There is an incredible amount of hype, noise, and truth around AI in recruiting. For hiring managers, this constant buzz can make it difficult to separate practical applications from futuristic promises. The real question isn't if AI is changing the landscape, but how—and what that means for your ability to find and hire top talent.
In a recent webinar hosted by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), moderator Jason Krumwiede led a candid discussion with global talent leaders Rob Navarrette (WTW) and Lance Sapera (Barracuda) to explore how hiring managers can use AI more effectively in the hiring process. Trent Cotton of iCIMS provided an analytical perspective to the discussion
This article draws on insights from the panel. You’ll learn counter-intuitive realities of AI in the hiring process. The goal is to reveal how AI is truly being leveraged today and how you, as a hiring manager, can partner with your talent team to make smarter, more effective decisions.
Key takeaways for hiring managers:
- Implement Governance First: Before buying any AI tool, establish clear guardrails and governance. Applying AI to flawed processes will only amplify existing business problems.
- Focus on Skills, Not Resumes: The true "AI Arms Race" is shifting from resume screening to validating authentic skills through structured interviews and assessments, which broadens the talent pool.
- ROI is in Candidate Quality and Matching: AI's biggest value is not in generating high-volume candidate sourcing, but in assessing skills and matching the right people to the role, which is a hiring manager's top priority.
- AI Augments Human Connection: By automating transactional tasks, AI frees up recruiters to be more present, strategic, and human-centric—allowing them to focus on deep listening and building trust to close top candidates.
Watch the full webinar: The Hype, the Noise, and the Truth—A Focus on the Hiring Manager
1. Before You Buy Any Tool, Build a Fence
For any team exploring AI, the most critical first step isn’t choosing a technology—it's establishing governance. Before getting excited about the innovative tools flooding the market, you must first define the problem you are trying to solve and create the guardrails to guide your exploration.
Rob Navarrete, Global Head of Global Service Delivery Recruitment and Transformation at WTW, advises a "clarity before technology" approach. First, identify the specific business problem you need to address. Is it speed, candidate quality, or bias reduction? Then, clean up your existing processes. AI will only "amplify some of the business problems that may exist today," so applying it to a flawed system will only make things worse.
Building on this, Trent Cotton, Head of Talent Insights and Analyst Relations at iCIMS, emphasized the need for a governance framework as the essential starting point. Without guardrails for responsible and ethical AI, teams risk major compliance and data security issues. He shared a cautionary anecdote about a CFO who, in his excitement, uploaded his company's complete financial records into an unguarded public version of ChatGPT. Once sensitive data is out there, it's nearly impossible to get it back.
"It's really hard to put that genie back in the bottle."
2. The Real "AI Arms Race" is About Skills, Not Resumes
A common narrative paints a picture of an "AI vs. AI" war, where candidates use AI to write their resumes and companies use AI to screen them. However, the reality is more of an evolution than a battle.
According to Navarrete, a candidate using AI to improve the clarity and formatting of their resume isn't inherently negative. The risk of candidates inflating their skills has always existed, with or without technology. The real solution is to shift the focus from what's written on a resume to what can be demonstrated. This means validating authenticity through methods that are harder for AI to fake, including:
- Structured interviews
- Skill-based assessments
- Live, role-based activities and presentations
This shift aligns with what candidates want. Cotton notes that a significant majority of Millennial and Gen Z candidates—over 60%—want to showcase their abilities through assessments rather than relying solely on a resume, even if they don't have the years of direct experience typically listed. For managers, this opens the door to a wider, more diverse talent pool by focusing on true capability over traditional credentials.
3. The Biggest ROI Isn't Sourcing—It's Candidate Quality
The common assumption is that AI’s biggest impact in hiring would be at the top of the funnel—sourcing a massive volume of candidates. However, the data reveals a surprising truth.
Cotton cited a Lighthouse Research & Advisory (LHRA) research survey of talent acquisition organizations already using AI, which found that the highest return on investment (ROI) was actually seen in candidate assessment and matching. This initially seems counter-intuitive, but it makes perfect sense when viewed through the lens of a hiring manager.
The number one concern for 91% of hiring managers is candidate quality, not quantity. The real bottleneck isn't finding enough people; it's finding the right people and moving them through the process. As Cotton puts it, the real constraint is "how do I fast-track that top talent?" AI tools that excel at assessing skills and matching top talent to the specific needs of a role are solving the manager's biggest pain point, delivering the most significant value. This means your most effective partnership with TA involves defining "quality" upfront, not just asking for more resumes.
4. AI's Secret Superpower: Making Recruiters Better Listeners
One of the most unexpected benefits of integrating AI into the hiring process is profoundly human-centric. By automating transactional tasks, AI is freeing up recruiters to be more present and strategic.
Navarrete explains that when AI tools handle tasks like taking detailed interview notes, it fundamentally changes the conversation. The recruiter is no longer distracted by trying to "read your chicken scratches" and can be fully engaged. This allows for a more enriching conversation, with the ability to probe deeper into key areas and build better rapport.
Lance Sapera, Global Head of Talent at Barracuda, calls this enhanced listening a "superpower." A recruiter who is truly listening isn't just assessing for the current role; they're listening for what’s next. They can identify a fantastic candidate who may not be a perfect fit today but is ideal for a future opening. For managers, this translates into more strategic intake and debrief sessions that are focused on deep insights rather than just logistics.
5. Your Next Star Hire Might Already Work For You (And AI Can Find Them)
As panelist Sapera stated, "our best recruiting is retaining our best employees." AI is proving to be a powerful tool for turning this strategic goal into an operational reality by unlocking one of the most valuable talent pools available: your current team.
Cotton shared an enthusiastic example of how AI can scan internal employee profiles to find hidden gems. Imagine discovering that an employee just earned a new AI certification and also possesses years of valuable institutional knowledge about your company's products and culture. Presenting a manager with this candidate—who can ramp up dramatically faster than an external hire—is a huge win. As Cotton puts it, "you'll make them just they'll be tickle pink."
This approach also meets a major need for employees, who are "dying for those opportunities" to be reskilled and promoted internally. For managers, leveraging AI for internal mobility means faster hires, better retention, and a more engaged team.
"I think this is going to be a way that we can start harvesting a lot more internal talent which is going to help our retention which is ultimately going to help our culture and first and foremost it's going to help profitability."
6. You Can Start Today With Tools You Already Have
Getting started with AI in hiring doesn't require a massive budget or a complex new platform. In fact, your team can begin experimenting with powerful tools you likely already have access to.
Sapera suggests that teams "take advantage of the tools that are probably already part of your suite," such as Microsoft Co-Pilot or Google Gemini. These can be used for simple but highly effective tasks that improve consistency and save time, including:
- Bringing consistency to job descriptions, so "every new wreck doesn't become a new job description which then ends up being a different mix of job codes and job families."
- Generating personalized outreach messages.
- Drafting structured interview questions for intake sessions with managers.
For those wanting to go a step further, Cotton suggests a "low-hanging fruit" idea: creating a custom, guarded GPT. A manager could feed it a knowledge base of the team's job descriptions and company-approved interview questions. This creates a helpful "interview tool" that can assist the entire team while keeping sensitive information secure. The key, as Navarrete noted, is to be cautious about exposing any company or candidate data to free, public platforms.
Related Resource: AI Integration in Recruitment: Strategic Framework for Enterprise Value Creation
Conclusion: From Automation to Augmentation
The overarching theme from experts is clear: the smartest use of AI in hiring is not about replacing human judgment but augmenting it. It’s about empowering recruiters to finally become the strategic "talent advisors" that hiring managers have always needed, freeing them from transactional work to focus on what matters. AI can surface the best candidates, but human connection is still required to close them.
By automating processes and providing deeper insights, AI empowers us to focus on the elements that technology can't replicate—building trust, understanding nuance, and making confident decisions. Of all the tasks you do in the hiring process, which one, if augmented by AI, would free you up to focus on the human element that truly matters?
Watch the webinar: The Hype, the Noise, and the Truth—A Focus on the Hiring Manager
