21,663 candidate screens accomplished monthly. 49% enchancment in submittal-to-hire ratio. 59% quicker time to fill. 39% quicker new rent ramp-up. These aren’t hypothetical statistics — they’re the outcomes that main recruitment agency IDR has already seen after implementing Bullhorn’s next-generation AI answer, Amplify.
To share the secrets and techniques behind their success, IDR COO Will Hayes sat down with Bullhorn’s Staci Chapman at Interact Boston 2025. He gave us an in-depth have a look at how his agency is reworking their recruitment course of with AI and seeing unimaginable outcomes.
Why AI turned a no brainer for IDR
Will Hayes kicked off the dialogue by sharing IDR’s early forays into AI, sparked by the launch of ChatGPT in 2023. By that summer season, they have been already exploring AI options, seeing it as a pure development of their automation and knowledge cleanup initiatives — however their first main “aha!” second got here with candidate screening.
The speedy advantages of utilizing AI within the candidate screening course of have been two-fold: enhancing the candidate expertise and unlocking missed alternatives. 1000’s of functions usually went untouched, making a “black gap” for candidates and leaving cash on the desk for IDR. Amount comes from high quality, Hayes stated, including, “I believe good high quality is derived from excessive volumes of output,” he stated. By leveraging AI to course of hundreds extra candidates, they gained higher choices and in the end, higher high quality placements.
The AI adoption journey
Whereas IDR has a robust historical past of expertise adoption, Hayes famous that AI is a special beast. In contrast to fast stand-up options for job boards or different integrations, AI integration calls for a deeper thought course of. The problem isn’t the implementation pace — it was fairly quick for Hayes and his group — however fairly bringing your group alongside on the journey. This includes vital change administration, specializing in adoption, enablement, equipping employees, and establishing strong suggestions loops. Studying these classes has in the end matured IDR’s strategy to expertise rollouts throughout the group.
The adoption course of is extremely iterative, provided that AI inserts itself into core, long-established phases of the recruitment workflow. It disrupts conventional considering round sourcing and matching — consider the shift from Boolean strings to AI-powered search. These ongoing conversations require discovering the “better of each worlds,” as Hayes put it, to profit each the enterprise’s prime and backside strains, in addition to the individuals doing the work.
So, how did IDR get their group excited and acquired into AI? Hayes’ reply was easy: lead by instance and be within the trenches. As COO, he’s copied on hundreds of screening agent outcomes every month. Whereas he doesn’t assessment each single one, he randomly picks out some to interact straight with recruiters and gross sales reps, offering customized suggestions like, “Hey, this one appears to be like nice. Attain out to them in an e-mail.” This hands-on strategy demonstrates that AI is a precedence for management, fostering belief and exhibiting that this isn’t simply one other mandate from above.
The street to adoption gained’t be excellent. As with every new expertise, particularly AI, bumps are inevitable. The hot button is teaching groups on the way to react when issues aren’t excellent and speaking that the long-term return is well worth the short-term challenges. “The very best recommendation is to push your group by the method and be there with them,” stated Hayes.
IDR’s AI-infused workflow and future imaginative and prescient
Relating to integrating AI into your groups’ workflows, Hayes advisable specializing in knowledge high quality and understanding your Bullhorn discipline structure. “I actually suppose that’s an ignored step on this course of,” Hayes stated. “Get entangled together with your group to grasp the sector maps and the structure of your system earlier than you begin storing and changing knowledge contained in the group’s core system.” As soon as the knowledge basis is strong, you possibly can leverage instruments like Bullhorn Automation to superpower your processes with AI.
Certainly one of IDR’s core visions for AI is simplifying employees coaching and improvement. A lot of their group members don’t even notice AI is operating within the background. For instance, after they obtain a screening evaluation end result, they don’t see the hundreds of different candidates routed, vetted, and screened by automations; they simply see the highest few. This seamless integration requires a deep understanding of the candidate journey. Hayes recommends experiencing this journey firsthand by going by your individual web site, chatbot, and utility processes — and never simply as soon as. “This isn’t like a three-month venture,” he stated. “You need to do that now, and you need to do it typically.”
IDR has even adjusted recruiter metrics to incentivize AI adoption, for example, by tying ramp bonuses to a proportion of submissions coming from Bullhorn AI instruments. This has led to recruiters doubling and tripling placements because of the simplicity of the AI-powered workflow.
Trying forward, AI is not a query of “if” for IDR, however “the way to proceed to innovate.” The pace of product improvement with AI means new use instances emerge consistently. The main focus shifts to empowering groups to be progressive, take away obstacles, and provide you with new prompts and methods of considering to attain higher-quality and quicker outcomes. The long run holds an thrilling transformation of the consumer and candidate expertise, shifting in direction of a extra aggressive, nearly e-commerce-like marketplace for expertise.
Taking the leap
Hayes’ parting recommendation for these contemplating AI adoption got here down to 3 factors:
- Embrace the mindset: AI isn’t just an add-on product; it’s an architectural shift. It’s an “agentic structure”—a mind-set about your small business end-to-end. AI is right here to remain, and step by step shifting your small business is the proper transfer.
- Make the operational shift: That is the place the heavy lifting happens. AI merchandise work, however you have to make them work to your individuals. Operational shifts in administration and coaching are essential, as adoption charges for AI can drop from 100% to 0% if not actively nurtured. Management involvement within the weeds is essential to driving and sustaining adoption.
- Take the steps to get there: When you embedded brokers into our broader automation technique, we actually noticed the ROI speed up. Weave AI into each step of your workflow, and let it take the lead in search, match, and screening.
Past the numbers, Hayes identified that AI improves the work-life stability for recruiters and gross sales professionals. It frees them from mundane duties like intensive resume formatting, permitting them to deal with higher-value actions. This “life-style change for the higher” will turn out to be a typical expectation for expertise becoming a member of organizations.
Leaders like Hayes are paving the best way for a extra environment friendly, efficient, and in the end, extra human-centric trade. By leaping in, getting began, and dealing in lockstep together with your group to undertake AI, you and your group can be part of the slicing fringe of recruitment.
