Francisco Medrano
Omnicom Health
“Every person has value. Our job is to find where that value fits.”
Francisco Medrano has been named to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, the annual award recognizing up to 100 leaders in each category of talent acquisition. Honorees are nominated by peers or found by committees that look for excellent work wherever it happens, then chosen for the depth of their craft and their impact on hiring. This is Francisco's story.
Francisco Medrano didn’t follow a traditional path into recruiting, and that’s exactly what shaped the leader he is today. As Associate Director, Talent Acquisition at Omnicom Health, he brings the kind of range that no linear career ladder could have manufactured.
He entered the profession later than most, stepping into recruiting at 28 after a career that spanned technical support at Dell, construction work, startup operations, and international experience living and working in Panama for over a decade. Recruiting wasn’t a planned destination. It was an opportunity that emerged when others saw his natural ability to connect with people. “I never thought about recruiting as a career,” Medrano says. “It just happened.”
But once it did, everything clicked. Years of working across industries had given him a deep curiosity about people, what motivates them, what they value, and why they choose certain paths, and recruiting allowed him to turn that curiosity into impact. “It’s like sales,” he explains, “but instead of someone paying you, you get to pay them.” And when it works, everyone wins.
Learning the Craft Through Data, Trust, and Opportunity
One of Medrano’s earliest formative experiences came during a contract role supporting recruiting at Procter & Gamble, where he encountered a leader who would permanently shape how he approached the profession. At their first meeting, she asked a simple question: How many candidates are in your funnel? He didn’t have the answer. “That was the only time she ever let me show up unprepared,” he recalls.
From that moment on, Medrano became deeply data-driven, not because metrics were demanded, but because they told the story of the work. Whether results landed or not, understanding the funnel, the effort, and the outcomes became non-negotiable.
Later, during the uncertainty of the COVID era, Medrano was given another pivotal opportunity, this time in staffing and MSP work. A former connection extended a lifeline, bringing him into a fast-paced environment supporting enterprise clients, including large-scale hiring initiatives for Amazon operations in Costa Rica. "I thought I knew recruiting," he says. "That role showed me an entire side of the industry I had never seen." Though short, the experience expanded his perspective, sharpened his execution speed, and reinforced the value of adaptability.
Recruiting With AI Without Losing the Human Core
Medrano is an enthusiastic adopter of AI, particularly when it comes to upskilling teams and improving communication across global recruiting functions. The technology has helped translate instinct into explanation, turning years of experience into teachable insight for less-tenured recruiters, while resume analysis, job description refinement, reporting, and communication have all become more efficient. “It helps explain what I already know,” he says.
But he also sees risk. Over-automation and over-filtering, he believes, can eliminate candidates who don’t fit a prototype, often the very people who outperform expectations. “If we recruit the same way every time with AI,” he explains, “we’ll keep getting the same people.”
For Medrano, technology should support judgment, not replace it. Recruiting, at its best, is about recognizing potential, especially when it doesn’t show up perfectly on paper.
Leading With Humanity Into 2026
As the industry moves deeper into 2026, Medrano believes recruiters carry immense responsibility. “We’re in positions of power,” he says. “We understand the business, but we also sit across from people who need work.” That power, he believes, must be exercised with empathy, care, and intention.
Transactional recruiting may be efficient, but it strips away what makes the profession meaningful. Computers can process résumés, but they can’t understand lived experience, resilience, or growth potential. “Every person has value,” Medrano says. “Our job is to find where that value fits.”
For him, the future of recruiting isn’t about choosing between technology and humanity. It’s about ensuring one never eclipses the other, and that balance, he believes, is what defines truly great talent leaders.
The Talent 100 exists to celebrate the people shaping the future of how the world hires, and few embody that better than Francisco. We are honored to welcome Francisco Medrano to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, and grateful for the experience, perspective, and craft they bring to this community. Congratulations, Francisco. Welcome to the Talent 100.
About the Talent 100
The Talent 100 is an annual list spotlighting the leaders who push HR and talent acquisition forward, organized by Noon AI. Honorees are selected through peer nominations and independent selection committees. Selection is entirely merit-based, with no fees or pay-to-play requirements.
