In association with TalentHunter
There’s a lot of talk about collaboration between people and AI, but one Irish start-up is showing the recruitment industry how it’s done.
And the answer is to keep the people resolutely in charge.
Last week, Dublin recruitment platform, TalentHunter, officially launched.
As the heavens opened over the city, guests gathered at Merrow at Zanzibar Locke to celebrate. Amidst food, drinks and conversations, one of the biggest questions in recruitment was being asked: “Exactly how much of the hiring process should we hand over to AI?”
For TalentHunter, the answer is to keep the person in the loop. So they’re showing the industry exactly how to do this.
The launch brought together people from recruitment, technology and business, including Naoise Ó Cearúil, chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence, and a spokesperson on artificial intelligence.
AI assisted, but not AI decided
Liam Whelan, co-founder of TalentHunter, is decisive about which role AI should play in recruitment.
The platform uses AI to analyse CVs, assess skills and rank candidates against job requirements. But the platform does not make the final hiring decision.
For employers, TalentHunter provides recommendations and shares the reasoning behind them. Yet it’s the employer who remains responsible for deciding who progresses for a role.
This distinction is at the heart of how TalentHunter operates.
“We’re powered by people, assisted by AI,” says Liam.
He’s aware of how deeply AI is moving into hiring, and the big concerns arising around transparency, bias and accountability.
“TalentHunter has been designed with these concerns in mind, including bias mitigation, compliance and monitoring AI performance,” he says.
Getting ahead of the AI Act
The company, which stands as an alternative to LinkedIn and Indeed, is also putting regulation at the centre of its proposition.
The EU AI Act classifies recruitment screening and filtering systems as high risk, and relevant obligations are due to apply from December 2027.
TalentHunter is not waiting for that deadline.
Instead, the platform has built its compliance approach ahead of the deadline.
It is a signatory to the European Commission’s AI Pact. TalentHunter has also signed both sections of the EU Code of Practice on Transparency of AI Generated Content.
Liam and his team are also placing a big transparency on emphasis for its users.
All terms, policies and requirements on the platform are explained in plain English. Users are also told where AI is being used.
“We’re not asking anyone to trust an invisible algorithm,” says Liam. “Everyone who uses the platform, whether an employer or jobseeker, should be able to understand what the technology is doing.
A different kind of recruitment platform
TalentHunter has already been operational for a full year, with recruiters, employers and jobseekers using the platform.
Already operational in Ireland, the UK and US, TalentHunter will be launching in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Hungary in Q1 next year.
The launch marked a significant step for the Irish startup to show just how AI and people together can create a completely different recruitment experience.
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