technology leaders—giving her a front-row seat to how AI careers, skills, and hiring are evolving. Based in Guatemala, Fran works with clients and talent across North America, Europe, and APAC.
Katy Peichert
CEO at KatGPT / EMEA & LATAM Talent Partner @ Front
I'm growing unique companies thanks to finding and developing unique, talented people. I truly believe Talent function makes companies differentiate, strategizing for the skills in the future and preparing the employees to thrive. Bringing 15+ years of extensive tech, talent, and leadership experience, I specialise in working closely with business leaders, and growing teams in engineering & product, starting from the employer branding and candidate experience journey to the stellar employee experience. Previously, I was leading a global People & Talent Team for BRYTER & The Workshop and acted as a Senior Recruiting Partner for Technology in music tech companies like SoundCloud and Native Instruments, as well as gaming companies like Wooga. I am a psychologist by education and an HR professional by dedication. I bring an extensive creative & technical expertise thanks to collaborating with my former colleagues, friends and inspiring people I met on my way. I gained experience in agile project management, team leadership & training leaders and large teams. I speak 7 human languages, having studied and worked in Poland, France, Portugal, Brazil, Germany, and currently in Málaga, Spain within the music, entertainment, and SaaS tech industry in a variety of companies ranging from early-stage start-ups to successful mid-size scale-ups / pre-IPO companies.
Aniya Grimm
Head of Talent Success, Amplitude
Aniya Grimm is a talent and organizational development leader with over 15 years of experience driving culture, employee engagement, leadership effectiveness, and learning across the full employee lifecycle—from day-one onboarding through tenure. Building her career across the tech, non-profit, retail, and banking sectors, she advises senior leadership on supporting employee learning, organizational optimization, and strategic development, driving strategic change to build human-first programs that are innovative and easy to adopt.
Aniya holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Pepperdine University, where she presented original research, and is conversational in French. Dedicated to community impact, she serves as Board Development Committee Chair for Friends of the Oakland Public Library and tutors math and science at De La Salle High School. Based in the Bay Area, she stays motivated by her husband and two children through family dinners at home, impromptu dance parties, and shared reading time.
