At TAP Network, our community is shaped by the people who show up, share their experiences and help each other navigate the evolving world of People & Culture in tech.
In our first Member Spotlight, we’re catching up with Jason Hughes, who’s been part of TAP for more than five years through Visier and now Jane. As Talent Acquisition Manager at Jane, Jason leads hiring across Development, Product Management and Design. He’s also contributed his expertise to TAP speaker panels and community conversations.
We asked Jason about his career, the shifts he’s watching in talent acquisition, the lessons that have shaped his approach and a few things you might not know about him.
Here’s what he told us:
Good Things Happen When You Compare Notes
What originally brought you to TAP Network?
“I’ve always gotten a lot of value from networking and learning by bouncing ideas off people in my field (and in adjacent disciplines), and that’s what originally drew me to TAP.”
For Jason, it’s the opportunity to exchange ideas with people who understand the challenges of the work — while also learning from perspectives outside his immediate discipline — that makes the community valuable.
The Art of Finding Your People
Tell us about your role and what you’re focused on right now.
Jason has been at Jane for around 18 months, focusing primarily on outbound sourcing as the company continues to scale.
With many roles being hired for the first time, including senior positions, finding the right talent often means going beyond inbound applications and building relationships directly with prospective candidates.
“Much of my work is relationship building, having coffee chats, and helping these prospective Janers understand Jane, what we offer, what’s in it for them if they join us — and hopefully spark their interest as a result.”
It’s a reminder that recruitment isn’t just about finding people with the right skills. It’s also about creating meaningful connections and helping candidates see where they could make an impact.
AI in Hiring: What Should Stay Human?
What’s one People & Culture shift you’re paying close attention to?
Like many in the TAP community, Jason is curious about how AI will reshape the work of People & Culture teams — and where to strike the balance between investing in technology and investing in human expertise.
In talent acquisition, he points out, tools now exist to automate virtually every part of the hiring process. But just because something can be automated doesn’t mean it should be.
Fully automating recruitment could create a poor applicant experience and introduce potential compliance concerns. For Jason, the bigger question is how teams make thoughtful choices about where technology adds value without losing the human element.
As he puts it:
“Our teams are all about people, and it’s important that we don’t lose sight of that as the tools and technology we have access to become more advanced.”
It’s a perspective that extends well beyond recruitment: as AI capabilities grow, People & Culture teams have an important role to play in ensuring that progress remains people-centred.
Two Lessons that Changed How He Works
What’s a career lesson that has shaped your approach?
Jason shared two — and both are worth keeping in mind.
Lesson one: Start with the business impact.
Earlier in his career, Jason sometimes found himself following talent acquisition best practices because they were considered best practices, rather than asking what would most directly benefit the business he was supporting.
Today, he makes a conscious effort to connect his work to the needs and priorities of the organization.
Lesson two: Establish your baseline before you begin.
Jason is equally passionate about measuring impact. Whenever a team makes a change or tries something new, he recommends identifying what success looks like and establishing a baseline to measure against.
As he explains, it’s far from ideal to complete work that may have been highly effective but have no clear way to demonstrate its impact to leadership beyond anecdotes.
His advice? If you don’t have the data point you need, create it first.
For People & Culture teams working to demonstrate their strategic value, that’s a practical lesson: measurement isn’t something to tack on at the end. It starts before the work begins.
Good Conversations, Better Perspectives
What do you value most about being part of TAP?
For Jason, it comes back to people, conversations and learning from experience.
He values the opportunity to meet others in his field, hear different perspectives and engage in the kind of back-and-forth that helps everyone learn.
It’s exactly what makes peer communities so valuable: the chance to compare notes, share challenges and discover new ways of approaching familiar problems.
Life Beyond Work: Family, golf and new rabbit holes
What are you enjoying outside of work these days?
Much of Jason’s time outside work is spent with his 11-month-old daughter, watching her grow, laugh and have fun.
He’s also a keen golfer working towards a single-digit handicap — and very open to tips from fellow TAP members.
When he finds time to read, he’s often diving deep into a new topic. Right now, his rabbit holes are work-related: he’s exploring employer branding and recruitment marketing and is happy to connect with others interested in those areas.
The Career Stack
What’s something your professional network might be surprised to learn?
Before building his career in talent acquisition, Jason pursued academic qualifications in computer science, including a master’s degree from Georgia Tech.
What started with a couple of short online courses grew into a program of study at BCIT and eventually a master’s degree. His interest in engineering helped bring him into the tech sector, and his technical background continues to inform how he thinks about the people and skills behind the products being built.
Thanks for being part of the TAP community, Jason!
From thinking critically about AI in hiring to making business impact measurable, Jason brings a curious, thoughtful perspective to talent acquisition. We’re grateful for the expertise he’s shared through TAP’s speaker panels and community conversations.
Want to connect with Jason? He’s happy to talk about technical hiring, employer branding, recruitment marketing and ideas from other disciplines. And if you have a tip for reaching a single-digit golf handicap, he’s listening!
Our Member Spotlight series celebrates the people, experiences and ideas that make the TAP Network community unique. Stay tuned for our next feature.
