Will A.I. Replace Recruiters and Automate Talent Acquisition?, with Jon Krohn, Ep #198

The Resilient Recruiter

The past couple of years have shown an astonishing development in generative AI. Artificial Intelligence emerges as a transformative force, reshaping the landscape of recruiting by introducing unprecedented efficiencies, data-driven insights, and innovative solutions that promise to revolutionize the way organizations discover, engage, and hire top talent.

In this episode, we are in for a treat as one of the leading voices in AI and Data Science joins us to share unique perspectives and insights into the transformative effects of artificial intelligence on talent acquisition. Jon Krohn is a leading figure in the realm of artificial intelligence and machine learning. He’s the Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist at Nebula.io, an intelligent Talent Acquisition platform.

He authored the book Deep Learning Illustrated, an instant #1 bestseller that was translated into seven languages.

He is also the host of SuperDataScience, the data science industry’s most listened-to podcast.

Jon is renowned for his compelling lectures, which he offers at leading universities and conferences, as well as via his award-winning YouTube channel. He holds a PhD from Oxford and has been publishing on machine learning in prominent academic journals since 2010.

Episode Outline and Highlights

• [03:11] Jon’s fascinating career milestones - from high-frequency trading and yoga to data science.

• [08:37] What led Jon into the world of talent acquisition?

• [17:10] Effectively applying generative AI into talent acquisition.

• [24:58] Generative AI’s other potential applications in automating the recruitment industry.

• [35:04] How close are we to getting generative AI to do excellent writing?

• [44:00] What makes Nebula’s methodology stand out from other AI platforms?

• [52:16] What will the next 3 - 5 years look like in terms of Generative AI applications to recruitment?

• [1:02:04] How AI platforms can elevate the human experience?

Artificial Intelligence in Talent Acquisition

Jon shared his journey transitioning from high-frequency trader to yoga instructor to data scientist and co-founder of AI-driven talent acquisition platform Nebula.io.

He shared how this amazing platform leverages generative AI to help recruitment companies identify the best candidates in the least amount of time, which helps them to focus more on human connection in their workflow. This is how he explains it, “With nebula.io, you can type in ‘find me a data scientist in New York who specializes in machine learning,’ and we will take that small amount of natural language that you provided. We will apply the kinds of filters to the search automatically. So we'll apply a 50-mile radius around New York and we will generate some key information based on the small amount of information you provided.”

It doesn’t stop there because the results will be already curated based on each individual’s publicly available data to display ranking, potential compensation, and diversity. Their platform can also generate messages with information about the role, information about the candidate, and potentially information about the recruitment firm.

Jon explains that in the end, “You are making the final decision on whether a candidate is appropriate or not, but we're making the sourcing and messaging of candidates, the understanding of your searches and your candidates, as well as the engagement with your candidates, as simple and automated as possible so that you can focus, so the recruiters can focus on building relationships as opposed to just, you know, trying to find people and type out the messages.”

This is indeed phenomenal! Imagine what the future of recruitment will look like not only for recruiters but also for clients and candidates. In the long run, this can only enhance the end-to-end recruitment process experience across all stakeholders.

Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment Automation

Jon also described other ways Generative AI can impact the recruiter’s side of doing things. He mentioned several platforms that can automate interview scheduling and enhance the way recruiters can search their own databases. He mentioned how their semantic search feature can generate 10x more candidates than other platforms utilizing boolean search. He also mentioned a patented technology enabling candidate matching without incorporating historical biases against underrepresented groups. Of course, Jon and I discussed how close we are to having generative AI do very good writing.

Advancements in AI and Future Possibilities

How will AI impact the recruitment industry in the next three to five years?

Here is Jon’s response, “realistically, especially on the shorter timescales like three, five years, there isn't really any chance of recruitment being fully automated, and so what's going to happen is companies like Nebula and, of course, incumbents like LinkedIn are going to incorporate more and more automation, particularly generative AI, to automate the parts of your job. That can be so that things like sourcing candidates and stacking them in the right order drafting the initial message to them and drafting responses these things in three years I hope that most of your listeners are experiencing that kind of automation from platforms like Nebula in three years from now.”

Should recruiters worry that AI will take away most jobs in the industry? Highly unlikely. On the contrary, candidates and clients alike will always want human interaction. As Jon said, “Humans looking for a purpose in their work prefer to be speaking to a real human that they can meet with and get human advice from and context from.”

Our Sponsor

This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro

i-intro® is an end-to-end retained recruitment platform. Their technology and methodology allow recruiters to differentiate themselves from the competition, win more retained business, bigger fees, and increase their billings. Their software combined with world-class training enables you to transition from transactional, contingency recruiter to consultative, retained recruiter. Instead of being perceived as a “me too” vendor, you’ll be positioned as a “me only” solutions provider. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter. Book your free, no-obligation consultation here: https://recruitmentcoach.com/retained

Jon Krohn Bio and Contact Info

Dr. Jon Krohn is the Chief Data Scientist at Nebula, author of the bestselling book Deep Learning Illustrated, and host of the SuperDataScience podcast. Jon is renowned for his compelling lectures, which he offers in-person at Columbia University, New York University, and leading industry conferences.

• Jon on LinkedIn

• Jon’s website link

• Jon’s podcast, Super Data Science website link

• Nebula IO website link

• Jon on YouTube

• Deep Learning Illustrated book by Jon Krohn

People and Resources Mentioned

• Ed Donner on LinkedIn

• Steven Talbot on LinkedIn

• Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt Book by Michael Lewis

• Omnicon

• Github

Related Podcast You Might Enjoy

• TRR#52 The End of Jobs: Recruiting in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, with Jeff Wald

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