When AI decides whom to hire

From resume screening to video interviews, AI now does the first cut for recruiters. Can it replace the human touch?

Last Updated: Nov 07, 2025, 12:26 IST7 min

NxtGen Cloud Technologies, Bengaluru has been usingAI ...

At the Bengaluru-based technology solutions provider NxtGen Technologies, two key stages of recruitment—resume screening and interview assessments—are now conducted via artificial intelligence (AI). The company uses AI tools to analyse and score resumes and interview responses, which were earlier largely manual processes.

“These tools not only allow us to manage a large volume of applicants efficiently, but have also helped evaluate candidates more objectively, thereby reducing human bias,” says AS Rajgopal, the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director.

Time, efficiency, and scale

AI-led hiring is becoming prevalent in large enterprises and sectors that have high-volume recruitment needs as it brings measurable gains in speed, consistency, and efficiency, and industries such as information technology, finance, insurance, and BPOs are at the forefront of it.

Companies such as Omnicom Global Solutions, a global marketing communications firm, say one of the biggest benefits of AI adoption is efficiency. In a fast-paced, high-volume hiring environment like theirs, with a team of over 50 recruiters hiring across six capabilities, AI tools are helping them recognise patterns, shortlist relevant profiles, and reduce screening time significantly, freeing up the team to focus on more strategic, human-centric aspects of hiring.

“It has helped reclaim up to 20 recruiter hours per week,” says Devya Patney, chief people and culture officer. “Ultimately, AI doesn’t replace the human touch, but enhances it. It gives our recruiters more time to build relationships, assess cultural fit, and create a more meaningful candidate experience.”

Plum Benefits, a B2B startup in the health insurance and employee benefits space, has also recently jumped on the bandwagon. Its idea is to build role-specific filters that help them quickly identify candidates who match the core skills and experience they are looking for, says Priya Sunil, vice-president-people success.

For Plum, AI-enabled screening has reduced recruitment time by up to 40 percent, while AI-powered transcription tools during interviews allow managers to stay engaged rather than distracted by manual note-taking, thereby elevating the overall candidate experience.

“Looking ahead, we see value in using AI for first-round interview screening, both in chat and voice formats. This will allow our recruiters to focus their time on in-depth, culture-fit conversations, instead of early-stage checks like location, notice period, or availability,” Sunil says.

While recruitment experts say that smaller firms and startups are careful about adopting these tools, there are a few who have already started experimenting. Take PickYourTrail, a holiday booking platform. It is piloting AI-based video and voice interview tools with a platform called Goodfit. It is also developing a psychometric assessment framework powered by OpenAI to add depth and data to the evaluation process. “In the early stages, we’ve seen clear improvements. AI has helped streamline several repetitive tasks, allowing our team to focus more on the human side of hiring—conversations, culture fit, and long-term alignment,” says Hari Ganapathy, co-founder.

Rajgopal AS, MD and CEO at NxtGen Cloud Technologies, says AI tools help them manage a large volume of applicants efficientlyImage: Nishant Ratnakar for forbes india

The Hidden Flaws

The first problem is AI’s limitations in assessing non-technical roles, says Ankit Agarwala, managing director of Michael Page India, a recruitment services company. For positions where soft skills, communication, leadership, or career progression matter more than hard skills, AI struggles, he says. And, algorithms don’t read nuances well. This could include tone, empathy or adaptability in real-life conversations, such as how a person responds to unexpected questions, adjusts their communication style based on the audience, or how they show disagreement, which makes human interpretation essential.

Second, there is the readiness gap. While AI adoption is skyrocketing, only 31 percent of recruiters feel “very well” prepared to use these tools effectively or critically, he adds. “That mismatch between adoption speed and organisational capability is exactly what leads to clunky, biased, or incomplete AI applications in hiring,” Agarwala notes.

Another major challenge with AI-led hiring is that algorithms learn from historical data, which often reflects the biases of past human decisions. Therefore, AI systems can inadvertently replicate those preferences, screening out qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds.

Apna’s Parikh says he has frequently seen candidates being filtered out due to non-standard resume formats or missing keywords. “Candidates using regional language inputs are also often underrepresented,” says Parikh.

Agarwala agrees. Citing that such instances are common, particularly in technical or IT-driven roles, where algorithms lean heavily on keyword matching, a strong candidate does get overlooked simply because their resume used phrases or formatting that AI was not trained to recognise.

It’s also the resumes that use fancy graphics, complex tables, fonts, and colours that get lost, not only in AI-based searches but even in manual screening, feels Sharma of TeamLease. “Only resumes that are clear, concise, and tailored, match the most,” she says.

Work in Progress

While candidates need to upskill and adapt, companies are also realising that having overly rigid AI systems could overlook strong talent that doesn’t fit the predefined filters. Therefore, they are in the process of testing, learning, and refining their systems.

For instance, Plum claims that they have eliminated personally identifiable information and demographic and age-related data points to reduce unconscious bias. They’ve also limited background requirements to essential educational qualifications, such as relevant degrees, while de-emphasising factors that may not directly correlate with job performance.

At Omnicom, “It all starts with precision and intentionality,” says Patney. She explains they are careful about how they define their search criteria. The team goes beyond generic keywords to focus on the unique skill sets, experiences, and even behavioural traits that align with the role and the company’s culture.

In such a data-driven process, is there still space for human intervention? “Our recruiters play a critical role. Technology supports the process, but it’s the human judgment that ensures no qualified applicant slips through the cracks,” says Patney.

Ganapathy echoes that sentiment. “We’re still in the early phase of integrating AI into screening. Our current approach ensures that all candidate evaluations are human-led, with AI used as a support tool rather than a gatekeeper.”

The Next Chapter

As hiring volumes grow, AI will continue to play a key role in scaling with consistency and speed to help recruiters spend more time on what truly matters—understanding people.

Global talent solutions company NLB Services says that around 60 percent of its clients are planning to adopt AI tools, while AMS and Michael Page expect all their clients to upgrade or expand usage. “This expansion is almost inevitable. Whether companies are ready or not, AI is becoming the default layer in how organisations hire, screen, and engage with candidates,” says Agarwala of Michael Page.

But for candidates unfamiliar with AI-driven processes, this could mean being left out. “There’s a real need to build awareness and mentor candidates so their resumes reach the right people,” says Sachin Alug, CEO of NLB Services.

That’s where edtech platforms and universities are stepping in. At Great Lakes Institute of Management, the students are being trained extensively on ATS-friendly resumes and AI-based interviews, says Archana Vir Malik, head of the Corporate Readiness Program.

She adds that the institute uses mock interviews that, “...help students prepare for behavioural and business questions, which are further strengthened by follow-up questions based on specific job roles and industry, thus acting as a simulator for real-time scenarios”.

Edtech platforms, too, are evolving their curricula to help learners navigate this new AI-driven hiring landscape.

Rohit Gupta, co-founder and COO of College Vidya, explains: “Helping learners build ATS-friendly resumes is now a fundamental part of our post-admission guidance. The focus is on ensuring their applications are machine-readable, keyword-optimised, and outcome-driven.”

Abhimanyu Saxena, co-founder of Scaler, agrees on the need for readiness. “We equip our learners with ATS-friendly resume templates, real-time resume scoring tools, and one-on-one reviews with industry professionals. Our learners also gain access to mock interviews with both AI and human evaluators, enabling them to perform effectively across various assessment types.”

First Published: Nov 07, 2025, 12:45

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Anubhuti Matta

Anubhuti is a writer at Forbes India, currently working from Gurugram. She reports on startups, culture, hospitality, and gender. As part of the web team, she is responsible for running the website al

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