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WEBINAR: Thursday, February 19, 2026 | 12:00-1:00 PM ET | REGISTER NOW
Hiring for the AI Era
Building AI–Fluent Teams Across Every Function
Join talent leaders from Man Group, Macquarie Asset Management, and Arootah for a discussion on building AI-fluent teams without overhauling your entire workforce
- Your leadership wants an “AI strategy.”
- Your teams are asking for “AI tools.”
- Your competitors claim they’re “AI-native.”
But most alternative investment firms are treating AI adoption as a technology problem when it’s actually a people problem.
The real questions aren’t:
- “Should we hire AI engineers?”
- “What AI tools should we buy?”
The real questions are:
- How do we make our existing teams adaptable enough to evolve with AI?
- Which roles require external AI expertise vs. internal upskilling?
- How do we assess whether a candidate can learn and adapt, not just execute today’s playbook?
You’re being asked to transform your hiring strategy without a clear roadmap—and so are your peers.
EVENT DETAILS:
February 19th, 2026
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET
Virtual (Zoom)
You’re being asked to transform your hiring strategy without a clear roadmap—and so are your peers.
What Leading Firms Are Doing Differently
Most firms don’t need to hire armies of AI specialists.
They need to make their functional experts—in operations, compliance, investor relations, finance—capable of adopting AI tools and modernizing workflows.
The firms getting this right aren’t asking “How do we hire AI talent?”
They’re asking:
- How do we assess adaptability in candidates? (The most important trait in an AI-driven world)
- When should we build AI capability internally vs. hiring externally? (And how to make that decision role-by-role)
- What does AI fluency actually mean for non-technical roles? (It’s not what most job descriptions assume)
This panel brings together talent leaders from Man Group ($213.9B AUM) and Macquarie Asset Management ($800B+ AUM) to share the frameworks they’re using to navigate this transformation.
Meet the Panel
Peter Donovan
Executive VP, MD & COO at MFA
Peter Donovan is MFA’s Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer.
Mr. Donovan is a respected industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience. He joins MFA from Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he has served since 2004 in a variety of leadership roles in Fixed Income Prime Brokerage, sales and relationship management.
Sarah Salta
Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Man Group
Sarah Salta is Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Man Group, leading the firm’s global talent strategy across all levels and geographies. She manages a team of talent acquisition professionals focusing on four key pillars: candidate-centric experiences, consultative partnerships, cost-effective hiring practices and technology-enabled solutions. As at 30 September 2025, Man Group had AUM of $213.9 billion at Man Group.
Marjie Howie
Americas Head of Talent Acquisition at Macquarie
Marjie leads the talent acquisition team at Macquarie, driving recruitment strategy and shaping employer brand across the Americas. She previously spent 11 years at Goldman Sachs, where she held several leadership roles, including Global Co-Head of Experienced Hire Recruiting. She has extensive experience recruiting talent globally, from intern to managing director across multiple divisions.
Chris Lillis
Head of Talent Solutions, Arootah Advisory
Chris is the Head of Talent Solutions at Arootah, partnering with investment management clients to build high-impact teams. A former in-house recruiter at Two Sigma, UBS, and PJT, he has recruited AI talent at scale at a top quant fund and understands where to find it. He also brings external search experience across the alternative asset management community.
Who Should Attend?
This session is designed for:
- CEOs, COOs, and business unit leaders responsible for organizational AI strategy
- CHROs, Heads of Talent, and People Strategy leaders navigating AI-driven workforce planning
- Functional leaders in operations, compliance, finance, and investor relations responsible for hiring and upskilling teams
About Arootah
Arootah is a professional services firm serving hedge funds, private equity firms, and family offices. Our Talent Spectrum solutions align human capital with strategy across three integrated areas:
- Talent Acquisition: Recruiting executive and specialized talent across investment, operations, and leadership functions
- Fractional Advisory: Providing senior-level expertise on a flexible basis for firms that need specialized capabilities
- Talent Development: Executive coaching and leadership programs to strengthen and scale existing teams
This panel reflects our commitment to sharing practical, decision-ready insights with the leadership community we serve.
Secure Your Spot!
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What You’ll Walk Away With
The build–vs–buy framework
Clear criteria for when to develop AI capability internally vs. hiring externally—based on how Man Group and Macquarie make these decisions
Interview questions that reveal adaptability
Specific signals and questions that distinguish candidates who can evolve with technology from those who will become rigid
Job description guidance, evaluation criteria & decision frameworks.
AI fluency definitions for non–technical roles
What “AI-ready” actually means for operations, compliance, finance, and investor relations (and how to assess it)
Where AI helps recruiting—and where it fails
Why Macquarie avoids AI screening tools, and where Man Group uses AI to enhance (not replace) human judgment
The talent pipeline perspective
How leading firms are balancing AI adoption with maintaining junior talent pipelines and preserving critical soft skills
Language you can use with leadership
Frameworks and insights you can share directly with your executive team to inform AI talent strategy decisions
Everyone who schedules and completes a discovery call will receive a complimentary copy of
The Talent Principles Volume I: Acquisition
A comprehensive playbook for building AI-ready teams. This book translates decades of alternative investment expertise into actionable talent acquisition strategies for the AI era.
WHAT’S INSIDE:
- Strategic Talent Decision Framework — Apply an investment-grade framework to determine when to hire, upskill, outsource, or deploy technology—especially as AI reshapes roles and workflows.
- AI-Ready Hiring & Assessment Frameworks — Evaluate AI fluency, adaptability, and role-specific capability across both technical and non-technical candidates without relying on gut instinct.
- Modern Job & Role Design Tools — Redesign job descriptions, responsibilities, and success criteria to reflect AI-era requirements while maintaining broad, high-quality candidate pools.
- Workforce Optimization & Prioritization Models — Make informed decisions about where AI augments talent, replaces tasks, or creates new capability needs across the organization.
- Onboarding & Integration Systems — Successfully integrate AI-capable hires into non-AI-native organizations with structured onboarding, clear expectations, and measurable outcomes.
Everyone who schedules and completes a discovery call will receive a complimentary copy of The Talent Principles Volume I: Acquisition