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40 Under 40

The 40 Under 40 honors the rising stars making their mark on the workforce solutions ecosystem.

2024 40 Under 40

Jonathan F. Kestenbaum

Managing Director | AMS

honoree profile

Jonathan F. Kestenbaum is on a mission to elevate the role of technology in recruitment. An entrepreneur at heart, he built and sold his first HR tech company in 2012. He then co-founded Talent Tech Labs, a leading talent acquisition technology research firm, which was later sold to QuantumWork Advisory. In 2021, Kestenbaum was approached by AMS, one of the world’s largest RPOs, to lead the firm’s tech strategy.

At AMS, he uses his deep knowledge of talent acquisition technology to help the firm move toward an outcome-based hiring model. “It’s super important to leverage technology to do that,” he explains. One of Kestenbaum’s biggest initiatives for AMS is building AMS Verified, a marketplace of talent acquisition technology tools rated by heads of talent.

A lawyer by training, Kestenbaum has long been drawn to the intersection of staffing and technology. “Work is a big part of every person’s life,” he explains. “It’s not just about their ability to get money for the services they provide — it’s to feel good about themselves. … [Getting work] is a problem that’s worth spending time optimizing and an experience that’s worth improving.”

What does Kestenbaum think the future might hold for the industry? “I strongly believe that the future is a combination of tech and touch,” he says. “Technology is only as good as the people and processes you build around it.” According to Kestenbaum, AI shouldn’t be feared: “This isn’t a zero-sum game,” he says. “All technology, including AI, is just going to elevate the jobs that we do. It’s going to grow the opportunity and make it even bigger.”