How RecOps thinks about AI-first hiring: Key insights from Talent Summit

At this year's Talent Summit, Jeremy Lyons, Co-founder of RecOps Collective, welcomed TA leaders Lindsey Sailors, Head of TA Strategy and Operations at Dropbox, Tony Le, Head of Global TA at Mission Cloud, and Robyn Watson, Head of Talent Operations at BioRender to discuss their strategies for implementing AI-first hiring practices while maintaining the human touch that makes great recruiting possible.

The new recruiting reality: AI adoption is no longer optional

One of the most striking moments came when Lindsey from Dropbox shared a perspective that resonated throughout the discussion:

This quote became the panel's unofficial tagline, capturing how recruiting operations professionals feel about AI adoption. Tony emphasized that AI initiatives are becoming table stakes across organizations, noting that companies trying to stay relevant in the next five to ten years will have some AI strategy.

The panel emphasized that recruiting teams can no longer operate in isolation regarding AI implementation. Robyn from BioRender stressed the importance of connecting with broader company initiatives rather than trying to implement AI in the TA function alone.

Alignment and metrics matter

When securing buy-in for AI recruiting tools, panelists stressed the importance of aligning with broader company initiatives. One participant shared how their AI-focused company approach influenced their recent ATS selection, noting that Gem's AI-first philosophy aligned perfectly with what they sought.

Lindsey shared Dropbox's approach to vendor evaluation, emphasizing partnership over simple procurement. She explained that the most exciting business case opportunity is becoming a formative partner in developing custom-made solutions for your organization's specific needs.

The metrics that matter most? Time saved and money saved, according to the panelists. However, they also emphasized the importance of finding vendors whose AI philosophy aligns with your company's approach to human-AI collaboration.

Getting your recruiting team on board with AI

One of the biggest challenges discussed was overcoming recruiters’ resistance to AI adoption. Lindsey acknowledged that many recruiters fear AI will eliminate their roles. She addressed this by reframing the message, emphasizing that recruiters who embrace AI will have the competitive advantage.

Practical strategies the panelists implemented include:

• Weekly AI tips of the week, driven by recruiting teams themselves, where team members share successful experiments with tools like ChatGPT, Claude, BrightHire, and Gem

• Prompt libraries for each sub-team to help recruiters become more fluent with AI tools

• Making AI adoption part of performance goals

There are two ways to think about AI in recruiting

The panelists distinguished between two types of AI applications in recruiting:

Tactical AI handles repetitive tasks:

• AI-powered application review and sourcing

• Automated scheduling coordination

• Note-taking during interviews

Creative AI enhances strategic work:

• Analyzing interview feedback to identify successful hiring patterns

• Personalizing outreach based on candidate insights

• Creating employer branding content

• Developing better interview questions based on historical data

Robyn shared an innovative example of using MetaView to analyze recruiter screen conversations, helping BioRender understand what candidates knew about the company before interviews. This insight then guided their employer branding strategy.

How AI tools work better together

Tony highlighted how tactical AI improvements create opportunities for more sophisticated applications. He explained that AI note-taking has dramatically improved the quality of their interview scorecards, moving beyond brief, unhelpful feedback to rich insights that inform future hiring decisions.

This improved data quality enables better sourcing decisions and more personalized candidate experiences. Tony can now download scorecards from completed searches, analyze them for common themes, and use those insights to refine sourcing strategies for future roles.

Maintaining the human touch in an AI-first industry

Despite their enthusiasm for AI, all panelists emphasized that candidate experience remains paramount. Tony stressed the importance of returning to fundamentals and asking whether new tools improve desired outcomes rather than adopting technology for its own sake.

Lindsey advocated rigorous candidate experience measurement, suggesting this will become a key differentiator as more companies adopt AI recruiting tools. She emphasized that AI initiatives should focus on candidate experience and quality of hire rather than efficiency alone.

Key takeaways:

1. AI adoption is urgent: The competitive advantage goes to teams that embrace AI quickly and thoughtfully

2. Align with company strategy: Partner with vendors whose AI philosophy matches your organization's approach

3. Get your team on board with AI: Create systematic ways to encourage AI experimentation across your recruiting team

4. Focus on the benefits: Look for how tactical AI improvements enable more sophisticated strategic applications

5. Measure what matters: Anchor AI initiatives to candidate experience and quality of hire metrics

The message from these Rec Ops leaders is clear. AI-first hiring isn't just about adopting new tools. It's about fundamentally rethinking how recruiting teams operate while keeping the human element at the center of great candidate experiences.