Why we're taking recruitment AI seriously (and so should you)

For many employers and agencies, recruitment AI - and AI in general - is viewed as hype, reserved for those with endless pockets. At Cast UK, we’ve spent the last six months building our own AI system to further improve our already excellent customer service levels. However, PWC’s recent report, “Sizing the prize: What’s the real value of AI for your business and how can you capitalise?” was still an eye-opener for us. We take a look at the key findings, including why AI is more common than you believe and why you need to act now. (Oh, and a little about why we embraced AI…!)

Think AI won’t affect your sector? Think again!

Your sector may only have a handful of early adopters embracing AI, which can create a sense of security. But it’s a false sense of security. PWC’s report predicts that many sectors will see AI adoption become mainstream within 0-3 years, e.g.:

• Pharma
• Automotive
• Logistics & Transport
• Consumer Products & Retail

Yet even for those sectors further behind on the AI adoption curve, change is coming, and it’s coming soon. For example, Industrial Manufacturing is only 14% towards adoption maturity, but within just 7 years it will hit 97% adoption.

Surely not? AI: not as you know it

The figures above may seem high. However, AI is “a collective term for computer systems that can sense their environment, think, learn, and take action in response to what they’re sensing and their objectives.” The figures above may seem high.  There are four aspects of AI:

• Automated intelligence: Automation of manual or cognitive tasks (whether routine or non-routine).
• Assisted intelligence: Helping people do what they do, only faster and better.
• Augmented intelligence: Helping people to make better decisions.
• Autonomous intelligence: Automating decision-making processes without human intervention.

As PWC warns: “Doing nothing is not a feasible option. It’s easy to dismiss a lot of what’s said about AI as hype. Yet as our analysis underlines, without decisive response, many well-established enterprises and even whole business models are at risk of being rendered obsolete.

In the short-term, many of the opportunities and threats are likely to focus on productivity, efficiency and cost – the transformative phase. If you’re the CEO of a transport and logistics company, for example, you’re already seeing the impact of robots within packing and fulfilment operations. The bigger disruption will emerge when the sector switches to autonomous trucking. Are you in a position to move ahead of your competitors? What are the openings for vehicle manufacturers, technology companies and other potential new entrants to make inroads in your market? Could your business be at risk of becoming obsolete if you don’t move quickly enough?”

Why we’re embracing AI head-on at Cast UK

AI in recruitment can bring to mind visions of Little Britain’s ‘computer says no’ sketch - or an inbox full of CVs from unsuitable candidates littered with keywords to ‘outwit the robots’. However, at Cast UK, our motto is ‘Never Stand Still’.

We’ve been an early adopter of video interviewing software to help save our clients and candidates time and money. But following early adopters come the early majority, then the late majority. So in the meantime, we’ve been developing an Assisted Intelligence software system that helps streamline our recruitment processes further and improve our service levels even more. If you check out our consultants’ feedback on LinkedIn you’ll find that they’re littered with “professional” and “efficient” but we know that we’ve constantly got to reiterate and improve.

We believe it’s less crowded on the extra mile

If your business is trailing behind on the adoption curve, maybe PWC’s report will make you realise it’s time to stop believing it’s all hype. And if you want to work with a recruitment consultancy that believes cutting-edge tech with a professional, specialist human touch can provide Deeper Insights, Better Hiring then why not get in touch?