Smarter, faster, fairer: How AI is reshaping the future of recruiting

Jack Virag

July 10, 2025

Table of Contents

Talent acquisition in 2025 is undergoing significant transformation.

After years of rapid change—from a turbulent pandemic recovery to an AI‑technology boom—hiring teams face a dynamic landscape. Fierce competition for top talent defines the market, even amid economic uncertainty, forcing organizations to refine how they attract and hire candidates.

At the same time, job seekers have new expectations: they seek flexible, engaging hiring experiences and often leverage AI tools themselves to gain an edge. In response, employers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline recruitment while striving to maintain the human touch that candidates desire.

Challenges facing talent acquisition today

Modern talent acquisition teams juggle multiple challenges in 2025’s hiring environment:

High volume and efficiency pressures: Many industries are inundated with applications and data. Recruiters must sift through thousands of résumés and profiles under tight timelines, as illustrated by Unilever’s experience of filtering 250,000 applicants for 800 hires—work that once took six months—before adopting AI‑based tools from BestPractice.ai. Such volume demands greater efficiency in screening and selection.

Skills gaps and quality of hire: The rapid pace of technological change has created skills shortages in critical roles. Nearly 24% of talent professionals say finding candidates with the right skills is a top challenge for 2025, according to Korn Ferry. Companies are shifting toward skills‑based hiring, but many struggle to identify and assess those critical skills. Ensuring quality of hire is paramount, putting pressure on recruiters to make better‑informed decisions faster.

Candidate experience and engagement: In a competitive market, candidate experience can make or break hiring success. Today’s candidates expect hiring to be modern, responsive, and personal—not just a black hole of online forms or canned emails. A poor or impersonal process can drive top talent away. Yet balancing personalization with efficiency is difficult when recruiting teams are stretched thin. Moreover, candidates increasingly value flexibility—for instance, the option to interview on their own schedule or remotely. Employers ignoring these expectations risk losing talent to more accommodating competitors. Insights from Tavus underscore the importance of a seamless digital experience.

Diversity, bias, and fairness: Organizations are under pressure to improve diversity and eliminate bias in hiring. However, human screening and interviewing are prone to unconscious biases. Relying solely on traditional methods can perpetuate bias and narrow talent pools. Recruiters must standardize evaluations and focus on objective criteria to give every candidate a fair chance. Any new tools, including AI, must be carefully managed to ensure they mitigate rather than amplify biases—a point emphasized in Vonage research on AI recruiting.

Economic uncertainty and cost constraints: An uncertain economy means many HR teams face tight budgets and calls to do “more with less.” Hiring must be not only faster and better but also cost‑effective. There is heightened interest in technologies that can reduce cost‑per‑hire—for example, by automating manual tasks—and shorten time‑to‑fill without sacrificing quality.

These challenges set the stage for greater adoption of AI in recruitment. Yet they also underscore why any tech solution must augment human recruiters, not alienate candidates or replace human judgment. Striking the right balance is critical.

AI’s growing role in talent acquisition

Artificial intelligence is increasingly central to recruitment strategies in 2025. A recent global survey from Korn Ferry found that 67% of talent acquisition professionals see increased AI usage as one of the top trends for 2025. Key ways AI is leveraged include:

Automating repetitive tasks

AI excels at streamlining high‑volume, routine tasks. Résumé screening and parsing can be handled by AI to quickly identify qualified candidates out of a large pool. Candidate sourcing from online databases or social media can be automated using AI search agents that crawl for relevant talent profiles. AI is also used for interview scheduling—coordinating calendars and sending invites without human effort—as detailed by Vonage. Off‑loading these time‑consuming tasks reduces time‑to‑hire and frees recruiters to focus on higher‑value activities.

Conversational AI assistants

AI‑driven chatbots and virtual agents engage candidates 24/7. These conversational assistants can answer FAQs, guide applicants through the process, and even conduct initial screening chats—capabilities documented by Note and Vonage. Large employers have deployed chatbots such as Paradox’s “Olivia” to handle millions of applicant queries, schedule interviews, and perform basic vetting automatically.

Personalization and matching

Machine‑learning models analyze a candidate’s skills, experience, and interests to recommend best‑fit roles or personalize communications. AI‑driven matching algorithms compare job requirements against candidate data to rank which applicants best fit a role, improving shortlist quality—especially for companies receiving thousands of résumés.

Data insights and predictive analytics

By crunching numbers on past hires and candidate assessments, AI can identify patterns that predict success. Predictive analytics tools forecast which candidates are likely to perform well or stay longer, supporting better hiring decisions. AI can also analyze pipeline metrics, such as drop‑off rates or time in stage, to pinpoint inefficiencies and enable continuous improvement.

AI‑powered interviews and assessments

Video‑interview platforms augmented with AI evaluate a candidate’s recorded interview, analyzing verbal responses and even non‑verbal cues such as facial expression or tone. For example, HireVue’s AI‑driven assessments analyze word choice, intonation, and micro‑expressions to predict job success—helping recruiters scale interviewing without losing insight, according to BestPractice.ai.

Surveys by Insight Global indicate 99% of hiring managers now use AI in some capacity, with 98% reporting significant efficiency improvements.

Leading organizations emphasize a human‑in‑the‑loop approach—using AI to augment, not replace, recruiters. It’s telling that 93% of hiring managers still insist on human involvement alongside AI. As Stephanie Manzelli, chief people officer at Employ Inc., notes, “As AI becomes more deeply embedded in both the candidate and recruiter experience, it’s essential that we use it to enhance—not replace—human connection.”

Emerging trends shaping hiring strategies

Skills‑based hiring and talent intelligence

Sophisticated AI platforms such as Eightfold and SeekOut aggregate internal and external labor data to enable talent intelligence—identifying future skill needs and matching candidates or employees who fit those profiles. Thirty‑two percent of companies plan to upskill or reskill talent to address skill shortages, reports Korn Ferry.

Enhanced interview analytics (“interview intelligence”)

New solutions record and transcribe interviews, then apply AI to derive insights or flag interviewer bias in real time. Early adopters report reduced candidate drop‑off and more reliable evaluations of soft skills, according to Note.

Integrated HR tech stacks

Recruiters increasingly integrate ATS, CRM, assessment tools, and conversational interfaces into a seamless stack. Modern AI solutions come with open APIs and pre‑built integrations; for example, a chatbot or CVI can directly update the ATS with interview transcripts, as demonstrated by Tavus.

Candidate‑led tech adoption

More than 30% of job seekers use AI tools such as ChatGPT to craft résumés or prepare for interviews, according to Employ Inc.. Employers must adapt to AI‑generated applications while ensuring their own hiring tech meets candidate expectations.

Emphasis on ethical AI and transparency

Regulators are issuing guidance on AI ethics in hiring, requiring bias audits and candidate consent. Organizations are adopting governance practices such as continuous bias monitoring and maintaining a human veto in AI‑driven decisions, as highlighted by Vonage.

Conversational video interfaces (CVI) in recruiting

A CVI is a real‑time AI agent that interacts through video—an AI interviewer that looks and behaves almost human. It uses computer vision, speech recognition, and natural‑language understanding to see, hear, and respond to candidates. The CVI may appear as a photorealistic avatar modeled on a real person, integrating multiple AI models for rendering, language understanding, and emotional analysis, according to Tavus.

Scaling early‑stage screening: Instead of scheduling dozens of phone screens, recruiters can deploy a CVI interviewer. Because the system operates continuously and in parallel, a single evening could see 100 candidates each having a 15‑minute AI‑led interview—tasks impossible for one recruiter to accomplish.

Consistency and fairness: Every candidate gets a standardized interview experience, reducing variability and unconscious bias. Switching to AI‑led video interviews raised completion rates and diversity of hires, reports BestPractice.ai.

Enhanced candidate experience: Candidates can interview on their own schedule and receive immediate feedback. Realistic avatars coupled with natural‑language processing make the interaction feel conversational, not robotic.

Operational integration: CVI platforms plug into existing HR workflows, exporting structured data such as full transcripts, key answer highlights, and sentiment analysis.

Benefits of CVI for employers and candidates

Speed and scalability: AI interviewers work round‑the‑clock, compressing weeks of screening into days. Unilever cut time‑to‑hire from four months to four weeks for its entry‑level program, according to AI Recruiter Lab.
Consistency and fairness: Uniform questions and evaluation criteria level the playing field and provide audit trails for compliance.
Improved engagement: Face‑to‑face interaction with an avatar creates connection that exceeds what text‑based chats can deliver.
Analytical depth: Detailed transcripts and quantitative insights inform better hiring decisions.
Reduced interviewer workload: Automating first‑round interviews frees recruiters for high‑value tasks.

Real‑world applications and examples

Unilever’s digital recruitment: Gamified assessments plus AI video interviews narrowed 45,000 applicants to 300 hires, achieving a 75% time‑to‑hire reduction and a 96% interview completion rate, according to the GSD Council and BestPractice.ai.
Retail and hourly hiring: In‑store kiosks with AI agents allow walk‑in applicants to interview on the spot, speeding seasonal hiring.
Internal mobility: Enterprises use CVI panels to evaluate internal candidates for promotions, offering standardized, unbiased assessments across regions.

Surveys show 95% of hiring leaders plan to increase investment in AI for recruitment, notes Insight Global.

Redefining talent acquisition with AI and CVI

In 2025, talent acquisition teams must hire faster and smarter amid fierce competition. AI—particularly conversational video interfaces—offers the scalability and data insights needed to meet these demands while preserving a human touch. Organizations that adopt CVI technology thoughtfully will gain a decisive edge, delivering fairer, more engaging hiring experiences and winning the race for talent.