Why technical recruiters need technical fluency

Spotlight is our series on the people shaping the future of hiring and talent. We ask them how they work, what they believe, and where AI actually helps.

This time we spoke with Jaclyn Leigh L., who has been in the trenches of recruiting for nearly a decade.

She earned Recruiter of the Year at TEKsystems, became a top performer at Dexian, and joined Elevait Solutions as a founding team member where she helped scale the company from two people to more than $2M in revenue. Today she is a client partner at Ovidius AI and a founding member of PromptMates, focused on how AI is reshaping talent acquisition.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in hiring or talent?

Learn the mechanics of the process, but prioritize building your network from day one. Recruiting is ultimately about trust and long-term relationships, not just filling seats. The people you invest in early will become your strongest partners, referrals, and advocates years down the line.

What is a hiring belief you hold that most people would challenge?

Unpopular Opinion: I strongly believe recruiters supporting technical roles should have technical knowledge. You don't need to be an engineer, but you should understand the fundamentals well enough to evaluate tradeoffs, ask thoughtful questions, and build credibility with candidates. Without that baseline fluency, it's difficult to truly advocate for quality over keywords.

What concerns you most about using AI in hiring?

My biggest concern is that AI becomes a blocker to real human connection instead of an enabler. If implemented poorly, it can create distance, opacity, and over-automation in moments that require judgment and empathy. Technology should reduce friction, not replace thoughtful decision-making.

How can AI make recruiters better, not just faster?

AI has the potential to accelerate education and deepen understanding. It can help recruiters ramp faster on new technical domains, identify patterns across hiring data, and surface insights that would otherwise take hours to uncover. Used correctly, it strengthens strategic thinking rather than just speeding up task execution.

What would "humane AI" in hiring look like to you?

Humane AI supports fair, consistent evaluation while maintaining transparency. Candidates and hiring teams should be able to understand how decisions are informed and what signals matter. The goal isn't to remove humans from the process it's to equip them with clearer, more explainable tools.