Stuart Shaw
Procore Technologies
“I like to say we’re changing lives one hire at a time. In a lot of cases, we really are.”
Stuart Shaw 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 Stuart's story.
Stuart Shaw, Director, Global Tech Recruiting at Procore Technologies, didn’t map out a career in recruiting; he found it while looking for a change. After graduating from Texas Tech University, he was working at a car dealership in Lubbock, Texas, sure that he wanted to move back to Austin and start something new, but not yet sure what that something would be.
The nudge came from a friend at a recruiting agency, who described the industry as a fast-paced, sales-driven environment built around connecting people with jobs. It was enough. "I really just fell into it," Shaw says. "I moved back to Austin in 2009, interviewed with the agency, and the rest was history."
He spent roughly six years on the agency side, working across a variety of client roles and learning the fundamentals of the craft inside high-volume, high-pressure environments. That foundation still shapes the way he views the profession today: relationship-driven and performance-oriented at the same time, with no real trade-off between the two.
Building Global Recruiting Teams
Today, Shaw leads technical recruiting at Procore Technologies, where his team spans multiple regions around the world. His organization includes recruiters in the United States, Cairo, and India, along with regional leadership to support continued growth.
The Cairo team, which joined through an acquisition several years ago, has become a major hub for product and technology hiring. What began as a smaller presence has grown into one of Procore’s key global recruiting centers, supporting hundreds of hires annually.
Running an organization that never fully clocks out is both a challenge and a point of pride. “Not everyone is in the same time zone, and stakeholders are often spread across the world,” he says. “It forces us to be more intentional about communication and process.”
What Energizes Him Most
More than a decade in, the human impact of the work is still what pulls Shaw forward. “I like to say we’re changing lives one hire at a time,” he explains. “In a lot of cases, we really are.”
He thrives, too, on the partnership side of the job: working closely with hiring managers who are under pressure to fill critical roles, and helping them solve real business problems rather than simply processing requisitions. That balance of empathy, urgency, and strategy is what keeps the work engaging. So does building strong teams. Watching recruiters grow in confidence, develop new skills, and take ownership of their markets remains one of the most rewarding parts of leadership for him.
How AI Is Changing Recruiting
Over the past year, Shaw has watched AI begin to meaningfully shift how recruiting teams operate, particularly in reducing the time spent on repetitive, administrative tasks. His teams are using AI tools to help process applicant flow, resurface talent from existing pipelines, and summarize complex information for hiring teams. In some cases, recruiters are turning detailed market intelligence reports into concise, easy-to-digest summaries that help leaders make faster, more informed decisions.
It has become a personal productivity tool as well, from refining executive communications to organizing performance review notes. “Something that might have taken me 30 minutes before, I can now turn around in a few minutes,” he says.
He is equally clear about where the technology stops. “Recruiting is very personal,” Shaw says. “People want to talk to a human, especially for the kinds of specialized, high-impact roles we hire for.” Tools such as AI-powered scheduling assistants are promising, he notes, but the industry is still in its learning phase, working out how to blend genuine efficiency with a high-touch candidate experience.
Leadership and Influence
Several leaders and peers have shaped Shaw’s approach along the way. One of the most impactful was a former manager who encouraged him to move into leadership, pushing him beyond what he initially saw as a career individual contributor path. That mentorship helped him build confidence and recognize the broader impact he could have by developing others.
He picked up just as much from peers with entirely different styles, including highly technical recruiters known for their direct, no-nonsense communication. Observing those approaches, and adapting pieces of them, expanded his own toolkit and reinforced a lasting conviction: there is no single “right” way to be effective in recruiting.
Advice for Talent Leaders in 2026
Looking ahead, Shaw believes curiosity and adaptability will define the leaders who succeed. AI will keep reshaping workflows, and the teams most open to experimentation will have the advantage. But tools alone won’t solve everything, he cautions, particularly if hiring managers don’t evolve their own decision-making speed and expectations. “Recruiters are only one piece of the puzzle,” he says. “We can get faster and more efficient, but we also need our partners to adapt.”
Above all, his leadership philosophy comes back to people. “Hard work matters. Curiosity matters. But culture matters too,” Shaw says. “Work is stressful enough, build teams with people you actually want to solve problems with.” The future of recruiting, in his view, belongs to organizations that combine smart technology, strong partnerships, and teams built on trust, a formula he believes will stand the test of time.
The Talent 100 exists to celebrate the people shaping the future of how the world hires, and few embody that better than Stuart. We are honored to welcome Stuart Shaw to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, and grateful for the experience, perspective, and craft they bring to this community. Congratulations, Stuart. 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.
