Research Summary - The 2019 State of Artificial Intelligence in Talent Acquisition

Get ahead of the curve in an area that promises high impact and dramatic growth

Artificial intelligence (AI) will play an increasingly important role in improving the talent acquisition function over the next few years, according to HR.com's new 2019 State of Artificial Intelligence in Talent Acquisition report. 

The survey studied the current status of talent acquisition, today’s usage and understanding of AI in recruitment, possible barriers and drawbacks to using AI in recruitment, and how AI is affecting and will affect major areas of recruitment.

Here are some major findings from the survey:

Higher quality and quantity—which are frequently viewed as mutually exclusive business goals—are the most widely cited desired outcomes. First and foremost, participants want AI to help them find more qualified candidates (66%). The next most common goal is spending less time “sifting” through resumes (64%).

Just 12% strongly agree they are knowledgeable about using AI to enhance talent acquisition, but another 28% at least moderately agree that they’re knowledgeable. In the coming years, HR professionals will need to become more knowledgeable in this area as more recruitment-related products and services incorporate AI into them.

Over two-thirds (68%) of HR professionals reveal budget is a barrier to adopting AI for talent acquisition. However, the true cost of a product hinges on the value it ultimately delivers. At least for now, the business benefits and value delivered by AI are not well understood by most HR professionals. Therefore, it is important for HR professionals to gain a solid understanding of the return on investment of using AI-enhanced talent acquisition technologies.

Just 10% of the participants say they currently use AI to a high degree in talent acquisition. However, over a third (36%) of HR professionals say they expect high utilization of AI in just two years. Sixty-one percent expect at least moderate utilization in two years. Predicting the future is always a risky venture, of course. There are so many uncertain variables with technology that looking too far ahead is risky. However, we can see that large proportions of HR professionals expect to see large jumps in usage in the near future.

As AI capabilities are leveraged to improve talent acquisition, will the process lose its human touch? Many survey respondents are concerned it might. In fact, 69% of the respondents point out dehumanization of the recruitment process as a potential negative impact of using AI in TA.



To learn much more about The 2019 State of Artificial Intelligence in Talent Acquisition survey and to gain 9 key strategic takeaways from this exclusive HR.com industry research, feel free to download the complete report here: