Authority Magazine's editorial staff interviewed Cadient CEO Bill Mastin for its series on “sticky” technology products — the ones people keep coming back to.
Mastin's test for stickiness isn't whether people like a product. It is whether taking it away would create a problem for them. Nobody wakes up wanting to use hiring software; they wake up trying to fill positions. Software earns a return visit by making that easier, not by being liked.
The interview traces his route into the category — from a computer lab in Baton Rouge, where he first saw content adapt to individual learning speeds, through three decades in SaaS and HR technology to Cadient, where the same idea applies to hiring decisions.
On adoption, his argument is that onboarding starts at the first interaction rather than after implementation, and that user experience is about removing friction rather than adding polish: every extra click and confusing screen is a chance for someone to stop using the product.
His five principles, paraphrased: solve a genuine operational problem; simplify the workflow before automating it, because AI cannot repair a broken process; strengthen human judgement instead of replacing it; earn trust through reliability rather than features; and design for the recruiter, hiring manager or candidate actually on the other side of the screen.
The full interview also covers the traits he credits for his own trajectory, the mentors who shaped his approach, and the dot-com-era hiring decision that taught him to question a business's fundamentals.
