Where AI Actually Helps Recruiters (And Where It Doesn’t) - w/ Derry Holt (EP 75)
In this episode of The 1 Percent Better Recruitment Podcast, I’m joined by Derry Holt, Founder & CEO of OneUp Sales, to break down where AI actually helps recruiters, and where it doesn’t. Derry works with recruitment founders and leaders every day on sales performance, enablement, and execution. That puts him right at the intersection of AI, automation, and real-world recruiter behaviour. In this conversation, we cut through the hype to talk honestly about how AI should be used inside agencies, where it adds genuine value, and why broken processes can’t be fixed with better tools. This episode is practical, grounded, and aimed squarely at recruiters and founders who want clarity, not noise, as AI continues to reshape the industry. We cover: ✅ Where AI actually helps recruiters ✅ Where AI creates problems instead of progress ✅ Why recruitment doesn’t have an AI problem, but a process problem ✅ Internal automation vs client-facing automation ✅ How AI exposes weak sales fundamentals ✅ The danger of panic-buying recruitment tech ✅ Why average performance gets exposed faster with AI ✅ Sales discipline, consistency, and execution ✅ What recruiters should automate, and what they shouldn’t ✅ The future recruiter skillset ✅ What founders should rethink right now ✅ Derry’s 1 Percent Better advice for recruiters and leaders ⏱ Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro and episode context 03:00 – Derry’s background and OneUp Sales 08:00 – AI hype vs reality in recruitment 14:00 – Why process beats tech 21:00 – Where AI helps recruiters most 29:00 – Where AI causes damage 38:00 – Internal vs external automation 47:00 – Sales discipline and performance fundamentals 55:00 – What average recruiters should be worried about 01:03:00 – Advice for recruitment founders 01:10:00 – Derry’s 1 Percent Better tip 🐋 Podcast Sponsor – SourceWhale This episode is sponsored by SourceWhale, the multi-channel outreach platform I personally use and recommend to recruiters and founders. SourceWhale helps you combine email, LinkedIn, calls, and tasks into one structured, consistent BD workflow, without relying on spray-and-pray automation. If you want better conversations, not just more activity, this is worth a look. 👉 Book a demo here: https://sourcewhale.com/book-demo/?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=&utm_term=charles_kyriakou&utm_content=book_a_demo Mention The 1 Percent Better Recruitment Podcast or my name, Charles Kyriakou, when you book. 🔗 Connect with Derry Holt 💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derryholt/ 🔗 Connect with Charles Kyriakou 💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1/ 📲 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou 🍏 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1-better-recruitment-podcast/id1775201502 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46LjJfw 📰 LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7244346543967731712/ 🌐 Website – https://www.inf1nitelearning.com/ 👇 If this episode helped you rethink AI in recruitment, like, comment, subscribe, and share it with a recruiter who needs to hear this.
