How early adopters are navigating the AI wave
Staffing Industry Review
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Some team meetings are more eventful than others.
During an April visit with his team in Lafayette, California, Adam Stafford hosted a gathering that not only revealed the staffing industry’s attitude toward generative AI but also changed how he manages his company’s approach to the technology.
During an “Ask Us Anything” session, Stafford, the CEO of recruitment marketing firm Recruitics, posed a simple question: “Who in the room used generative AI in their work today?”
A third of the two dozen assembled staff threw up their hands, indicating they were excited about the technology. About a third looked around and slowly raised a few fingers, suggesting they used it only sporadically. And a final third sat quietly, signaling they weren’t interested or didn’t have time to implement AI into their workstream.
Surprised by the relatively lackluster response, Stafford knew at that moment he had to make some changes.
“I realized that day we had to get loud about how the tech is making people more productive in roles across the business,” Stafford says, adding he wanted to “show people in real, granular ways how they could benefit.”
Recruitics’ all-hands meetings now include presentations of AI use cases for technical engineering and non-technical uses as well as live instructional demos.
The company also formalized an AI use policy, giving team members “comfort in knowing what they should and shouldn’t do with the technology at work,” Stafford says.
Still Early Days
Despite enthusiastic adopters such as Stafford, real-world usage in the staffing industry is still in its nascent stages.
Though many staffing firms recognize that AI can improve operational efficiency and even reduce bias, individual employees are driving its use rather than company-wide initiatives, says Tommy Semereaux, the chief product officer and co-founder of RefAssured, a provider of automated reference checks.
And, while increasing every day, there are currently only a few products that offer comprehensive AI functionality, warns Lauren Jones, founder and CEO of Leap Consulting Solutions, a business management consultant.
Standing still, though? Not an option.
Recent SIA surveys show that 42% of staffing firms in North America plan to use generative AI in the next five years. In Europe, this figure surges to 67%. For firms across Australia and New Zealand, the figure stands at 50%.
“Companies that hesitate to adopt AI technologies risk falling behind,” says Ashwarya Poddar, the founder and CEO of ConverzAI. “Imagine missing out on the ability to accelerate recruiting processes, instantly analyze data, predict trends and innovate your offerings.”
Staffing companies are at a pivotal crossroad: adopt generative AI or lose ground to competitors. To get started, experts suggest they learn from peers that have already begun embracing its benefits. Here’s how some are doing just that.
Transforming Intermediaries
As generative AI evolves, it is set to redefine the traditional functions of workforce intermediaries.
One of AI’s biggest impacts will be on sourcing, as adding the technology will help serve up candidates in a shorter period of time to recruiters, according to Lauren Jones, founder and CEO of Leap Consulting Solutions.
There are other benefits as well.
“AI advancements will enable workforce intermediaries to provide clients with more qualified candidates faster, boosting top-line performance and profit margins significantly,” says Ashwarya Poddar, the founder and CEO of ConverzAI. “Additionally, adopting AI allows for deeper candidate relationships, enhancing overall experience.”
Bullhorn COO Matthew Fischer also expects generative AI to impact the beginning stages of the process.
“Specifically, I see GenAI helping to enhance recruitment and streamline work for staffing agencies through automating the initial stages of candidate communication, prioritizing personalized and tailored experiences for candidates, and enabling data-driven decision making,” Fischer says.
Leveraging AI Use
Leap Consulting’s Jones says her company is already using AI to transcribe and summarize conversations. Called Gong.io, the technology even suggests next steps for its users.
Jones emphasizes the importance of educating recruiters, salespeople and other staff on best practices for AI tools such as Perplexity, Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude. Indeed, she’s already implemented training programs for some of her team members.
Another powerful strategy she recommends: Volunteer to be an AI beta tester for internally developed products or even outside providers. Staffing professionals who test the tech can shape it with their feedback, Jones says.
Prompted in part by that April team meeting, Recruitics has adopted generative AI throughout its organization and across various teams, Stafford says. For example, its HR and client services teams are now using generative AI to produce written communication for marketing purposes or client communication.
Content production is “the low-hanging fruit” for AI usage, Stafford says. “If you’re not using GenAI to help you write job descriptions, I don’t know what you’re doing.”
The company uses GitHub Copilot to help produce code more quickly, accurately and securely. At the same time, it’s adopting and building bespoke AI applications within its product suite to enhance client deliveries.
For firms that don’t have the budget to build their own AI applications, there are many off-the-shelf options.
ConverzAI, for example, has developed an end-to-end AI solution for staffing companies that leverages generative AI, robotic process automation (RPA), natural language processing and more, Poddar says. Currently, the company’s generative AI models “help to create conversational frameworks and candidate communications,” Poddar says.
In March, Bullhorn launched Bullhorn Copilot, which embeds AI capabilities directly into recruiters’ ATS/CRM
The offering “helps recruiters communicate with candidates more efficiently and effectively through written content and messages,” COO Matthew Fischer tells SIA.
A Matter of Ethics
How will AI affect human employees? It’s a question that’s rippled throughout the staffing industry.
Many staffing experts, however, insist AI will benefit and bolster staffing operations.
“If you can enhance human interaction, you’re streamlining tasks and freeing up recruiters to do what hopefully they are best at, which is building relationships with talent and assessing cultural fit,” Semereaux says. “I don’t see the replacement in a lot of the workflows. I see a strong way to complement them.”
AI tool ChatGPT echoes this sentiment.
“Organizations in the workforce intermediary industry can prepare for the dynamics of generative AI by investing in robust AI education, updating their technological infrastructure, developing clear ethical guidelines and ensuring continuous oversight and adaptability to integrate AI responsibly,” the chatbot says.
In many ways, successful adoption comes right back to leadership, a lesson Stafford learned during his team meeting in San Francisco. It will require public encouragement, adoption and demonstration of AI’s value and capabilities.
“Do that [encouragement] loudly,” Stafford says. “Do it in all hands, on the floor — do it in a way where everybody can see it.”
