Rob Devlin
Rob Devlin
Senior Program Manager - TA Technology, Synopsys Inc
For Rob Devlin, recruiting began as a leap from hospitality and leisure operations into a field centered on people and impact.
More than 25 years ago, Rob was working in the leisure industry when several friends in recruitment agencies in the UK caught his attention.
They were doing well, but what stood out most was how passionate they were about the impact recruiting had on people’s lives.
“Finding somebody a job is such a huge thing,” he says.
That interest led him into recruitment, where he found a career that aligned with his curiosity about people and the difference great hiring can make.
Learning Through Leaders Who Invested in Him
Looking back, Rob credits several leaders with shaping the way he approaches talent acquisition today.
The first is Mike Thompson, who brought Rob into recruitment and took a chance on him despite his lack of prior recruiting experience.
Mike became a coach, mentor, and leader who set high standards while supporting Rob every step of the way.
The second is Rowena Cooper, who led talent acquisition for one of the UK’s largest food retailers.
Rowena supported Rob in his first in-house recruiting role and helped him grow from an agency and executive search background into a strong in-house recruiting partner.
The third is Nikki Wallace, an HR director Rob worked with at mydentist, a large healthcare business in the dentistry space.
Although Nikki was an HR leader, she deeply understood the value of talent acquisition and helped Rob strengthen his use of data, analytics, executive engagement, and investor communication.
How AI Is Changing Recruiting
Rob believes AI has created a seismic shift across the entire recruiting process.
From the candidate side, AI is now helping people write resumes, identify roles, craft applications, prepare for interviews, and even assist during interviews.
That has forced companies to rethink their hiring strategies.
For Rob, the challenge is ensuring that organizations maintain a level playing field while still identifying the best talent.
In his current work leading a global technology program for talent acquisition at a major global tech company, AI is a major focus.
Staying Practical in an AI-Driven World
Rob’s advice to talent leaders is to stay practical.
Rather than trying to solve everything at once, he recommends starting with the biggest pain points the business is experiencing.
Because AI is such a broad topic, it is easy to get distracted by every new tool or possibility.
Rob believes talent leaders should regularly listen to the business, understand its priorities, triage the most urgent challenges, and focus on what can be solved quickly.
From there, leaders can take on more strategic transformation projects that deliver long-term value.
Advice for Talent Leaders Heading into 2026
As recruiting continues to evolve, Rob believes talent leaders need to balance urgency with focus.
AI can transform recruiting, but only when applied to the right problems.
The most effective leaders will be those who understand their business, identify real pain points, and implement solutions that create measurable value.
By combining executive search experience, in-house recruiting expertise, global technology leadership, and a practical approach to AI, Rob Devlin represents the kind of talent leader helping organizations move forward with clarity, purpose, and impact.
