The AI Recruiter

From resume screening to video interviews, AI now decides which candidate makes the cut. Can it replace the human touch?

- ANUBHUTI MATTA

At the Bengaluru-based technology solutions provider NxtGen Technologies, two key stages of recruitment—resume screening and interview assessments—are now conducted via artificial intelligence (AI). The company uses AI tools to analyse and score resumes and interview responses, which were earlier largely manual processes.

“These tools not only allow us to manage a large volume of applicants efficiently, but have also helped evaluate candidates more objectively, thereby reducing human bias,” says AS Rajgopal, the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director.

As job roles evolve rapidly, and skill sets become fluid, in today’s world of real-time data, the static, self-reported, and unverifiable CV may no longer be a candidate’s ticket to success. AI tools that now screen resumes, conduct initial assessments and sort through profiles are fast becoming the first step to identifying, evaluating, and shortlisting talent, helping recruiters hire smarter and faster. In some cases, companies also use these tools for fraud detection through facial recognition.

It’s a shift recruiters are seeing up close, with a growing number of employers incorporating AI tools into their hiring workflows. Nirmit Parikh, the founder of job search platform Apna.co, says that up to 40 percent of its employer-partners are now parsing resumes and adopting AI-led screening. For Neeti Sharma, the CEO of talent solutions company TeamLease Digital, the number is up to 50 percent, while AMS, a global talent acquisition and advisory firm, says 90 percent of their global and 60 percent of Indian clients have adopted it.

TIME, EFFICIENCY, AND SCALE

AI-led hiring is becoming prevalent in large enterprises and sectors that have high-volume recruitment needs as it brings measurable gains in speed, consistency, and efficiency, and industries such as information technology, finance, insurance, and BPOs are at the forefront of it.