Hiring Enablement Solutions

Chris Hoyt: So, I think we need to set the stage for anyone who may be watching or listening—today or whenever you tune in—because Jessica, you may float away.

Jessica McNulty: Yeah, we’ve got a lot of rain. Hurricane Debbie is making her presence known in North Carolina, I think.

Chris Hoyt: Oh man. I think Master said it earlier though—your background looks good. Is that actually your office? Is that a real window?

Jessica McNulty: It’s a real window, just sun showers. At least it’s still daylight. It makes it a little less dreary with all the rain.

Chris Hoyt: That’s not too bad. Do you have any house animals that freak out with all the crazy weather?

Jessica McNulty: That’s a good thing to warn people about—two dogs. If there’s thunder, we might hear some barking.

Chris Hoyt: They’re just saving your life every time they bark.

Jessica McNulty: Actually, my Alexa just went off, and that makes the dogs bark. So, that’s the moment around here.

Chris Hoyt: I think we’re good. Alright—are we ready to jump in? We’ve got some fun stuff to talk about.

Jessica McNulty: Yeah, let’s do it.

Announcer: CXR Channel—our premier podcast for talent acquisition and talent management. Listen in as the CXR community discusses a wide range of topics focused on attracting, engaging, and retaining the best talent. We’re glad you’re here.

Chris Hoyt: Welcome, everybody, to the Recruiting Community Podcast—weekly talent acquisition insights and updates, delivered in the form of a conversation. I’m your host Han, and with me is my co-host Chewy. How are you, Chewy?

Gerry Crispin: [Lightsaber sounds]

Chris Hoyt: Good reference. I’ll take that.

When we had HireBrain on for our June Spotlight Day, we really wanted to learn more about this hiring manager-focused approach they’ve developed. They’ve got a methodology around using future-facing performance objectives—it’s a really interesting platform. Today, we’ve got a treat—a client who’s going to talk about incorporating that new tool into their digital transformation and AI enablement strategy.

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A little housekeeping: the CXR Marketplace is up and running. This is a member-designed platform with about 500 vendors and 7,000+ ratings and reviews submitted by our members. It’s now open to anyone who registers. After you rate at least three vendors, the community features begin to unlock.

Gerry Crispin: I like that feature most. I want to talk to people who are actually using the solutions—not the marketing folks. That’s where the real insights are.

Chris Hoyt: You did ask if we could just remove all adjectives from the vendor submissions.

Gerry Crispin: I did. I just want the facts—what the solution is and how it actually performs.

Chris Hoyt: Alright, let’s bring in our guests. We’ve got David, Master, and of course Jessica. I’ll be in the top corner today, repping the CXR headband. Welcome back!

David Nason: Thank you. Great to be here.

Chris Hoyt: Let’s go one at a time so folks know who’s who. David, let’s start with you—who are you, and why are we paying attention?

David Nason: Thanks. I’m David Nason, CEO and founder of HireBrain—a hiring enablement platform. We originally started as a training program for hiring managers and executives. Over time, we evolved into building software that supports hiring managers before, during, and after the hiring cycle to ensure the highest probability of success.

We now drive collaboration between recruiting and business teams. Recruiters can use our platform to truly act as business advisors to their stakeholders.

Chris Hoyt: Master, you’re up.

Master Burnett: I’ve been in recruiting for over 20 years—started as a tech recruiter in Silicon Valley, moved into advisory work, talent communities with Brave New Talent, then competitive intelligence, and now back in recruiting with HireBrain.

Chris Hoyt: Love having you back. Alright, Jessica?

Jessica McNulty: I lead Global Operations for Talent Acquisition at Nutanix. I live in North Carolina—hence the stormy weather. I’ve been in recruiting for 10 years, started as a coordinator, then became a recruiter, and moved into ops. At Nutanix, my work spans budgets, compliance, programs, processes, and vendor partnerships like this one with HireBrain.

Chris Hoyt: I want to set the stage for what HireBrain is. David, can you give us the elevator pitch?

David Nason: Sure. We infuse learning with software so people can actually do what they’re learning—like learning how to build a forward-facing view of a job. Instead of hiring from outdated job descriptions, we help managers define what success in the role looks like, what business challenges the role solves, and build a plan for that role over 12–18 months.

We started there and then built out tools—like job description optimization, competency modeling, intake tools—all focused on making hiring easier and more effective for managers and TA.

Master Burnett: Role design is foundational, and we’ve added apps that support hiring managers wherever they touch the process—intake, performance planning, onboarding—all from their perspective. It eliminates duplicated effort and enhances collaboration.

Chris Hoyt: I love the hiring manager focus. Jessica, can you walk us through the challenge you had and why you partnered with HireBrain?

Jessica McNulty: We needed something to fill a gap—before recruiting even starts. We needed a better foundation for hiring. HireBrain helped us build that foundation—job descriptions, role design, competencies. It was something we hadn’t seen before. We didn’t have to tear everything down—just pour a new foundation.

Chris Hoyt: And what’s the feedback from hiring managers?

Jessica McNulty: At first, there were some grumbles—that’s expected. But once they go through the process, they’re like, “Whoa.” They see the benefit of a few hours upfront—better job descriptions, hiring plans, onboarding plans. It saves time later.

David Nason: To that point, Nutanix managers have created 30–35% more content in HireBrain than they’ve actually used for open reqs—hundreds of role designs in anticipation of future needs. That shows strong engagement.

Master Burnett: It also shows a shift in behavior. Most platforms optimize JDs, but no one’s helping managers design the job from a business perspective. We start with business-oriented questions that lead to recruiting outcomes. It’s useful for hiring, promoting, restructuring—anything that requires redefining a role.

Jessica McNulty: We’re even using it to reframe the recruiting team. It’s a really cool tool to guide that kind of thinking.

Chris Hoyt: Let’s talk about implementation—how big of a lift is this?

David Nason: It’s surprisingly easy. We recommend starting with a pilot team—maybe your toughest customers or biggest challenges. We work closely with customer success partners like Julie Goff—Jessica can attest to that.

Jessica McNulty: Julie’s amazing. They co-innovate with us, and it’s raising the bar for other vendors. HireBrain’s support makes my job easier and lets us reframe hiring as a fun part of the job, not a burden.

Chris Hoyt: I’m hearing that word “partnership” a lot. Jessica, what would you say is the biggest impact to the TA team?

Jessica McNulty: We’re reframing TA because the recruiter role is changing. My boss says, “You’re car mechanics today—you need to be jet fighter pilots tomorrow.” We have to step into our power as experts and advisors. HireBrain supports that evolution and gives us the tools to do it thoughtfully.

Gerry Crispin: Jessica, I’m intrigued by the role design piece. David mentioned 700+ role designs—how does that tie into broader org development?

Jessica McNulty: We’re partnering with teams across HR—learning and development, total rewards—to build a global career framework. HireBrain is helping us build that from the ground up. It’s been great to have a shared foundation.

Master Burnett: What drew me to Nutanix was how they view hiring as part of the entire employee lifecycle—not just a short window. Role design bridges TA, L&D, and HR infrastructure. We’re filling all the “fractures” in the process—those gaps that exist because no other tool serves the hiring manager.

Chris Hoyt: So, HireBrain isn’t a replacement—it’s an augmentation?

Master Burnett: Exactly. Like the Dow commercials—we don’t make things, we make things better. We integrate with what you have and make it smoother.

David Nason: And it’s designed to be helpful. Role design isn’t about writing skills taxonomies—it’s about defining what needs to get done. Whether you write it or speak it, our AI helps build that forward-facing view of the job.

Chris Hoyt: Who’s the ideal company for this?

David Nason: Typically enterprise. But we’re seeing adoption in places that just want to optimize job descriptions, or enforce compliance. You don’t have to use the whole platform—you can start where you’re ready.

Master Burnett: It’s great for large orgs with lots of professional roles. And the ability to tailor job templates by function—finance vs. engineering, for example—is huge. It’s flexible and scalable.

Chris Hoyt: Alright, Jessica—you get a unique question. If you were writing a book about your experience with HireBrain, what would the title be?

Jessica McNulty: Maybe something like Relaying the Foundation or Rerouting the Ship. That’s what it’s felt like.

Chris Hoyt: And who gets the first signed copy—present company excluded?

Jessica McNulty: My daughter—she’s four. She’ll be the illustrator too!

Chris Hoyt: I love that. David, Master—always a pleasure. Jessica—thank you so much. We saw this at Spotlight and knew it deserved a deeper dive. This is one of the most interesting platforms we’ve seen lately.

And just for transparency—there’s no endorsement, no incentive—we just think people should know about it.

David Nason: Thanks so much.

Chris Hoyt: To everyone else: check out past episodes at cxr.works/podcast and don’t forget the marketplace at cxr.org/marketplace. We’ll see you next time!

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