It’s the question that refuses to go away: with AI now able to find, engage and even screen candidates at scale, is sourcing still a profession — or just a feature of your ATS?
Every year, the Sourcing Summit (SOSU) brings together the sharpest minds in the field to interrogate exactly that. In this special episode of Brainfood Live on Air, Hung Lee and our panel take stock of SOSU 2026, reflecting on how far sourcing has come, where it stands today, and whether the role as we know it survives the next wave of AI. Is this a renaissance moment for sourcers — or a farewell tour?
Key Themes We’ll Cover:
The SOSU 2026 Takeaways – The big themes, debates and moments from this year’s Sourcing Summit
From Phonebooks to Prompts – Tracing the evolution of sourcing from Boolean strings and X-ray searches to conversational AI
Is Sourcing Really Dying? – Separating hype from reality: what automation has actually replaced, and what it hasn’t
The New Sourcer Skillset – Data literacy, AI orchestration, market mapping and the human craft that machines can’t replicate
AI as Co-Pilot, Not Replacement – How the best sourcers are using AI to amplify their reach, speed and insight
The Talent Intelligence Pivot – Why more sourcing teams are evolving into strategic market intelligence functions
Engagement Is the Differentiator – When everyone has access to the same tools and databases, outreach quality becomes the moat
What Happens to Junior Sourcers? – Rethinking career entry points and training pipelines when the traditional apprenticeship tasks are automated
The Next Decade of Sourcing – Predictions from the SOSU floor on where the profession goes from here
Whether you’re a battle-hardened sourcing veteran, a TA leader rethinking your team structure, or a newcomer wondering if there’s a future in this craft, this episode will give you an unfiltered view of the state of play. Expect strong opinions, healthy disagreement, and zero fluff.
We’re on Friday 16th October, 2pm BST. Follow the channel here (recommended) and register for the show to get your questions answered live by the panel. See you on air!
Ep413 is supported by our friends at Metaview
Metaview is the Agentic Recruiting Platform built for radically efficient hiring, end to end. Source, engage, and hire better with agents that truly get your brief. Metaviews AI Agents finds candidates, reviews inbound applications, automatically captures notes, constantly learns and spots talent opportunities, whilst your recruiters spend time doing work which humans can only do – build relationships with candidates and hiring managers.
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