Katrina Curry
Katrina Curry
Director, Talent Acquisition, Riveron
Katrina Curry didn’t start her career in recruiting — she started in retail, working her way through college by managing stores across the Bay Area.
By 2012, she was already leading multiple locations and was later tapped to help launch new stores across both the West and East Coasts for L’Occitane. Hiring staff for each new location was simply part of the job — but at the time, she didn’t yet realize she was building the foundation for a career in talent acquisition.
Retail recruiting was fast, seasonal, and people-focused. Katrina learned how to assess talent quickly, build trust, and hire at scale — all without formal recruiting training. But it wasn’t until she joined a boutique executive search firm that she experienced the full impact of recruiting for the first time.
Her very first placement was a roofing estimator in Dallas — a candidate who had just welcomed a baby and was looking for stability, better pay, and stronger benefits. Katrina cold-called him, built a relationship, and helped him land the job within two weeks.
They still keep in touch today.
“He told me I changed his life,” she recalls. “That was it. I was hooked.”
From that moment on, recruiting became more than a job — it became a way to create real, tangible change in people’s lives. Compared to selling products, she found helping someone find a better future far more meaningful.
What Energizes Her Most
For Katrina, the most exciting part of talent acquisition today is the human side of the work — especially in an era increasingly shaped by AI.
While tools and automation continue to evolve, she believes the true differentiator in recruiting has never changed: relationships.
“Anyone can learn an ATS. Anyone can write a Boolean string. Anyone can build a dashboard,” she says. “But you can’t replicate my relationships. You can’t duplicate trust, reputation, or a network built over years.”
She’s especially passionate about developing skills that combine data with human context. Being able to interpret workforce data, communicate insights with nuance, and guide hiring leaders through complex decisions is where she sees talent professionals adding the most value.
How Recruiting Is Changing
Katrina sees AI as a powerful accelerator — but not a replacement for what makes great recruiting work.
Technology can improve efficiency, streamline sourcing, and automate administrative tasks. But it cannot replace relationship-building, credibility, and the ability to truly understand both candidates and hiring teams.
In her view, the future of TA belongs to professionals who double down on two areas:
Tangible skills — such as data literacy, storytelling with metrics, and strategic workforce planning
Meaningful relationships — long-term trust with candidates, hiring managers, and peers
As tools become more accessible, she believes human judgment, context, and connection will become even more valuable.
Katrina’s Advice for 2026
With constant change in technology, market conditions, and hiring priorities, Katrina’s advice to other talent leaders is grounded and practical:
Invest in skills that can’t be automated, and relationships that can’t be copied.
Trends will shift. Platforms will change. But professionals who can blend analytical thinking with strong human networks will remain indispensable — no matter how fast the landscape evolves.
For Katrina, the future of recruiting isn’t about competing with AI. It’s about focusing on the uniquely human strengths that technology can’t replace.
