Build Back Better: How Recruitment Founders Reset, Rebuild & Reposition
February 12, 2026
Seamstress — The Sweatshop Basement Bar & Yard
113 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Watch the Show
Part 1
AI & Tech: Stop Wasting Money in Recruitment
Part 2
AI's True Value: Where Tech Excels & Humans Dominate
Part 3
The 90-Day Bet: Hiring Your Team Smartly
On the Night
What we talked about
Theme: Build Back Better
Panel 1
AI & Tech: Where to Invest and Where to Stop
The future of recruitment isn't bigger teams — it's better ones. Matt explored what actually drives revenue inside a billing business today, why some two-person agencies are outbilling large teams, and what separates founders who use technology intelligently from those hiding behind it.
Matthew Cossens — Chief Growth Officer, xrecruiter
Panel 2
AI's True Value: What Machines Do Well and What Humans Must Own
John laid out a simple filter for every technology decision: does this allow you to speak to more candidates and clients in a day? If not, it's the wrong investment. A practical framework for agencies navigating a noisy tech market.
John Bourke — Founder, RecView & Start in Recruitment
Panel 3
The 90-Day Bet: How to Hire Your Team Smartly
Leadership quality is the single biggest variable in whether an office succeeds or fails. The panel was direct: this isn't about KPIs for their own sake. It's about building a culture with a clear answer to one question — how do we win around here?
Melbourne Founders Panel
Host
Dualta Doherty
Managing Director of the Doherty Group and Co-Founder of RecWired. Brought the Build Back Better tour to Australia, hosting both Melbourne and Sydney editions across the same week.
Doherty Group
RecWired
From the Room
"The only things that matter are jobs on, CV sends, interviews, placements. Everything else is noise."
Matt Cossens — Chief Growth Officer, xrecruiter
"You should be automating the parts people don't pay you for."
John Bourke — Founder, RecView
"A lot of people are using tech to hide from doing the hard work."
Dualta Doherty — Host
Partners
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