The Hidden Job Market: How This Tech Leader Got Her AI Role Without It Ever Being Advertised

Within minutes, an interview was locked in. Within weeks, she was in the third stage interview. And she landed the job.
That job was never advertised. It never hit a job board.
And it's exactly the case in point of how powerful your network is.
In this episode of the Career Confidence Podcast, Georgie sits down with Priscilla, a transformation and technology leader who's spent her career connecting people, process and technology in some of Australia's biggest retail and tech organisations.
After years at David Jones leading digital trannew way
sformation, Priscilla recently stepped into a brand new AI-focused role at a fast-growing scale-up.
And here's the thing: the role was never advertised.
An old boss reached out. They had a conversation. And within weeks, she was in.
This conversation is about what it actually takes to break into AI roles when you're not the most technical person in the room. It's about why curiosity and problem solving matter more than coding. It's about the hidden cost of AI that no one's talking about yet, like token usage, data governance, and how one workflow change can break three other systems if you're not thinking holistically.
Priscilla shares how she's upskilling herself on AI, from using Claude for personal budgeting to building agents, to learning how Copilot works across different Microsoft tools, and why it's changing almost every month.
She also talks about what companies are getting wrong when they rush to implement AI without clarity on the problem they're actually trying to solve, and why the soft skills, the human connection, the ability to bring people together, are going to be the most valuable skills in an AI-driven world.
In this episode:
How Priscilla landed her AI role through her network, not a job board
Why technology is no longer a specialised area but everyone's business
Whether you actually need a tech degree to work in AI
The skills companies are hiring for right now: orchestration, communication, and the human touch
What Priscilla's doing day to day in her new AI-focused role
Why data strategy and governance are foundational to AI success
How AI is being used to automate credit processing and document intake
How she's upskilling herself on AI, from Claude to Copilot to building agents
Why Copilot in PowerPoint was terrible six months ago and is now amazing
The hidden cost of AI that most people don't think about: token usage
Why companies need to think about cost control, not just cost effectiveness
The new questions you need to ask vendors: where is the metadata stored? Is it overseas? What's your AI governance?
Why most companies are applying AI without clarity on the problem they're solving
Why delivery is the easy part, and getting clarity is the hard part
How Priscilla thinks about the future of work and why humans will always be needed
Why soft skills, critical thinking, and the courage to ask questions will matter more than technical expertise
Her advice for women who feel intimidated by AI: embrace it, give it a go, and remember no one is an expert right now
One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation?
You don't need to be the most technical person to break into AI. You need to be curious, ask good questions, and understand how to connect technology with people and business outcomes.
As Priscilla puts it: if anyone says they're an expert in AI right now, you should probably ask why they think that.
Because no one is. Everyone is learning. And that's exactly why now is the time to start.
—
✨ 60 Day Bold Move Career Accelerator
Learn more here 👉 https://www.georgiehubbard.com/bold-moves
—
📚 The Bold Move
https://www.theboldmovebook.com
—
Connect with Georgie:
🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiehubbard/
🟪 Instagram: http://instagram.com/georgielhubbard
♦️ Website: https://www.georgiehubbard.com
—
Connect with Priscilla
🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priscillachanau/