After the SpaceX founder said he would personally vet candidates for its new AI division, it raised fresh questions about the CEO's place in the recruiting process
Elon Musk made headlines this week when he announced he would personally review job applications for SpaceXAI, the new artificial intelligence division inside SpaceX. In a post on X, Musk invited engineers and physicists to email three bullet points demonstrating exceptional ability, noting that prior AI experience was not required. He added that he would be “reviewing all emails that passed a reasonable sanity check personally.”
For many HR leaders, the instinct might be to bristle. But Joseph Varner, a U.S.-based CHRO with experience across public, private, and private equity-backed companies, says that reaction misreads the situation.
“My first impression was I completely agree with it,” he said. “At his level, I think any founder would want to connect with the top candidates for the roles. I don’t really look at this as circumventing HR per se. I look at this as him just being really provocative.”
Context changes everything
Varner’s read starts with the business moment SpaceX is in. The company recently filed its S-1 paperwork ahead of what could be one of the largest IPOs in history, with a reported valuation target between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion. In that context, Musk’s public involvement in hiring isn’t just a staffing decision, it’s a brand and valuation play.
“There’s a thing called FOMO, the fear of missing out,” Varner said. “SpaceX is the first organization that has actually used FOMO as a strategy to bolster their valuation. By announcing this so broadly, he puts it out there that he’s going to be involved. For people who are really fascinated by him, they would jump at this opportunity.”
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That framing shifts how a CHRO should interpret the move. Rather than seeing it as CEO encroachment on a people function, Varner argues a strategic HR leader would recognize it for what it is: a founder making sure the right talent is drawn to a pivotal moment in the company’s history.
“A strategic CHRO will understand that because he just wants to make sure he has the right people,” he said. “I wouldn’t take that as being put in the corner as an HR leader.”
He also pushes back on the idea that Musk is skipping the process entirely. In Varner’s view, what Musk is actually doing is moving his involvement to the front of the funnel rather than the back, where CEOs typically appear as the final sign-off.
“Usually, the CEO is the last person that you meet,” he said. “I just think it’s different. But everything that SpaceX and Elon have done is just different.”
Where the real risk lives
Varner's support has limits, though. His worry isn't CEO involvement itself, it's what happens when high-profile, informal hiring moves forward without the proper HR infrastructure behind it.
“Hiring is a skill,” he said. “As a company that’s so open, so visible, you want to make sure you are following the various laws required from a risk standpoint. If you don’t have a strategic HR leader in the room who can help safeguard those risks, things can go awry quickly.”
The risks Varner has in mind are practical: pay equity compliance, immigration requirements, credential verification, and reputational risk from hires that turn out to be a liability. These are the areas where informal processes, however well-intentioned, tend to create problems at scale.
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“You want to make sure the people you’re bringing in aren’t going to damage your business or your reputation,” Varner said. “When you go through your standard HR practices, you make sure all of those things are right before a person comes in. You do run a risk of getting eaten from the inside out if these things aren’t done.”
Dave Ulrich, professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, frames it in terms of the CEO-CHRO relationship itself.
"CEOs are the ultimate owners of all human capability decisions," he said. "HR professionals should be trusted architects who bring insights to improve those decisions. Including HR brings professional standards, reduces risks, and delivers stakeholder value."
Not a trend, not a template
Musk’s request for three bullet points in lieu of a traditional resume has also drawn attention as a possible signal of where hiring is heading, particularly as skills-based approaches gain traction. However, Varner doesn’t see this approach catching on anytime soon.
“I don’t consider this a trend,” he said. “I think the hiring process is bulletproof for a reason. You want to make sure you’re investing all of this time and money in the individual, and that they check off the boxes you need for them to be successful.”
The Musk model, though, is not a template for most organizations. The conditions that make it work at SpaceX, including the founder mystique, the IPO momentum, and the company’s appetite for unconventional moves, are not replicable at a standard enterprise, according to Varner.
“I wouldn’t see a big benefit of another CEO doing this in a standard or normal company,” Varner said. “The things that they do at SpaceX, you just wouldn’t normally do at General Motors or McDonald’s. But it works for SpaceX and it works for Elon.”
Photo: Gage Skidmore, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
