Mark Coad is a seasoned talent acquisition leader with over 20 years of experience, including 12 years at GSK. Currently serving as Director of Talent Acquisition Transformation, Mark leads efforts to reimagine GSK’s recruitment model by leveraging AI, automation, skills intelligence, and location strategies to create a data-driven, agile hiring ecosystem that aligns with business needs and enhances candidate experiences.
Previously, as Head of Talent Acquisition for EMEA, Mark oversaw recruitment across multiple regions, enabling 200 recruiters to deliver 8,000 hires annually. He also played a key role in GSK’s ‘Future Ready’ transformation programme, managing the recruitment of over 3,000 roles across global Capability Centres during the establishment of Haleon and GSK as standalone companies.
With prior leadership roles at Tesco and Quest Search & Selection, Mark is passionate about embedding innovation and driving smarter, faster hiring decisions to stay ahead in a competitive talent market.
What’s a recent professional achievement of yours that you are proud of?
The main professional achievement of 2025 I’m particularly proud of is leading the transformation of GSK’s Talent Acquisition model to align with the rapidly evolving recruitment landscape and business needs. In early 2025, I spearheaded the beginning of our change looking at integration of advanced AI, model changes through service alignment and segmentation and the impact of skills intelligence into our recruitment ecosystem, enabling cheaper, smarter, faster, and more data-driven recruiter allocation decisions.
This transformation will not only streamline processes but also enhanced the candidate experience and empower us to align a delivery model through insights and analytics to identify the right recruitment solution to the business needs.
The impact has been measurable: improved efficiency, feedback, experience and stronger alignment with GSK’s strategic priorities. Seeing this transformation deliver lasting value to the organization while setting the pace in a competitive talent market has been incredibly fulfilling. It’s a testament to the power of rethinking traditional approaches and embracing innovation to drive meaningful change.
What is your prediction for the future of the TA industry?
The Talent Acquisition industry is rapidly evolving, driven by technology advancements (particularly Agentic AI), workforce changes, and shifting priorities.
AI and automation will continue to dominate recruitment thinking through ’25 and ’26; driving process changes, streamlining candidate sourcing, automating screening/matching, while predictive analytics will enable data-driven hiring decisions.
Companies will prioritize skills-based hiring over traditional credentials, focusing on candidates’ abilities through assessments and simulations. Employer branding will remain crucial, with organizations leveraging social media, employee stories, and authentic content to attract top talent in competitive markets.
Inclusion will continue to be integral to TA strategies, with tools to reduce bias and promote inclusivity. The pivotal part for humans in the process is to enhance the candidate experience, with personalized communication, transparency, and job/company related previews and insights.
Internal mobility and upskilling will grow, aligning TA with talent management to fill critical roles from within.
Compliance with evolving regulations, including ethical AI usage, will remain vital to ensure fairness and transparency.
The future of TA lies in striking the right balance between tech-driven efficiency and the human touch.
What projects are you planning on working on in 2026?
In 2026, my team and I will continue driving GSK’s Talent Acquisition transformation to ensure we stay ahead in a rapidly evolving talent landscape. Building on our foundation, we’re focusing on key projects that align with GSK’s business goals, enterprise-wide skills journey, and recruitment innovation.
1. AI and Skills Intelligence Integration
We’ll expand the use of AI and skills intelligence to build a data-driven recruitment ecosystem. By leveraging tools for precise talent matching, predictive workforce planning, and real-time skills gap analysis, we’ll align hiring with future business needs and create smarter, faster processes.
2. Optimizing Location Strategies
As workforce dynamics shift, we’ll refine our strategies to tap into global talent pools, optimize hybrid and remote work models, and enhance virtual hiring and onboarding processes tailored to regional markets.
3. Elevating Candidate and Hiring Manager Experience
We’ll simplify recruitment processes using automation, AI tools, and self-service platforms to improve speed-to-hire and deliver a seamless, engaging experience for candidates and hiring managers.
4. Advancing Inclusion
Inclusion remains a priority, and we’ll embed innovative tools and practices to eliminate bias, increase transparency, and build talent pipelines that reflect the communities we serve.
5. Aligning with Sustainability and Skills Goals
We’ll integrate sustainable hiring practices to attract purpose-driven talent while focusing on internal mobility, leveraging reskilling and upskilling to support GSK’s enterprise-wide skills journey.
These initiatives will ensure GSK’s recruitment model remains agile, innovative, and aligned with the demands of a competitive talent market.