The Growth Bites Podcast
Season 4, Episode 1: Shaun Ritchie
Unlocking CRM Value: Data, Automation & AI in Recruitment
In this episode of Growth Bites, Jo sits down with Shaun Ritchie, Founder of Third Wave and Marmalade’s Martech partner, to talk about one of the biggest missed opportunities in recruitment: the value already sitting inside your CRM.
Too many agencies assume they have a tech problem when in reality they have a data and workflow problem. Shaun explains why the issue isn’t the CRM itself, but how the data is structured, maintained and used across the business. From client data tagging and candidate segmentation to job matching, nurturing and automation, this episode explores what it takes to turn a CRM from a passive database into a genuine commercial asset. Jo and Shaun also dig into why automation and AI only work when the foundations are right, and why messy data will always lead to poor outputs.
They cover the common mistakes recruitment businesses make, why buying another tool is rarely the answer, and where to start if you want to get more value from the systems you already have.
If your CRM is full of records but not doing much else, this episode will help you understand how better structure, cleaner data and stronger processes can lead to better marketing, smarter outreach and stronger pipeline performance.
Meet our Guest
Shaun Ritchie
Founder
Shaun Ritchie is the Founder of Third Wave, a marketing technology consultancy helping recruitment businesses unlock the value of their CRM data, automation and AI. With over two decades of experience in technology and multiple ventures under his belt, Shaun specialises in building the foundations that allow systems to run efficiently and deliver real ROI.
Through Third Wave, he works with agencies to structure their data, optimise workflows and implement automation that saves time, improves decision-making and drives growth, without the need for additional tools or unnecessary complexity.







