Tech suppliers are falling over themselves to offer the latest AI products and automation tools to executive search and recruitment firms to help manage their processes and extensive talent networks. The global AI recruitment market is predicted to reach $1,119.79 million by 2032, and recruitment firms are jostling for the best tools on offer.
But whilst efficiencies can undoubtedly boost revenues, building a solid AI strategy in recruitment and choosing the right products to deliver it is far from straightforward and comes with several red flags.
What tools are out there and how can they help?
AI Agents and automation tools in the recruitment space can achieve similar efficiencies as in other sectors. They can save labour intensive hours of talent searching by monitoring candidate and market activity, analysing vast datasets and forecasting success rates based on historic patterns, and compile useful data such as salary benchmarks.
Mundane tasks such as searching in-house data like CVs, interview transcripts and other interactions with candidates can be vastly sped up. AI tools can convert human-to-human interactions, such as phone calls, into human-to-machine format which are much easier to search and go beyond coded candidate skills sets to reflect what that candidate has actually delivered, which is a critical factor in determining if they are right, or not, for a specific role.
Often pitched as reducing consultant burnout, this technology can match candidate-to-job in a fraction of the time, among many other ‘offerings’, including automated communication with and screening of candidates, and of course suggested email wording.
Rubbish in, rubbish out – IP is key
How useful these tools are depends on the recruitment business and whether they embed or bolt on this technology, and how far they are prepared to go on automating certain cogs in the process. Crucially, the tools will only be as effective as the structure and integrity of their data.
To truly benefit from what AI can offer, recruitment firms need to be laser focused on internal coding, system processes and how they capture their own IP, otherwise a lot of the upside from investing in AI tools will not land. The automation may yield fast results, but if the results cannot be trusted they are worthless, putting a question mark over AI investment.
The risk of commitment
Another consideration is that currently, the offering from different AI and automation providers is broadly the same. If all firms use the same technology, then how can they differentiate what they do? Business success and growth do not come from keeping up with competitors but from getting ahead, setting apart, and doing things differently. This is where the quality of a firm’s in-house data and IP bring the edge.
At the pace at which the AI and automation revolution is moving forwards, committing to a product today and locking into a lengthy minimum contract term with expensive get-out clauses can also be high risk. If a game-changing new tool emerges in the meantime, a business may have to wait three to six months, or more, to capitalise on it, by which time it may have already fallen behind competitors.
However, the greater risk would be to not act at all. As the technology evolves so will the opportunities for recruitment businesses, and this is why firms should embrace AI’s capabilities and prioritise cleaning up their data and processes now, to evolve in sync with the technology.
Bringing consultants on board and training them thoroughly on the opportunities of AI and automation tools is also a ‘process’ for leaders, particularly when it comes to more seasoned recruitment pros who will have honed their approach over years and may be reluctant to change. Investing in the best tools in the business only pays off if consultants are using them properly.
Recruitment versus AI?
As an industry, AI does present a challenge. In-house HR teams can access and make use of the same tools, which could raise an existential question over the need for recruitment professionals and executive search firms in the future.
However, to replicate the judgement, deep market knowledge, competitor understanding, and culture barometer that a recruitment professional brings is still out of reach for the AI bots, particularly when it comes to the large networks of high-end executive search consultants sourcing for the top jobs.
Equally, most in-house HR teams will not have the financial resources to invest in the best tools and are unlikely to have the in-house datasets to replicate what recruitment professionals do. Like other services that firms could choose to bring in house, such as security, accounting, or PR, but often prefer to outsource, this is unlikely to change.
Retain the human
At senior level especially, the recruitment experience itself plays a significant part. Senior executives being sourced for the C-suite do not appreciate going through AI screening and automated interviews. The higher up you go, the more essential meaningful human relationships become.
Leaders want to engage with real people who understand their motivations and aspirations, not feel like they’re being processed by a system. In this scenario, AI does not increase trust and is another red flag for executive search firms, which risk losing the best candidates through an overuse of AI-driven processes.
