When it comes to building impactful products in HR tech, leadership matters. That’s why we’re excited to introduce Alex Tidgård as Jobylon’s new Chief Product Officer (CPO).
While Alex has spent his entire career in recruitment, his education in clinical psychology isn’t where most people expect a journey into product development or HR tech to begin. But that unconventional path is exactly what makes his perspective so valuable. He brings curiosity, empathy, and real-world insight to designing smarter and more human recruitment experiences.
In this Q&A, we speak with Alex about his journey, what excites him about joining Jobylon, his vision for product development, and where he sees the recruitment industry headed.
What is your background and what led you to recruitment tech?
I’m a licensed psychologist, and have spent most of my career building products that make hiring more effective and more human. Previously, I’ve worked with assessment, product strategy, and was most recently the CEO of Grooo.
While perhaps not the most expected path into recruitment or tech, my psychology background has been instrumental throughout my career. It’s all about going deeper. Whether I’m speaking to a customer, a teammate, or looking at product feedback, I don’t take things at face value. I try to understand what’s underneath the request or the behavior, and what’s really driving it.
That mindset is incredibly useful in product development. It helps us avoid jumping to solutions and instead design experiences that truly solve the right problems.
Why did you join Jobylon?
I’ve been keeping an eye on Jobylon for a long time, ever since my days at an assessment company where we built an integration with Jobylon’s ATS.
Over the years, I stayed in touch with Aref, Jobylon’s CEO. When the opportunity to lead the product team came up, it felt like the right fit. I was genuinely excited, not just by the product, but by the people. And I haven’t been disappointed.
The three main reasons I joined Jobylon:
- The culture
It’s rare to meet this many smart, kind, and driven people in one place. There’s a genuine sense of momentum and purpose here — and a deep respect for customers that really comes through in how the team works. - Product potential
One of the things I’m most excited about is helping Jobylon take greater ownership of the entire candidate journey — from someone passively considering a job to fully operational in a new role that truly fits. That full lifecycle perspective is something we’re just starting to unlock, and I think we’re in a great position to get there. - Close collaboration with customers
We work with some of the largest employers in Europe, but we still have a very close, personal relationship with them. That level of trust is rare — and it means we get input we can actually use to shape the product in meaningful ways. Our users don’t hold back when it comes to feedback, and that’s a gift. It helps us build the right things, not just the flashy or trendy ones.
What’s your take on AI in recruitment?
There’s a lot of admin in recruiting. AI can help reduce that, like summarizing notes, moving candidates in the process, suggesting actions, and generally freeing up people’s time to focus on the things that bring more value to the hiring experience.
That said, while companies and processes are doubling down on AI, I think we’ll also see a shift back toward the human side of recruitment. It can’t all be AI talking to AI. People are applying for jobs, and we can’t lose sight of the emotional, personal experience behind that.
What’s the biggest misconception about building HR tech?
That it’s easy to build a product that works for everyone. Hiring processes vary so much — by company size, culture, location, industry. Finding common patterns while supporting customization is one of the hardest things in product development. But it’s also what makes it so interesting and fun to work with.
Why is HR tech an important industry?
Because everyone can relate to it and everyone is affected by it. We’ve all been through a recruitment process, and unfortunately, many of us have experienced how broken it can be. There’s bias, there’s friction, and there’s a lot of room for improvement. If we can make hiring fairer, more efficient, and more human, that has real impact. That’s why I’m here.
Finally, what’s a “perfect week” in your world as CPO?
The dream scenario? We hear a real problem from a customer, collaborate with engineering, find a solution that’s fast to ship, and we see the customer light up when it solves their problem. That’s what drives me. It doesn’t happen quite like that every week. But when it does, it reminds me why I love building products.
You can learn more about Alex and the strategic direction of Jobylon in our press release.
