April 2025: Indeed Premium, Deel CEO in Dubai, Adzuna ApplyIQ
Happy Friday, Job Board Doctor friends. For those of us with U.S.-based companies, we’ve (hopefully) survived another tax season intact.
Some other things in our world, however, are looking a little less shiny—like the “on-the-run” Deel Bouaziz father-and-son duo to Dubai, and a jobseeker’s reaction to Indeed Premium paid services for jobseekers on Reddit.
We also saw some new products hit the wire this week, including Adzuna launch of ApplyIQ, an AI apply agent.
Let’s do this!
Deel on the Run, Deel on the Run – Deel CEO in Dubai
In the gift that keeps on giving, the Deel leadership team appears to be on the run—either far away from Deel, or from Rippling’s French subpoena service.
In the first week of April, Elisabeth Diana, who led communications at Deel, quietly exited the company. Diana’s LinkedIn profile confirms she left Deel in April 2025, marking the end of her tenure which began in November 2021.
TechCrunch reports both Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz and his father, CFO Philippe Bouaziz, have yet to be served by Rippling in the ongoing Spy Who Slacked It Up scandal.
Why? It seems both have fled to an extradition-safe haven—the United Arab Emirates. The duo claims to have “relocated” from their native France to Dubai. They aren’t alone, it appears they have also been joined by Deel Legal Director, Asif Malik.
Upon a LinkedIn stalking session, I learned that Mr. Malik is a former Rippling employee. He lists his employment as the Assistant General Counsel for Rippling from January 2023 to June 2024 and as CEO of Rippling Payments UK from February 2023-July 2024. Malik joined Deel as Legal Director in July 2024.
All the while, Keith O’Brien (The Spy), now requires around the clock security to protect himself and his family, as he cooperates with the investigation and avoids jail time….for now.
Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?
I KNOW! How in the name of the gods has this nonsense gotten so far?
Also, is anyone else starting to doubt that this IPO-wannabe TA Tech unicorn might not be on the up and up? I mean—who in their right mind risks an $800 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) unicorn on a Mr. Bean-meets-Austin Powers spy scheme to get access to info that’s not even going to create that much value for the business?
Seems like a lot of small-ball play for an organization that went from nothing to Silicon Valley queen in five years. Are their investors asking the same?
🔗 Sunday World – Spy Gets Around the Clock Security
🔗 Communications Lead Leaves Deel
🔗 Tech Crunch – Deel CEO in Dubai
Adzuna ApplyIQ Launch
This week, Adzuna launched an AI application agent for jobseekers using the platform. The tool, which claims to have “strict volume controls and relevance thresholds,” allows AI agents to automatically apply for jobs on behalf of the jobseeker within those parameters.
From the website: “ApplyIQ is your personal AI job search agent. Upload your resume, tell us what you’re looking for, and we apply to jobs for you”
Doug Monro, CEO and co-founder of Adzuna, comments,
“As a firm believer that AI should be a force for good in recruitment, I am excited to introduce ApplyIQ, the latest addition to our suite of AI tools. Our industry is seeing a war of escalation between a flood of poor-quality applications due to easy apply on major job platforms and unethical auto-apply tools, and overwhelmed recruiters who are resorting to more screening questions and tools to manage that volume.”
I thought it would be a good idea to understand the process, so I asked how a job seeker signs up. Here is what I learned.
How to sign up for ApplyIQ:
- Users upload their resume to ApplyIQ
- Select up to eight target job titles
- Specify their desired work location
- Set their salary expectations
Then the AI agent takes it from there:
- ApplyIQ will then scan Adzuna’s job database to identify the most relevant opportunities
- Followed by scoring users’ fit against the job requirements and their personal aspirations
- When a strong match is found, ApplyIQ automatically submits an application with a tailored cover note highlighting the most relevant skills and experience.
Users can track their applications on the ApplyIQ dashboard and fine-tune their settings for a more personalized experience.
So will it work? As a strong advocate for removing barriers to employment for jobseekers. I often find the apply process is over-engineered and ineffective at finding the true potential a person could bring to the role, so I hope so. Time will tell and I will be ready to hear your experiences.
Indeed Premium Jobseeker Solutions Land with a Thud
After Ethan Bloomfield made an intriguing comment on my LinkedIn post this week calling for us to, “End the debate they [Indeed] are going to move towards charging the jobseekers?” the Reddit Indeed thread delivered this Canadian beauty.
May just be new to me, but it may also be new to you. Indeed is offering paid services to Canadian jobseekers for $9.99 CAD a month. User GlumFaithlessness583 is not about it.
🚨Reality Check
Maybe, just maybe, Indeed isn’t too big too fail.
Spending a little time on the Reddit thread, may just give you a little energy, give you some great ideas on how your team may engage jobseekers differently and offer a Friday laugh.
Let’s have one more for the road.
What do you think? Tell me!
Til Next Time,
The Doc
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