Trent Cotton
Head of Talent Acquisition Insights & Analyst Relations
iCIMS
Episode 56
HR's New Playbook: Make Talent Acquisition a C-Suite Business Driver
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleSeptember 11, 2025 · 14:48
Thesis
“Talent Acquisition must transform from a transactional function into a strategic business driver by deeply understanding business KPIs, leveraging data, and fostering strong, proactive relationships with executive leadership, especially IT, to align talent strategy with overall company goals.”
Show notes
Episode SummaryWhat does it take to move Talent Acquisition (TA) from a back-office function to a core driver of business strategy? In this episode of Built by People, Dave D’Angelo sits down with Trent Cotton, Head of Talent Insights and Analyst Relations at ICIMS, to explore that very transformation.
With 20+ years in HR across high-growth organizations and now a leader in workforce analytics, Trent shares how TA leaders can speak the language of the business, build executive buy-in, and make data-driven decisions that influence growth. From internal mobility and TA tech adoption to forming high-trust relationships with CIOs, Trent offers real-world examples and tactical advice for HR professionals ready to elevate their impact.
Whether you're a TA leader, HR strategist, or tech executive, this conversation offers a blueprint for aligning talent strategy with business success.
Key Timestamps
[00:45] – Trent’s career journey from banking to HR leadership
[03:07] – Transitioning from traditional HR to thought leadership at ICIMS
[04:36] – Turning recruiting from reactive to strategic through market insights
[06:34] – Bridging the gap between TA and CIOs with business acumen
[08:23] – How to drive TA tech adoption and avoid common implementation pitfalls
[10:25] – Tying TA investments to business results using revenue metrics
[11:35] – The case for internal mobility and preparing talent for the future of work
[13:19] – How Trent used agile practices to build trust and alignment with a CIO
Actionable Takeaways
Translate HR metrics into business impact – Show how KPIs like time-to-fill directly affect revenue targets.
Build executive trust early – Engage stakeholders at the beginning of TA tech evaluation to create internal champions.
Adopt agile practices in HR – Use sprints and planning cycles to stay aligned with fast-moving business needs.
Elevate internal talent – Leverage your internal applicant data to reskill and redeploy instead of defaulting to external hires.
Speak the business’s language – Swap TA jargon for business outcomes when communicating with CIOs and executives.
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What you'll take away
- 1Translate TA metrics (e.g., time to fill) into tangible business outcomes like revenue impact to elevate HR's strategic value with the C-suite.
- 2Engage key stakeholders, especially CIOs, early in the HR/TA tech adoption process to gain buy-in and create internal champions.
- 3Proactively use market intelligence and internal ATS data to anticipate talent needs and inform business strategy, moving beyond reactionary recruiting.
- 4Prioritize internal mobility and upskilling to future-proof the workforce, retaining institutional knowledge, and maximizing existing talent investment.
- 5Develop a deep, trust-based relationship with the CIO through consistent, business-aligned communication (e.g., agile sprint-like updates) to achieve lockstep on talent initiatives.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Most HR professionals bring in key stakeholders for tech adoption at the very end; instead, they should be involved in the first phase, even for initial demos, to foster championship.
In Trent's words
“Now, I would go over the normal KPIs in recruiting, like time to fill and some of the others, but I always related it to business outcomes that was for that group.”
This quote highlights the critical need for HR to translate traditional metrics into business language for strategic relevance.
“Every key aspect of the TA tech that you're trying to use should relate to one of those key levers within the business because business leaders, they don't speak HREs or TAEs or whatever the different languages that a lot of HR professionals like to stay in. They understand key drivers.”
Trent emphasizes that HR technology investments must directly connect to business drivers, advocating for a business-oriented communication approach.
“My suggestion is always bring them in on the first, you know, the first phase. So, you know, if I'm looking for a new piece of TA tech or a new platform, I may narrow it down to my top 3. I'm going to bring in some of my C-suite executives to participate in that demo, to be able to ask questions, to be able to provide me feedback on which one do they think as a co-user is going to be the most beneficial for them.”
This provides a concrete, actionable strategy for gaining executive buy-in and fostering champions for HR technology adoption.
“To me, internal mobility makes sense because you've already invested time resources and development in this workforce, why would you not promote them? Why do you want to go to the street automatically rather than taking a good look inside?”
Trent makes a strong, logical argument for prioritizing existing internal talent over external hires to leverage prior investments and promote retention.
“And it was about talent in general. It wasn't give me an update on this role. It was, hey, I'm looking at my organizational sprint plan, 2 or 3 weeks from, or 2 or 3 sprints from now, we're actually going to need X, Y, and Z. Can we go ahead and start working on that now?”
This illustrates the ideal, proactive collaboration between HR and CIOs, where talent discussions move beyond reactive needs to strategic future planning.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Only 27% of CIOs view TA as a growth driver, indicating a significant perception gap between TA leaders and business executives.
- •A majority (66%) of CHROs view TA as either a support function or transactional, not a core strategic function.
- •Lack of early stakeholder involvement in HR/TA tech decisions leads to pushback and difficulty in adoption.
- •Many organizations fail to leverage the vast data on internal applicants within their ATS, leading to missed internal mobility opportunities and unnecessary external hiring.
- •CHROs are challenged by how to elevate and prepare their current workforce for the future of work, especially with the impact of AI.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
I am currently working for iCIMS as head of talent insights and analyst relations
Post-Bacc MS in HR: Career Paths
Trent shifted from traditional HR role to leading thought leadership at TA Tech
The Shift from HR to TA Tech
Only 27% of CIOs view Talent Acquisition as a growth driver
Teaching CIOs the Value of Talent Acquisition
Only about a third of CHROs view TA as a strategic function
AI and TA Tech in HR
Bring in key stakeholders on the first phase of any IT project
On TA Tech and Key Stakeholders
With most CHROs boosting TA budgets, how are they tying tech to business results
TA Tech: The Business Case
Trent, what parting advice would you give HR and TA leaders working with CIOs
A CIO's Last Lecture
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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