Time to Hire
Welcome to "Time to Hire," a dynamic and insightful podcast created by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA) specifically for talent acquisition professionals to keep them well-informed about the latest industry trends and best practices.
In each episode, RPOA Executive Director, Lamees Abourahma, hosts prodigious talent leaders to share talent market intelligence and innovative recruitment approaches. Tune in to the podcast to help you enhance your hiring processes, strengthen your employer brand, and innovate your talent strategy.
Whether you're a seasoned talent acquisition professional or just starting in the field, "Time to Hire" provides an invaluable platform to expand your knowledge, learn from industry leaders, and stay up-to-date with the rapidly changing world of recruitment.
Time to Hire
Ep 47 The End of Recruitment as We Know It with Scotty AI Co-Founder
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AI-driven recruiting is rewriting the rules of talent acquisition. At the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference, we learned of an innovative AI hiring platform that made 5,201 hires in just 12 hours, compared to only 40 by a traditional human team (according to Stan Wasalski, Co-founder, Scotty AI). Recruitment organizations worldwide are confronting a crisis: AI digital workers now outperform humans not only in speed, but in empathy and judgment. Only RPOs (recruitment process outsourcing providers) embracing experimentation with AI can seize this opportunity and avoid obsolescence.
Solving this unprecedented disruption requires practical, bold strategies. In this episode of the Time to Hire podcast, host Lamees Abourahma welcomes industry innovator Stan Wasalski. He explains how multi-agent AI systems can revamp high-volume hiring, compliance, and candidate experience. Recorded live at the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference, this conversation delivers actionable insights for RPO leaders seeking to thrive as recruitment is redefined by artificial intelligence.
Scotty AI is a sponsor of the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference and a partner of the RPO Association.
Learn about and find more content from the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference here.
About the Podcast
Time to Hire is produced by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), the leading authority on recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) foresight and innovation, and the trusted convener for the global RPO community. Through conversations with industry leaders, the podcast explores the trends, insights, and innovations shaping the future of talent acquisition.
Learn more about RPOA and join the community at: https://www.rpoassociation.org.
Follow the host, Lamees Abourahma, on LinkedIn.
Podcast Introduction & Setting the Stage
Lamees Abourahma:
What happens when digital colleagues outperform their human counterparts not only in speed, but in empathy and judgment too? As our guest put it: the world as we know it is ending. It's time to choose: experiment with AI, or risk getting left behind. Welcome to Time to Hire, the podcast from the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), where we explore stories and strategies shaping the future of talent acquisition. I'm your host, Lamees Abourahma. Today, you'll hear from industry innovator Stan Wasalski, co-founder at Scotty AI, who shares insights live from our 2025 RPOA Annual Conference in Chicago. Stan discusses how AI-powered multi-agent systems are revamping high-volume hiring, compliance, and candidate experience in an era of uncertainty—and what it takes to lead this change with confidence.
The Rise of AI Digital Workers
Stan Wasalski:
Hello everyone, and thank you for the kind words and warm welcome. I'm excited to discuss something I’m passionate about: the end of the world as we know it, driven by AI. Across industries, AI is rapidly creating digital workers. These AI agents are more accessible, patient, and effective than humans—available instantly, never forgetful, and able to personalize candidate interactions. To my surprise, these digital workers can even demonstrate more empathy than human recruiters and provide better situational judgment, which results in faster and more accurate hiring decisions.
From Chatbots to Multi-Agent Systems
In the past, we relied on chatbots, which often offered a frustrating compromise. Huge adoption happened only because of their availability and scalability, not user experience. Large language models improved the conversational experience but lacked the capability for true enterprise process automation. The real leap forward is with AI-powered multi-agent systems—AI “colleagues” that are onboarded and trained like humans, integrated directly into ATS, ERP, Teams, Slack, phone, and more. These agents coordinate with each other, monitor outcomes, and operate in the same communication loops as human recruiters.
Practical Applications: Dutch RPO & Hema Case Studies
One Dutch RPO faced a crisis mobilizing talent quickly. Using AI to call, text, and WhatsApp thousands of candidates, they made 5,201 hires in 12 hours, compared to just 40 by a large human team. The AI tailored messages, managed volume, and provided a 21% conversion rate. At Hema, AI-enabled store managers across 700 locations to handle their own recruitment with 24/7 digital partners, saving 1.2 million euros in payroll and freeing up valuable management time. In Germany, Securitas saved $1 million in recruiter costs and gained $2.4 million in revenue by ensuring coverage and compliance.
AI Automation Across the Hiring Lifecycle
AI can automate the entire hiring journey—from job req creation, through candidate sourcing, to onboarding and even exit interviews. For high-volume roles, the process is completely automated, with humans only handling corporate hiring. Tasks like screening, scheduling, and nurturing are handled end-to-end by AI, transforming days of back-and-forth into hours or minutes, and drastically reducing ghosting rates and advertisement costs. AI also excels at “cross-selling” candidates to other roles, matching candidate qualifications with every available job in the ATS in real time.
Enhancing Candidate Experience & Personalization
Candidates today increasingly prefer to interact via text and voice. The AI recruiter offers both: 70% of candidates in some test cases chose to speak via phone—a figure that’s rising. These advanced AI agents respond empathetically, schedule interviews automatically, and keep both hiring managers and candidates informed. The system’s flexibility allows for both group and individual scheduling, as well as real-time updates in tools like Teams. This deeply personal approach results in consistently high candidate satisfaction—91% rate the experience four stars or higher, even among rejected applicants.
Ensuring Compliance & Ethical AI
Compliance is built into the workflow. For example, German law prohibits asking about certain disabilities. AI agents are strictly coded to comply, with layered monitoring to intervene and log all interactions. When a discrimination claim arose, detailed records proved the AI had acted appropriately—reinforcing the value of transparent, auditable processes with AI in recruitment.
Leveraging AI for Employer Branding & EVP
Stan Wasalski:
Traditional employer branding and employee value proposition (EVP) research relies on long surveys and limited interviews. With AI, organizations can quickly and efficiently conduct voice conversations with all employees, aggregate the data, and perform pattern analysis—compressing months of research into hours. This approach democratizes feedback and reveals deeper insights, using techniques proven in fields as complex as genomics.
Redefining RPO Value and the Path Forward
The core activities of RPO are being automated and redesigned from the ground up. The greatest risk now is that clients internalize this technology unless RPOs lead the transformation. Significant opportunities exist for those who guide, implement, and even build proprietary solutions. Modern RPO leaders should embrace technology integration, service redesign, and strategic advisorship to retain relevance and impact.
AI Transforming Executive Search
Stan highlights executive recruiting as another area undergoing dramatic change: anonymous AI nurture can now attract and inform even C-suite candidates with greater depth and insight than a traditional headhunter. AI tailors outreach for specialized skill sets, and candidates increasingly demand this efficiency and privacy—especially in technical and high-impact roles.
Conclusion & Future Outlook
We are witnessing the end of recruitment “as we know it.” Future-fit RPOs must experiment, become AI literate, and build solutions tailored to their clients’ specific needs. By doing so, they can ensure technological change aligns with their goals and create a recruitment landscape that serves everyone better.
Lamees Abourahma:
Thank you for joining us on this episode of Time to Hire from the RPOA. Stay connected and informed as we explore the ongoing evolution in talent and recruiting.