Breaking Into the US Market: AI Hiring, Startup Growth & Winning Big Clients with Francis Larson

Nitin speaks with Francis Larson of Ascen about succeeding in the US recruitment market. Francis shares insights from hundreds of staffing firms and explains why smaller, smarter agencies are outperforming global players. He covers the boom in AI-adjacent hiring across robotics, data centres and automation, and reveals why focusing on well-funded startups rather than enterprise clients offers recruitment businesses a genuine competitive advantage.

The conversation explores practical strategies for breaking into the US market, including the importance of compliance, payroll infrastructure and Employer of Record partnerships. Francis discusses how recruitment firms can build credibility with high-growth businesses, use creative pricing to scale alongside clients, and embed themselves as trusted partners. He emphasises that recruiters need to unlearn traditional sales approaches to win in today's market and create long-term, high-value relationships.