Where Is AI Working in Talent Acquisition?

I am always searching for examples of enterprise-level AI success in talent acquisition. Teams are experimenting and individual recruiters are using consumer AI tools to speed up tasks, but I’m still looking for convincing case studies that show clear productivity gains. At HR Tech last week, the most interesting examples were in an unexpected place: Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) companies.

That these companies are embracing AI is not new. I wrote recently about a study that analyzed thousands of voice interviews at RPO firm PSG Global Solutions that found AI interviewers outperforming their human counterparts.

This week at HR Tech, I spoke with Terry Terhark, the CEO of NXTThing RPO, who was there to showcase Personegy, their AI-powered high-volume recruiting product. What stood out to me was how the product shifts control of the hiring process to the candidate. Like many other solutions, Personegy is able to automate the prescreening and interview stages, but it can also make the final hiring decision, taking the human decision-maker entirely out of the process. (Clients can choose to have humans remain in control of that hiring decision or can leave it entirely to the AI.) Once that decision has been made, the candidate can self-select their desired shift and start date.

For RPOs, the math is simple. If they can deliver similar (or better) services at a fraction of the cost, they are able to bring down costs, be more competitive, and earn larger profits all at the same time.

According to Terhark, NXTThing implemented Personegy for a retail bookstore client and the impact on delivery was so striking that the team servicing the account went from roughly 100 people to 10.

This incentive structure helps explain why RPOs are moving faster than many in-house teams. Corporate TA leaders often see AI as inevitable, but they naturally resist making decisions that will put them out of a job. RPOs operate under different constraints. The ninety recruiters no longer needed on the bookstore account were not dismissed, but redeployed to other customers.

At the same time, some tech companies are starting to look more like RPOs. At HR Tech I also spoke with Anoop Gupta, the CEO of SeekOut. SeekOut released SeekOut Spot earlier this year. It’s an agentic AI recruiting service, with a service layer built on top of it. With SeekOut Spot, you are not only buying an agentic AI, you are outsourcing the orchestration and day-to-day management of those agents to a team that runs them as a service. If you take a step back, this sounds just like a high-tech RPO, with an expert team managing a virtual workforce of AI agents on behalf of the client.

At the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit, November 4–5 in San Diego and online, we’ll have frank, practitioner-to-practitioner conversations about where AI is working for in-house TA teams, along with the most innovative recruiting tech companies showing off what they can do. I hope you can join us!

— David

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More Recruiting Insights

CareerXRoads Charity Auction Launches. Our friends over at CareerXRoads has launched their annual charity auction, which raises money for scholarships. They have some good items in the auction this year, including Bulls tickets, the chance to race supercars, and (best of all) two tickets to the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit!(CareerXRoads)

Trump to require $100K fee for H-1B visa application. On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order imposing a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications, creating a new barrier for companies seeking to hire foreign workers. Reactions split along ideological lines: conservatives argue the higher cost will reserve visas for essential, high-value roles, while liberals warn it will worsen skill shortages and push jobs overseas. (The Hill)

What we know about the U.S. H-1B visa program. A fantastic primer for those curious about the H-1B visa program, and looking to separate fact from political narrative. Some nuggets: There were nearly 400,000 H-1B visas approved in 2024, most of which were renewal applications, and only 2% of the applications were denied. Nearly three quarters of the approved applications were for workers born in India, with no other country even topping 2%. (Pew Research Center)

A $100,000 Per Worker Visa Fee Tips the Balance to Big Tech. At $100,000 per application, the economics of the H-1B are going to favor the big incumbents over startups. (NYT)

Greenhouse CEO Daniel Chait at HR Tech 2025: Is AI Saving or Sinking Recruiting? In this podcast with George LaRocque, Chait talks about Real Talent, their partnership with CLEAR to combat job fraud, and what is driving the slower than expected adoption of AI in talent acquisition. (WorkTech Podcast)

Conferences

ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit

San Diego, CA

November 4-5, 2025

The ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit is the premier independent, practitioner-led event designed to deliver actionable insights for talent acquisition professionals. Join your peers to explore practical ideas, proven best practices, and case study solutions from leaders who are tackling the same recruiting challenges as you.

The full agenda is now live—see what’s in store and start planning your experience.

(ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit)

Webinars

Unleash Creativity with AI for Talent Acquisition

October 15, 2025 | 2:00 PM EDT | 1 Hour

Rediscover the creative side of recruiting in this interactive, 1-hour webinar built specifically for Talent Acquisition teams. Led by award-winning sourcer and Riot Games recruitment partner Alla Pavlova, this session goes beyond the AI basics to spark imagination, boost productivity, and bring some fun back into your workflow. (ERE)