Tomorrow is Today - Is A.I. and automation helping or hurting your business?

Is Your AI Helping or Hurting Your Business?

We’ve all heard the chatter—“AI is going to replace us!” But the truth is far less dramatic. AI isn't here to steal jobs; it's here to make life easier by automating the mundane and freeing up your team to focus on what truly matters—strategic, impactful work that drives your business forward.

However, there’s a catch: AI is only as effective as the way it's set up. When your AI isn’t properly aligned with your business needs, the candidate experience can suffer. Not only that, your team might miss out on top talent, waste time fixing problems rather than connecting with people, and the damage to your brand can be significant. One poor interaction with AI could turn away the perfect candidate and leave your team scrambling.

The Power of Proper Integration

The solution is simple: proper integration from the start. AI tools need to work in harmony with your existing business systems, culture, and processes to deliver the results you’ve envisioned. Our team helps ensure that your AI is set up to align with your goals from day one, creating an efficient, human-centered experience that benefits both your people and your business.

AI isn’t the enemy—it’s a powerful tool. The key is making it work for you, not against you.

The Big Questions Around AI in HR and Talent Acquisition

The rapid advancement of AI has left many businesses wondering, “Is AI helping or hurting us?” Most companies have incorporated AI into their HR and talent acquisition strategies in one form or another, but that doesn’t mean the questions have disappeared.

Does AI really work? Does it enhance or replace human effort? What makes it successful, and what else can it do?

There’s a ton of information out there—some based on fact, some pure opinion, and a lot of hype. So, let’s get the conversation started. What should companies be asking when it comes to implementing AI? And what advice should they heed?

ATS: The Foundation of AI in Recruiting

Most of us are familiar with an ATS (Applicant Tracking System). ATS platforms are designed to house, store, and track candidate information. At their core, they aim to make it easier for Talent Acquisition (TA) teams to manage active, passive, and dormant talent pools, helping recruiters search, cultivate, and track their candidates.

But, not all ATS systems are created equal. Some can directly connect with job boards and search engines, automating job posting. Others require manual effort, leaving TA teams with the tedious task of managing posts outside their system. And even when a candidate applies, systems can either parse the information automatically or rely on recruiters to pull resumes manually.

The main goal of an ATS is to streamline the hiring process. But is it sometimes working against you, auto-rejecting candidates within minutes of application? The truth is more complicated.

The Truth Behind Auto-Rejections

Many believe that the ATS is responsible for those frustrating, instant rejections. But in reality, 90% of the time, it’s not the ATS itself. Most ATS platforms don’t think for themselves. Instead, they rely on the tools, settings, and data provided by the people using them.

Think of your ATS as a laptop connected to multiple devices—monitors, keyboards, external drives. The laptop (your ATS) only functions based on the inputs and connections made to it. In the world of talent acquisition, those connections could be AI tools designed to read, rank, categorize, communicate, and, yes, reject candidates.

These tools are supposed to make a recruiter’s life easier. But when they aren’t set up properly, they can end up doing more harm than good. So why, even when your resume perfectly matches the job description, do you still get rejected—or worse, ghosted?

Why Candidates Are Getting Ghosted

At the end of the day, AI tools only do what they’re programmed to do. If they’re set up incorrectly, they’ll pull, match, and rank candidates based on incomplete or incorrect information. This is where human error comes into play.

Most of the issues stem from how the systems are programmed and the data they pull. IT teams, who understand the tools, are often short-staffed or cut entirely, leaving the systems running on outdated or incorrect configurations.

Recruiters often copy and paste job descriptions into the ATS without adjusting keywords or criteria to align with the tool’s algorithms. For example, a role for Accounts Payable might be listed with the key phrase “Payables,” but if the AI tool isn’t trained to recognize similar terms like “AP” or “AR,” it won’t match the right candidates.

Ultimately, the people using the tools are responsible. Proper training, support, and guidance for recruiters are crucial to making sure AI works the way it’s supposed to.

So, Where Do We Go From Here?

Candidates, stop blindly applying through AI-driven systems. Reach out directly to companies, submit applications on their website, or seek referrals to fast-track your application. Great recruiters see the story behind your resume and are always better than AI alone.

For businesses, don’t abandon your tools just because they’re not producing the results you want. Dig into your tech stack, understand your team, and focus on retraining your recruiters to use the systems correctly. It might seem painful to pause and reassess, but it’s far more cost-effective than replacing everything with the next “new” solution.

As Albert Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The Takeaway: Training Is Key

AI tools aren’t inherently bad, but they can’t function correctly without the right programming and user input. Training your recruiters—on the tools, techniques, and AI applications—is critical to getting the most out of your investment.

At Elevate Talent Solutions, we specialize in helping businesses leverage their existing tools and technology. By retraining your team and optimizing your systems, we can help you reduce costs, improve efficiency, and build a talent acquisition strategy that works—both now and in the future.

It’s time to change the game. Let’s make AI work for you, not against you.