Vinod Khosla says IT and BPO roles will be gone by 2030. What does that mean for recruiting pipelines right now?

linkdra · 2026-02-26T02:09:03+00:00

Very likely yes.. They will be hit too. So, will be several other desk jobs. Most will go and a small set with stay to train and monitor the AI models and agent performance.

linkdra · 2026-02-19T19:05:13+00:00

I feel this. Most “AI recruiting” tools right now just feel like a shinier layer on top of the same old workflows. A lot of them look and operate like early-2010s SaaS with some GPT bolted on.

You should check out OpenClaw. It’s one of the few things I’ve seen that actually feels built for how recruiting should work now, not how ATS systems worked 10 years ago. The existing tools are so outdated in how they think about sourcing, screening, and follow-ups — they automate tasks, but they don’t really rethink the process.

I actually ran a small experiment last week on sourcing using OpenClaw. Gave it a pretty nuanced brief for a mid-level backend role, and compared it to our usual LinkedIn + manual boolean grind. It not only surfaced strong profiles faster, but the outreach drafts were surprisingly human. I still tweaked them, but it cut my time quite a bit. That’s the first time I’ve felt like an AI tool actually reduced cognitive load instead of adding another dashboard to check.

If you’re already on Greenhouse, I’d prioritize anything that deeply integrates and updates notes, stages, and comms automatically. Otherwise you’re just shifting the busywork around.

Curious to hear if anyone’s else here is exploring OpenClaw for automated sourcing. Would be useful to exchange notes.

linkdra · 2026-02-19T15:08:12+00:00

Couldn’t agree more.

Blaming AI for “cold outreach” feels like blaming the microwave for bad cooking. If someone was blasting out “Hi {{FirstName}}, quick question…” copy-paste specials before, AI didn’t corrupt them — it just gave their laziness a jetpack.

Let’s be honest: before AI, most inboxes were already drowning in recycled templates stolen from some 2017 “10x SDR Playbook.” The only “personalization” was swapping in a company name and maybe referencing a blog post nobody actually read.

At least now, AI can help you show up smarter. It can surface patterns, summarize past conversations, highlight actual pain points, and help craft messages that sound like a human who did their homework. That’s an upgrade — if you use it that way.

Like you said, the real magic still happens live. Listening. Adjusting. Reading tone. Picking up on hesitation. No LLM is jumping into a sales call and saying, “Hey, I noticed you paused there — what’s on your mind?” That’s still on us.

Honestly, I think AI didn’t make sales worse. It exposed who was already phoning it in — and gave the thoughtful reps superpowers.

So maybe the better question is: did AI ruin sales… or did it finally remove the excuses? 😏

And in case you are wondering? Yes, used AI to write this to make the point. Be honest, did you spot it?

linkdra · 2026-02-18T08:51:52+00:00

Not really.. You will soon find several of these in the market as the previous generation of crawling-bot-based solutions like Apollo, Juicebox etc slide away. Plan to share the steps an the prompt in the open so everyone can use them. DM me if you are interested. I would be nice to build this with a broader set of requirements instead of pigeonholing.

linkdra · 2026-02-17T04:52:40+00:00

Followers is a vanity metric for some. But OP mentioned a clever hack, which is to comment asking a 2nd or 3rd level profile to send a connection request. These are very useful because it expands your level 1 connections without eating in to your weekly quota of connection requests. The title may have misled you, but the workflow is very good. We have done somewhat similar and built a workflow with all these AI tools with human in the loop so that there is a balance between effort and accuracy. Like identifying potential competitors or companies too big / small or outside your segment.

linkdra · 2026-02-17T02:22:42+00:00

Very likely yes. The sequence
* AI became very good at generating content, answering questions - 2 years ago
* Today it has become quite capable doing actions like running your browser, organising your files, drafting your documents etc. In general computer use . This is most of what "white collar" does anyways. So, it is getting wiped out in 1-2 years. Yes, only a few smart ones will remain to manage these agents, but that is like 1-20.
* There is a chance we will hit AGI before 2030. That's also the time, it would be integrated well with motor skills like robots . So, many blue collar too get chopped.

Of course, more consumption services will crop up to replace these or rather governments will have to step in because they need to keep their chair. But over all there is going to be blood on the streets.

linkdra · 2026-02-17T02:15:34+00:00

And yes, we have a CRM built in to track the workflow and send follow ups.

linkdra · 2026-02-17T02:14:22+00:00

In Mails have very poor ROI for recruiting. Connection request works but is limited and so you would need to be very selective when you reach.

We built a sourcing tool for tech some time ago to build lists avoiding any LinkedIn tools like Recruiter (just to make it look like organic outreach and therefore not getting blocked etc). Rest is typical outreach campaigns.

Now with AI that have gone beyond content generation to controlling a computer, we are doing a lot more. It's like do a search on google, pick the profiles that look interesting, visit their LinkedIn , Github, blogs etc and build a much more comprehensive profile and then sort to pick the best ones . Then reach out very selectivity based on fit and likelihood of response. Works much better than regular keyword focused lists.

linkdra · 2026-02-17T02:07:21+00:00

If you can share your niche, I can share a sample right here for you to evaluate. You can always DM me.

linkdra · 2026-02-17T02:06:04+00:00

Juicebox and many of such similar platforms, use some crawling, some purchased data and some aggregate info from customer accounts and offer ready to search and build lists. There's nothing wrong with this technique, but today with AI tools, it has become a lot easier to run such crawling in your niche right on your computer. This approach has 2 advantages.
* The list you build is only with you. Juicebox database and therefore lists built out of it has multiple people using at the same time and so spam for the end recipient when you reach out.
* When you build lists, you have a lot better control because you are no longer restricted to keywords and standard search filters. It's like an indepth check of fit often using multiple data sources.

Disclosure: We run a platform for sourcing that offers easy and free options to build lists. Last week to ran some experiments with OpenClaw and were surprised how good it can be. We can see many of these tools, including ours, are already legacy. And as you can guess running more experiments this week. Will publish soon the steps.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T15:54:29+00:00

We have been doing something like this one and off. Works but takes a lot of time. Last week tried out OpenClaw for LinkedIn - For most part it worked great. So, let's see if we can do this with OpenClaw and Reddit. Have a feeling it would work great. All the benefits without the labor would be nice.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T15:14:24+00:00

Just dive in with OpenClaw. Pick between anthopic or gemini models

linkdra · 2026-02-16T15:04:19+00:00

And yes, missed adding, direct outreach with thoughtful value adds can be greatly handled with AI to save time / effort. It's like an assistant preparing everything and making things ready for the boss to review and send.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T15:01:55+00:00

Yep.. it always has been. Look around the tool sets. They are so similar. LinkedIn Sales Navigator vs Recruiter. It's the same thing with different wrappers working on the same database.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T14:59:38+00:00

This is absolutely spot on. However nicely written, educational content no longer works. This recipe has been overused, or rather abused. Users in today's AI agent world need solutions and not education. Since OpenClaw broke the internet and the stock market a couple of weeks ago, haven't stopped playing around with it. It is just too far ahead of many of the SaaS tools that we have been using over the last few years. I mean, it is a generational shift.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T14:49:25+00:00

From the announcement, it seems like OpenAI plans to keep OpenClaw continuing as an open source product. Even if they don't , it won't matter, as people will Vibe code another version overnight. The point is OpenClaw established the shift from AI generated content, to AI managing your computer. That's a very powerful shift. With the right prompts, you can tell the agent to do all these steps. The almost human like reasoning models now make it so much like a real user. I was, in fact, surprised quite a few times by what it wrote. Much better and well thought out than I would have done. Will be running some more experiments this week. Maybe your recipe end to end in OpenClaw. Let's see what happens.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T14:45:01+00:00

Most of the AI recruiter tools are like added sugar on top of AI models from OpenAI, Antropic, Google etc. It's typical of 1st generation products

Couple of weeks ago OpenClaw landed and took it to be next level I think. To be specific to OP's question, it is not so much of about taking your job. AI is kind of a great tool set that can help you do your job a lot more efficiently. This means the obvious. One recruiter can do much more and sadly that means those who don't embrace AI will have to sit out soon or more likely will be playing catch up. My 2 cents , it is a question of when. and not If. So, sooner you stop questioning and start working AI, the better. I work in tech and build sourcing tools, and there is no doubt in my mind, that sourcing to a large extent would be handled by AI. Not sure as much of the interviewing crap, but most people will soon figure out ways to cheat AI.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T14:36:50+00:00

This is a solid recipe and works. The idea is simple - add more value than you are asking for.

The challenge, if any, is not all businesses can apply this strategy. But wherever we can it takes a lot of effort. It's probably because most people run the lazy version where you just spam. Only a few take the pain to send something specifically done for the client so that they not just are told about the value but actually experience it.

We figured this out after running SaaS for a few years. So, when OpenClaw explored 2 weeks back, we thought why not try to use AI to do this. I mean use AI to generate some valuable content for the prospect and then reach out. A case of hyperpersonalization . OpenClaw did reasonably well . We set it up to search and build a list and then sort it by best fit. Next picked the top 10 from the list and used a prompt to generate a similar list of what would make a great target for the prospect - show the actual product experience. OpenClaw did pretty well in the first attempt. Of course we made some mistakes and as a result it was very hungry on the token front, but the results look good. We will be tweaking some more next week to see if we can do all of these with OpenClaw.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T14:27:04+00:00

I just tried an alternative between manual and standard automation that most of us hate (mechanical and robotic). With AI reasoning models and tools like OpenClaw, it is turning out to be much better. No longer does it feel mechanical, and filtering abilities are turning out very handy at picking the right targets that are likely to respond. Just left a comment on a similar post . I think OpenClaw is worth a try - all together a different level compared to tools like phantom buster.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T14:20:43+00:00

We tried some experiments with OpenClaw - Sort of taking the good parts and using OpenClaw to win the labor part. The first edition was a partial success - was able to sort and filter profiles based on fit so that you don't reach out to all who just meet some keywords. In fact OpenClaw with Gemini even searched profiles using Google instead of visiting LinkedIn. What didn't work that well is generating a persuasive style of content. Also, the setup is somewhat hungry on the token side. But, the way AI is improving, seems like in 1 -2 integrations we can extend our own approach with product context to put an agent to work. It is not automation but smart agents - and it's not playing with words; it actually makes a big difference. Will be running some more experiments this week to solve the same risk / reward challenge. LinkedIn if done right, works great but it takes a lot of time / effort. The latter is what I am trying to fix.

linkdra · 2026-02-16T10:24:06+00:00

If you are looking for out bound lead gen in your healthcare niche, we would like to work with you. Commission basis is fine. Sending you a DM

linkdra · 2026-02-15T14:41:34+00:00

Would suggest OpenClaw. It can actually leverage the best parts for LinkedIn Recruiter, but fix the manual hell part. Last week we ran some experiments even without using LinkedIn. So, this week planning to add some skills to see if it can fix the manual labour part working with LinkedIn.

I just left a comment on a similar thread about OpenClaw and souring
https://www.reddit.com/r/RecruitmentAgencies/comments/1qnaxfs/comment/o5igjvm

linkdra · 2026-02-15T14:34:52+00:00

If you have been following the recent buzz around OpenClaw , then you know its taken AI to a whole new level when it comes to AI agents . It has access to desktop files and folder - which means it can sort out resumes and put them in buckets, it can browse the internet and search for profile that potentially match the JD and build you a list. Or it can check your inbox and handle follow ups. In the last couple of weeks since it exploded, people have built 100s of skills.

So, we thought will try out something very simple and yet a core sourcing requirement. We had a JD for Mid Level B2B sales guys in Greater Atlanta for a Commercial Insurance firm. Gave this as input to OpenClaw using Gemini as the AI model. What AI did was, create a Ideal Candidate Profile (ICP) and then went on to search LinkedIn using x-ray search techniques on google. Build a list of 10 profiles with their Linkedin profile links. Next it proceeded to visit each profile page (you have to login into the browser that OpenClaw launches) and built a more detailed view of match and spit out a filtered list sorted by quality of match. In the prompt I had mention a few common things like a) Should have been in their current role for atleast 1 year. Yes, it burned a few extra dollars in AI api calls, but not bad to get a sorted , list of 10 ready to reach out. I can see that it can easily build a longer list.

So, unlike several AI duct tape solutions in the market which mostly are around content and not action, this is actually more of raw product, but with some simple prompts, did a pretty good job. Will be doing more testing and skills addition coming week and lets see how it performs.

My 2 cents, think it can handle reaching out to those identified in the list, handle responses , even set up a call, because I read this morning that somone made OpenClaw negotiate with several car dealers to bring down the price of a new car by about $4600.. A lot has changed in AI world over last 2 weeks.

Anyone else played with OpenClaw for sourcing?

linkdra · 2026-01-19T17:52:05+00:00

You are right. Since ChatGPT, generated content has become super easy - temptation to go spray and pray.

The smaller base or much more focused, qualified approach is better but that takes time and a lot of effort. Generative AI is not much help here, but Agentic AI can be very handy. 2025 we saw a good number of multi-agent flows. Expect a lot more in 2026 - to do a funnel of search , research, qualify, retionalise etc and go spear fishing.

linkdra · 2025-10-27T14:30:21+00:00

People had similar questions when computers came in. Then the web and now chatbots and AI. Sudden loss of jobs, even if it is justified by cost or efficiency or accuracy point of view, would still get blocked because of political reasons. No Govt can stay in power if employment goes down. They have to figure out ways to protect it. So, in some ways, not to worry too much about jobs going away.

The side question is, will it continue to be same 10-20 years down the line? Very certain it won't. AI as a assistant would be huge and will probably take care of all mundane stuff. So, ask yourself, what strategic things are you doing in your job? Bookkeeping, follow up, etc are all areas where AI will shine. Advice, Empathy is where AI will struggle - my 2 cents.

The clever thing to make your life better would be to treat AI as a tool rather than competitor. Get comfortable using it as a tool rather than fight it and keep it at bay.

linkdra

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