Jeremy Bushaw
Hyland Software
“Humans still want to talk to humans.”
Jeremy Bushaw has been named to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, the annual award recognizing the 100 most exceptional leaders and practitioners in talent acquisition. Honorees are selected by the Talent 100 committee from thousands of nominations and candidates across the industry, chosen for the impact of their work, the depth of their craft, and their influence on the future of recruiting. This is Jeremy's story.
Jeremy Bushaw, then VP Global Talent Acquisition at Informatica, did not set out with a plan to lead a global recruiting organization. He simply said yes to an unexpected opportunity, and the trajectory that followed reshaped how an entire company thinks about hiring. He has since become VP, Global Talent Acquisition at Hyland Software.
After graduating from Colorado State University with a business degree, Bushaw assumed he would end up in sales. Instead, through a referral, he landed at a healthcare software company called TriZetto, working the front desk as a receptionist while he figured out his next move. A month in, the Head of HR, Maureen Brennan, noticed something in him and invited him to join the HR team. That single decision set his career on an entirely new course.
Under Brennan's mentorship, Bushaw rotated through multiple HR functions and earned promotions roughly every 18 months. Still, something felt missing. He enjoyed working with people, but he wanted a faster pace and more external interaction. Recruiting turned out to be the answer. He describes falling in love with talent acquisition almost immediately, drawn to the energy, the human connection, and the challenge of aligning people's strengths with business needs. With a strong analytical mindset, sharpened by a minor in mathematics, he quickly began looking for ways to make recruiting more data driven and more strategic.
His career later expanded well beyond HR when he stepped into Chief of Staff roles, helping lead integration work during acquisitions at both TriZetto and, later, Informatica. Those years gave him a rare business side perspective, one that would shape his leadership style when he returned to talent acquisition.
A Decade of Transformation at Informatica
When Brennan recruited him once again, this time to lead Talent Acquisition at Informatica, Bushaw took on the largest team of his career: a global recruiting organization of about 50 people.
Over the next decade, he helped guide the company through sweeping change, including its shift from an on premise to a cloud based business model, an IPO, and large scale hiring growth. During that stretch, his team filled roughly 11,000 roles, pulled time to fill down from the mid 50 day range to about 35 days, and improved female representation across the company. More important than any single metric, he repositioned talent acquisition as a true strategic partner to the business.
What Energizes Him Most
Today, Bushaw is most energized by the transformation underway in talent acquisition through technology, and generative AI in particular. He sees enormous opportunity to lift administrative burdens off recruiters' plates so they can focus on what actually matters: assessing talent, advising hiring managers, and building meaningful relationships with candidates. From drafting outreach messages to summarizing interviews, AI can accelerate the repetitive work that once slowed teams down.
On one point, though, he is unambiguous. Technology should enhance recruiters, not replace them. "Humans still want to talk to humans," he emphasizes.
For Bushaw, the future of recruiting lies in blending smart automation with sharper human judgment. Freeing up recruiter time does not reduce their value; it concentrates their impact where it counts most.
How Talent Leadership Is Evolving
Bushaw believes the past year has been one of the most complex periods talent leaders have faced in a long time. Excitement around AI runs high, but he has also seen the challenges firsthand, especially around privacy, compliance, and the risks of deploying new technologies in hiring, one of the most sensitive areas of any organization.
He notes a parallel shift in how candidates present themselves. With AI tools making it easier than ever to tailor a resume, traditional signals have become less reliable. That makes the recruiter's role in live assessment, behavioral evaluation, and nuanced judgment more critical, not less. Technology can speed up a process, but it cannot replicate the intuition, empathy, and discernment that strong hiring decisions demand.
In his view, the best talent leaders today are the ones who embrace innovation while doubling down on the human skills machines cannot reproduce.
Jeremy's Advice for 2026
After years of economic swings, hiring surges, and layoffs, Bushaw believes talent leaders need to return to the fundamentals, starting with candidate experience. "The market's been chaotic," he says. "But candidates are still people going through big life decisions."
His advice is simple and demanding at once: treat candidates with fairness, transparency, and respect. Communicate clearly. Set realistic expectations. Make the process feel human rather than transactional. In uncertain times, how a company treats people leaves a lasting impression, not only on the candidates themselves but on the broader employer brand.
For Bushaw, the future of talent leadership is not measured in speed or efficiency alone. It is about restoring trust in the hiring process and ensuring that, however advanced the technology becomes, humanity remains at the center of recruiting.
The Talent 100 exists to celebrate the people shaping the future of how the world hires, and few embody that better than Jeremy. We are honored to welcome Jeremy Bushaw to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, and grateful for the experience, perspective, and craft they bring to this community. Congratulations, Jeremy. 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.
