RecTalk at RecFest: Is Talent Acquisition Becoming “People”? | Gita Selli & Daryl Benson

RecTalk is back LIVE from RecFest UK, with Nitin Sharma and Sean Kennedy joined by **Gita Selli** and **Daryl Benson** for a genuinely unfiltered conversation about the changing role of Talent Acquisition, the relationship between TA and HR, and why recruiters need to get closer to the operational heart of the business. And, naturally, there’s plenty of RecFest chaos along the way. From becoming accidental Lords and Ladies at a NOVA talent leaders dinner, to discovering the joys of free coffee and sweets, this is a very RecTalk conversation. The serious stuff starts with a question that came up repeatedly at RecFest: 👉 Is Talent Acquisition actually disappearing — or is it simply evolving? The group explores the idea that the traditional TA role could look completely different within the next 18 months, with “People Partner” and broader people-focused roles becoming increasingly common. But the bigger debate is where TA should actually sit within an organisation. Should Talent Acquisition be part of HR? Or should it sit closer to operations and the wider business? The conversation gets into why TA can become overly transactional when recruiters are simply handed a requisition and told to “go find this person”, rather than being brought into the conversation around business strategy, workforce planning and future hiring needs. Gita brings a different perspective, explaining how TA and HR can work together as genuine partners — from culture and talent mapping through to having a seat at the table with business leadership. Daryl and the group debate whether that experience is becoming the norm or whether it remains the exception. They also discuss: • Why TA needs to partner with hiring managers rather than simply fulfil requisitions • Whether Talent Acquisition belongs in operations rather than HR • How being too closely associated with HR can make TA more transactional • Why recruiters need to understand the future direction of the business, not just today's vacancies • The changing language around HR, TA and “People” functions • Whether the next generation of HR leaders will come through Talent Acquisition And because this is RecTalk at RecFest, there are plenty of stories, laughs and completely unexpected tangents along the way. GUESTS Gita Selli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gita-selli/ Daryl Benson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daryljb/ HOSTS Sean Kennedy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanthetaguy/ Nitin Sharma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitin-rectools/ SPONSORED BY **NOVA by Dweet** — Define what good looks like. Screen, source, and shortlist talent automatically. Nova works with your hiring team to build structured scoring criteria for each role, then screens every applicant, resurfaces past candidates, and finds new ones automatically. https://nova.dweet.com/ **Zyverno** — builds Frontline Hiring Intelligence for logistics, care, hospitality and retail: the sectors where a single vacancy can attract hundreds of applications that never get properly assessed. Its AI agent, Lina, conducts structured screening interviews against manager-defined criteria and returns ranked, scored shortlists. Lina screens and ranks. Hiring managers make every decision. https://www.zyverno.app/ **Screenloop** — is the all-in-one ATS built for SMEs. Replace your scattered stack of tools, from ATS to interview intelligence, scheduling, scorecards, and note-taking tools with one intuitive platform. Backed by AI time-saving features and an award-winning support team. That way, you save time, cut tooling costs, and make smarter hiring decisions faster. https://www.screenloop.com/ Find out more about **RecFest UK**: https://recfest.com/uk/ Discover recruitment tools and services: https://www.rectools.io/ Listen to RecTalk on another platform: https://rectalk.co.uk/ **#RecTalk #RecFest #RecFestUK #Recruitment #TalentAcquisition #TA #HR #PeopleAndCulture #RecruitmentPodcast #RecruitmentLeadership #Hiring #FutureOfRecruitment #RecruitmentTech #HRTech**