Not My First Rodeo: Alfie Pearce-Higgins with Jenny Fielding

Alfie Pearce‑Higgins’ path from M&A at JP Morgan to development projects in Nigeria and Nepal, then to a motorbike‑taxi startup in East Africa, gave him a front‑row view of how technology can reshape informal work. Returning to the UK, he teamed with a former Deliveroo executive to build tools for gig‑economy workers, quickly confronting data‑access barriers on platform APIs. Those frustrations sparked Rodeo, a London‑based venture that leverages AI to turn fragmented earnings data into actionable career insights, targeting both new entrants and mid‑career professionals navigating today’s rapid labour‑market shifts.

Traditional job boards have become volume‑driven marketplaces where thousands of applications are filtered by opaque AI screens, creating a classic lemons problem of asymmetric information. Employers receive synthetic resumes, while candidates cannot tell if their submissions will ever be read by a human. Rodeo tackles this breakdown by combining real‑time market data with AI‑curated recommendations, moving beyond one‑click apply to a personalized match that considers skill gaps, local demand, and individual aspirations. By surfacing trustworthy opportunities and eliminating noisy listings, the platform restores transparency and efficiency to a hiring ecosystem that has long suffered from over‑automation.

Rodeo’s personalization engine starts with structured voice‑call onboarding, allowing users to articulate career goals more naturally than a static CV. The system continuously refines profiles through feedback loops, integrating new aspirations, skill‑development activities, and changing market conditions. In the longer term, the company envisions AI‑powered agents that act like human representatives, scouting freelance and full‑time openings on behalf of users and negotiating terms. Such agents could shift the employment balance toward self‑employment, especially as AI lowers the cost of managing distributed talent. For younger workers and those caught in industry transitions, this approach promises a clearer, data‑driven pathway to sustainable career growth.