Andy Decker

Andy Decker

Chief Executive Officer - Goodwin Recruiting

For Andy Decker, recruiting was not where his career began.

Before entering staffing, Andy spent nearly a decade in organizational development. His path into recruiting started while presenting at the Golden State chapter of the American Society for Training and Development, where he met the field training leader of a large publicly traded staffing firm.

That connection led to an opportunity to participate in an RFP for a field training program. Andy won the project and began working with the organization as a trainer.

Over time, he became increasingly intrigued by the staffing industry.

Having previously worked with staffing partners while growing a startup in Silicon Valley, Andy had already seen the value of the industry from the client side. He understood how staffing could help businesses scale, solve problems, and operate more successfully.

When he later relocated to the East Coast, he joined that staffing organization directly.

More than 20 years later, he has built a career in staffing and recruiting leadership.

“I had seen how staffing helped grow a business,” Andy says. “Our business was more successful because of it.”

Helping Companies Thrive and Changing Lives

Throughout his career, Andy has learned from leaders who reinforced the deeper purpose behind staffing and recruiting.

Today, he works closely with Eric Goodwin, founder and former CEO of Goodwin Recruiting. Andy credits Eric with setting a powerful standard for what a recruiting organization should aim to create.

“He has a very simple goal,” Andy says. “To make this the best professional experience of your life.”

That philosophy shapes how Andy thinks about leadership. Creating an exceptional experience requires more than strong intentions. It requires the right tools, training, techniques, support, and culture.

Andy also points to his time with Hoffman USA, where he worked with Ingrid Hoffman and Sonia Heinrich. There, he saw again how a successful staffing business could balance performance with genuine care for people.

“Staffing is a business,” he says. “But at the core, if we do it well, we help companies grow and we change lives.”

During the COVID period, that belief became even more tangible as the organization stepped up to support people impacted by the crisis, including helping put meals on tables during the holidays.

For Andy, those experiences reinforced a central lesson: great recruiting companies succeed by helping both businesses and people move forward.

Leading People, Not Just Companies

Andy began his staffing career at Robert Half, where he learned from leaders who helped shape his view of management and team development.

One of the biggest lessons he carried forward is that leaders do not simply lead companies. They lead people.

“I don’t lead a team,” he says. “I lead a team made up of individuals.”

That mindset continues to guide his leadership style today. Whether growing a business, developing recruiters, or building culture, Andy believes success starts with understanding people as individuals and giving them the tools, knowledge, and support they need to be their best.

For him, leadership is about unlocking potential.

AI as a Tool to Create Human Capacity

Andy believes recruiting is changing faster than ever.

After 20 years in staffing, he has seen major shifts across the industry, but he believes the last five years have brought more change than the first 15. He expects the next two years to move even faster.

A major driver of that change is technology, especially AI.

Andy sees tremendous opportunity in AI when it is used correctly. For him, the goal is not to remove the human element from recruiting. It is to create more space for it.

“Humans hire humans,” he says.

By automating tasks that do not require human intuition or judgment, recruiters can spend less time chasing fake resumes, bots, and unqualified applicants and more time building meaningful relationships with real people.

Andy believes AI can help recruiters return to the heart of the profession: human connection.

At Goodwin Recruiting, that philosophy has become central to how the organization thinks about the future.

“Recruiting is my superpower,” Andy says. “Done right, AI puts the cape on the human.”

Advice for Talent Leaders Heading into 2026

As the recruiting landscape continues to shift, Andy encourages talent leaders to embrace technology while staying grounded in what makes recruiting meaningful.

AI should create capacity, not replace judgment.

It should help recruiters work smarter, move faster, and focus more deeply on the human conversations that drive great hiring outcomes.

For Andy, the future of recruiting belongs to leaders who can combine technology adoption with people-centered leadership.

The tools will continue to evolve. The market will keep changing. But the purpose of recruiting remains the same: helping companies thrive and changing lives.

By combining business discipline, human connection, and a thoughtful approach to innovation, Andy Decker represents the kind of talent leader helping move the staffing industry forward.