Home » PowerTalk Show »
Humanizing Hiring with AI: Sean Griffith on Building Truffle for Smarter Recruitment
In this episode of The Power Talk Show powered by Business Talks Weekly, we sit down with Sean Griffith, founder of Truffle, to explore how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the hiring process — and why bringing the “human” back into recruitment is more crucial than ever.
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Sean's first venture was an on-demand snowplow service in Moncton, New Brunswick.
- ✓ He then joined Simple Texting, helping scale it from 7 to about 150 people over five years.
- ✓ Simple Texting was acquired twice, first by Message Media, then by Cinch.
- ✓ Truffle was born from his own hiring frustrations: too many applicants, and a hard time judging quality from resumes alone.
- ✓ Truffle is a one-way audio and video interview platform powered by AI, generating summaries and match percentages.
- ✓ Roughly 30% of candidates are estimated to use AI in their job applications, according to a stat Sean cites.
- ✓ Truffle's sweet spot is customer service, support, marketing and retail roles, not deep technical hiring.
- ✓ Truffle is built self-serve first, priced for founders and small HR teams rather than large enterprise.
- ✓ Sean's biggest lesson from his first startup was recognizing a bad market fit earlier and being willing to pivot.
- ✓ His advice to job candidates is to use AI tools to prepare and refine messaging, but stay authentic in the actual interview.
Sean’s journey began in the corporate world, deeply rooted in customer experience. That foundation led him to his first entrepreneurial venture — a Canadian-style “Uber for snowplows.” But it was his leadership at Simple Texting, which scaled from 7 to 150 employees and was acquired by two international firms, that sharpened his skills in hiring, product strategy, and business growth.
From Simple Texting to Truffle
After leaving the corporate scale-up world, Sean identified a common challenge: how do hiring teams find the right talent in a sea of resumes? Truffle was born out of that frustration — a platform that allows one-way video interviews powered by AI, giving companies clearer insights into soft skills, cultural fit, and candidate potential.
“Skills can be taught. We wanted to assess the intangibles — what makes a person tick,” Sean explains.
AI + Hiring: Friend or Foe?
With the rise of AI-generated resumes and applications, both candidates and companies are navigating uncharted territory. According to Sean, “Up to 30% of applicants now use AI in their applications — and not always for the better.” Truffle detects AI usage and lets hiring managers decide how it fits into their selection process.
Built for Startups, Not Just Enterprises
What sets Truffle apart is its focus on small to mid-sized businesses. With a self-serve platform, built-in AI, and seamless setup, it’s designed to empower hiring managers, not just HR teams.
“We built Truffle for speed and clarity,” Sean says. “Our goal is to help founders and small teams identify the best candidates without burning time on unqualified leads.”
Key Takeaways:
- Truffle helps companies find the “diamond in the rough” by giving each candidate a voice beyond the resume.
- AI is a double-edged sword in hiring — useful when used wisely, problematic when misused.
- Cultural fit and human authenticity are still irreplaceable.
- Startups can build lean, efficient HR pipelines using tools like Truffle without waiting to scale.
Watch Full Episode
Advice for Founders and Candidates
Sean encourages founders to “stay close to the customer” and not shy away from iterating their product or approach. For candidates, his advice is simple: use AI as a prep tool, but always be human.
“Ultimately, people hire people — don’t let AI strip away your personality.”
In This Episode
00:02
Sean Griffith's Journey from Snowplows to Truffle
05:35
The Biggest AI Challenges for Candidates and Companies
08:10
What Kind of Candidates Companies Are Looking For
09:30
The Challenge of Scaling a Recruitment Company
12:20
Who Truffle Is Really Built For
14:23
Biggest Challenges and Lessons Looking Back
17:27
Advice for Upcoming Founders
19:23
Advice for Candidates in the AI Era
“The hardest part is starting.”
— Sean Griffith, Founder, Truffle
“Be yourself, that is the best way to stand out.”
— Sean Griffith, Founder, Truffle
“We are just providing more data to help them make decisions.”
— Sean Griffith, Founder, Truffle
About the Guest
Sean Griffith
Founder, Truffle
Sean Griffith is founder of Truffle, a one-way audio and video interview platform powered by AI. His first venture was an on-demand snowplow service in Moncton, New Brunswick, before joining Simple Texting, where he helped scale the company from 7 to about 150 people over five years through two acquisitions, first by Message Media, then by Cinch. Truffle was born from his own frustration trying to sort through hundreds of job applicants with only a static resume to judge them by.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Truffle?
Truffle is a one-way audio and video interview platform founded by Sean Griffith that uses AI to generate structured summaries and match percentages, helping hiring managers surface culture fit signals beyond what a static resume can show.
What is Sean Griffith's background before founding Truffle?
He started with an on-demand snowplow service in Moncton, New Brunswick, then joined Simple Texting, helping scale the company from 7 to about 150 people over five years through two acquisitions, before leaving a large global role to found Truffle.
Who is Truffle built for?
Primarily founders, hiring managers and small HR teams, especially in customer service, support, marketing and retail roles that receive a high volume of applicants, rather than large enterprises or deep technical hiring.
What is Sean Griffith's advice for job candidates in the AI era?
Use AI tools to prepare and refine your messaging beforehand, but don't read AI-generated responses during an actual interview — "be yourself, that is the best way to stand out," since humans are ultimately the ones making the hiring decision.
The Host
Navin Shetty didn't set out to build a media company
After a decade advising founders on go-to-market strategy across Dubai, Riyadh and Mumbai, Navin kept noticing the same gap: the most useful conversations he had happened off the record, over coffee, after the panel ended. The PowerTalk Show is that off-the-record conversation, recorded on purpose.
He hosts every episode himself — no rotating co-hosts, no outsourced pre-interviews. Guests get one rule going in: nothing is off-limits except numbers they’re legally required to keep private.
Under Business Talks Weekly, the show now anchors a small editorial operation producing written deep-dives, sponsor features and syndicated audio distributed across six platforms.
Work with the show
Reach a focused B2B audience across the UAE, Middle-East, and Global— or join the conversation as a guest.
Watch More Conversations Here
Explore insightful discussions and stories.
BROWSE BY TOPIC
Every conversation, organized by what matters to you
107 interviews with the founders, operators and investors shaping the UAE — grouped by the topics our listeners search for most.
AI & Tech Founders
Builders shipping the tools reshaping how business gets done — and the infrastructure behind them.
FinTech & Wealth
Banking, payments & wealth strategy — how capital actually moves across the GCC and beyond.
Leadership & Scaling
Culture, hiring and the operating lessons behind teams that scale without breaking.
Sales, Marketing & Growth
Go-to-market playbooks, growth tactics and the campaigns actually moving revenue.