As headline sponsor for HRFest Australia 2026, Employment Hero previews AI's growing role in recruitment and workforce strategy
Employment Hero has been confirmed as headline sponsor of HRFest Australia 2026, the one-day HR festival returning to The Timber Yard in Melbourne on 11 November 2026 under the theme "Rewriting the rules of HR – together." Ahead of the event, two of the company's senior leaders spoke about the trends set to dominate the day: the shift from experimental artificial intelligence (AI) to practical deployment, and the mounting pressure AI is placing on recruitment.
Liam D'Ortenzio, head of performance operations at Employment Hero, and David Holland, the company's managing director of talent solutions, said HR leaders attending this year's festival are past the point of debating whether to adopt AI and are now grappling with how to use it responsibly, at scale, without losing sight of the people it is meant to serve.
AI dominates the agenda again, but the conversation has changed
D'Ortenzio said the question shaping this year's sessions has moved on from previous years. "We're moving beyond the initial excitement around AI and into a much more practical phase. The question is no longer 'Should we be using AI?' but 'How do we use it in a way that genuinely improves outcomes for our people and our business?'" he said.
He pointed to Employment Hero's own data – drawn from its base of more than 350,000 businesses and 2.5 million employees globally – to illustrate the pace of change. "AI-related job postings have grown fivefold in under two years, with generative AI listed as a required skill increasing by 635 per cent between 2024 and 2025," D'Ortenzio said, adding that the trend is no longer confined to technology employers, with healthcare, customer service and marketing businesses increasingly listing AI capability as a core workforce skill.
He also flagged a related shift he expects to feature heavily at HRFest: organisations moving away from disconnected hiring, payroll and HR systems and toward what Employment Hero calls a single "Employment Operating System." "As AI becomes more embedded in the workplace, that foundation will become increasingly important," he said.
The CV is dying, and recruitment is buckling under application volume
Holland said recruitment teams are facing a problem largely created by AI on the candidate side. He cited data suggesting more than 40 per cent of applicants don't read a full job description before applying, alongside a surge in candidates using large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Claude to optimise applications and apply for roles in bulk.
"The average number of applicants is heading north, and in our case it's now over 150 per role," Holland said. He argued the flood of AI-polished applications is eroding what recruiters can actually learn from a CV. "We're losing the hiring signal because the CVs and cover letters are being optimised by AI. On the candidate side, it's becoming harder and harder for employers to see where they can genuinely find the fit and the best candidates."
Employment Hero's response has centred on its AI recruitment agent, which Holland said now reviews more than 600,000 applications every month and has completed more than 5,000 interviews, cutting candidate screening time by 67 per cent while leaving hiring managers responsible for the final call. The platform also uses SMS-based screening to chase down missing "must-have" criteria before a hiring manager sees an application, and is building a longitudinal candidate profile drawn from repeat interactions rather than a single CV snapshot. "Instead of it being sort of a war of candidate AI versus hire AI, we're in the unique position to be able to bring both together," Holland said.
Guardrails matter as automation reaches into pay and compliance
D'Ortenzio was direct about where responsibility sits as automation extends deeper into HR and compliance functions. "Technology doesn't remove responsibility; it increases it," he said. He said every AI capability Employment Hero builds sits within the company's Responsible AI framework, which is built around human oversight, privacy by design and bias mitigation. "As AI becomes more autonomous, those guardrails become even more important," he said.
That responsibility extends to psychological safety, a theme also flagged as a headline session topic for HRFest 2026's four-stage program. "Employees need to trust that systems are fair, transparent and working in their best interests, while employers need confidence that they're meeting their obligations and supporting their people effectively," D'Ortenzio said.
Building the business case for HR technology investment
With C-suite alignment listed among this year's HRFest 2026 headline themes, D'Ortenzio said HR leaders need to lead with business outcomes rather than technology when pitching investment. "The conversation shouldn't start with technology. It should start with business outcomes. Are you trying to improve productivity? Reduce turnover? Accelerate hiring? Reduce compliance risk? Improve workforce visibility?" he said.
He said the strongest business cases tie workforce technology directly to growth and risk reduction rather than treating it as a standalone software purchase. "The businesses that will be best prepared for what's coming aren't necessarily the ones adopting the most AI. They're the ones building the connected employment foundations that allow people and AI to work together more effectively," D'Ortenzio said.
HRFest Australia 2026 is expected to draw more than 700 HR professionals, executives and innovation leaders to Melbourne in November, with confirmed speakers including Dr Amantha Imber of Inventium and Pritho Saxena, Amazon's director of HR for China, Australia and South East Asia.
HR leaders interested in hearing more from Employment Hero and the rest of this year's speaker line-up can secure a place at HRFest Australia 2026.
