Episode
Thomas Richard talks to Spencer Grant, Lead R&D Recruiter at 7AI
- Published
- Jul 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2849
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-cyber-security-recruiter-podcast-6600237/episodes/thomas-richard-talks-to-spencer-grant-lead-r-d-recruiter-at-7ai/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-cyber-security-recruiter-podcast-6600237/thomas-richard-talks-to-spencer-grant-lead-r-d-recruiter-at-7ai.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Recruiting in cybersecurity & AI: Relationships, what great candidates do, and fixing broken hiring processes Thomas hosts the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast with Spencer Grant, lead recruiter at 7AI, discussing recruiting realities, relationship-driven hiring, and how top candidates stand out. Spencer describes his career path largely shaped by following a strong manager and emphasizes providing a “three-star Michelin” candidate experience. They outline traits of great candidates: depth of technical understanding (the “whys”), outcome-focused thinking tied to business ROI and honesty paired with curiosity. Spencer critiques broken application processes and advises proactive outreach after applying, strong interview preparation - company research, coding/system design readiness - and asking substantive questions. They discuss AI’s impact on jobs, valuing human touch over automated screening, and Spencer’s Meta layoff and contracting path back to full-time. Book recommendation: “The Mental Game: Winning the War Within Your Mind.” 00:00 Welcome and wins 00:47 Recruiter reality check 02:21 Spencer career intro 04:06 Relationships over tools 08:29 What makes candidates great 14:06 Curiosity and learning fast 19:03 Hiring process mistakes 23:37 Manual recruiting over AI 26:37 High touch candidate experience 27:43 AI expands security jobs 29:35 Layoffs and market cycles 31:52 Rebounding after Meta layoff 34:16 Contracting as a strategy 35:01 Office osmosis learning 39:04 Culture and knowledge sharing 42:04 Mindset book recommendation 46:54 Final thanks and wrap