As Senior Director of Talent at venture capital firm SignalFire, Mario Espindola has the science of headcount planning down to art. In this insight-packed episode, he joins Chris to discuss how talent leaders can help drive a more cost-effective, strategic, and data-driven headcount planning process. They begin by stressing the importance of risk management in the current economic climate, with Mario offering advice for assessing resources and project readiness. As the conversation continues, Chris and Mario weigh up the benefits of top-down and bottom-up approaches, explore cost analysis techniques, and ask: when is it the right time to adopt sophisticated headcount management tools? They end on an optimistic note, as Mario shares his vision of an AI-enabled, time-rich future for talent acquisition.