Podcast: Astad Dhunjisha — Leading TA for One of the World’s Biggest Brands

Astad Dhunjisha, Vice President of Human Resources at AT&T, oversees talent acquisition and frontline learning for this Fortune 40 company that hires over 25,000 people a year. Prior to this role, he was Global SVP of TA and HR at Experian and led various global HR functions at Bayer and Monsanto. Having moved to the US in 2009 with just two bags, his unique journey shapes how he thinks about hiring, inclusion, and what people need to do their best work. We discuss the massive scale of bringing outside talent into a major telecommunications brand and why AT&T’s CEO still personally interviews every single candidate at the VP level and above. We also dive into the exhausting contradictions of walking the leadership line, the importance of suspending the 35-second first impression during an interview, and why the future of AI in hiring should focus on building human capability rather than just rushing into a cost-efficiency game.