Jonathan Long
Forter
“The key is how can we automate where possible, but still keep the process close to recruiters.”
Jonathan Long 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 Jonathan's story.
Jonathan Long did not set out to become a recruiter. Like many in the field, he stepped into the profession almost by chance, applying for roles after college without a clear expectation of where they would lead. What he found was a niche technical recruitment position focused on the Benelux region, supporting tech companies across the UK and Europe.
“I don’t remember applying for the role,” Jonathan admitted. “I remember going to the interview, hearing about it, and thinking I could do it.” That early agency experience blended sales, communication, and high-volume candidate engagement, and it gave him strong foundations in niche technical hiring. It also taught him quickly that the traditional agency model was not the right long-term fit. “It was a little bit too salesy for me,” he shared.
What stayed with him was the impact of hiring itself: not just filling roles, but understanding how people grow inside organizations and how multiple factors beyond a CV shape successful hires. That perspective eventually guided him toward in-house talent leadership, where he began focusing more deeply on employer branding, internal mobility, and long-term talent strategy.
For Jonathan, recruiting evolved from a transactional function into something far more strategic: building teams that align with business goals and enable sustainable growth.
How AI Is Reshaping Recruiting
Jonathan sees AI as one of the most significant accelerators in modern talent acquisition, and also one of the most nuanced to implement effectively. Across the industry, he has observed a rapid shift over the past year, with organizations racing to integrate AI into their recruitment strategies. “There’s definitely been a shift in the last 12 months,” he noted. “Everyone is focused on AI strategy.”
At Forter, AI has already been deployed across multiple areas of the hiring process, including automation tools and agents designed to support recruiters with administrative work, sourcing, and intake processes. The goal, according to Jonathan, is not to remove recruiters from the process, but to allow them to operate at a more strategic level. “The key is how can we automate where possible, but still keep the process close to recruiters,” he explained.
Despite the benefits of automation, Jonathan strongly believes the human element remains essential, because candidate experience, trust, and communication still depend heavily on personal interaction. The challenge, in his view, is not simply adopting AI, but striking the right balance between efficiency and authenticity.
He also emphasizes the importance of demonstrating clear return on investment when deploying AI tools. “It’s easy to roll out agents and bots,” he said. “But the key is being able to show the ROI to leadership.”
Jonathan’s Advice for Talent Leaders in 2026
As AI continues to evolve, Jonathan believes talent leaders must act decisively rather than cautiously. In his view, waiting too long to adopt AI-driven tools creates a competitive disadvantage that becomes increasingly difficult to recover from. “The longer you wait, the harder it gets,” he said.
Adoption alone, however, is not enough. Leaders must ensure AI implementation is meaningful, measurable, and aligned with business outcomes. For Jonathan, success comes from using AI to free recruiters from repetitive tasks so they can focus on becoming true strategic partners to the business, strengthening relationships with hiring managers, improving decision-making, and contributing more directly to organizational strategy.
At the same time, he believes leaders must remain focused on outcomes, not just activity. Deploying AI tools is not enough; organizations must be able to clearly demonstrate impact, efficiency gains, and value creation. It is a balanced approach that embraces innovation while maintaining accountability and purpose, and it draws on everything from his early agency experience to his evolving in-house leadership and forward-thinking view of AI adoption.
The Talent 100 exists to celebrate the people shaping the future of how the world hires, and few embody that better than Jonathan. We are honored to welcome Jonathan Long to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, and grateful for the experience, perspective, and craft they bring to this community. Congratulations, Jonathan. 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.