Recruitment Blog
Recruitment leaders: Are you holding your AI strategy back?
AI has quickly gone from something relatively unknown to a fully integrated part of most recruitment agencies’ operations. According to JobAdder’s 2026 Recruiter’s Guide to AI this exposes a truth that could be uncomfortable for many: AI doesn’t transform a business – leaders who know how to use it do.
So as a leader, are you propelling your agency forward using AI, or hindering your team’s efforts?
AI amplifies clarity or chaos
JobAdder’s 2025/26 Recruitment Benchmarking Report found that many recruitment agencies have rapidly adopted AI:
- 81% are already using AI and automation
- 86% plan on increasing their use in the next year
- Confidence in AI use is up 11% year-on-year
But despite this excitement, many leaders are making the same mistake – they’re investing in AI tools before fixing their workflows.
If you try to layer AI on top of an unstructured workflow, unclear processes, or general chaos, you only automate the chaos. So, instead of streamlined operations and reduced admin, many agencies end up with unused tools and disappointing ROI on their AI investments.
3 key things to define before using AI
AI adoption should come from the top-down. That means before a single AI feature is even considered, leaders need to deeply understand three key things.
- How your team actually works
That means looking at how things actually run, not just how you think they run. This could entail having some deep, structured conversations with team members to fully understand operations at a base level.
Because at the end of the day, AI should support the existing rhythm of your recruiters, not disrupt or halt it.
- Where bottlenecks and friction are
Before using AI to solve problems, you need to define what those problems are.
Is admin slowing down productivity? Are your targets inconsistent and unmeasurable? Is BD falling through the cracks?
Whatever the kinks in the chain are, it’s essential to diagnose them first before attempting to fix them using AI.
- What success looks like
Again, you can’t measure ROI without clearly defined metrics – whether that’s time saved, increased placements made, improved data accuracy, or something else.
Clarity around your strategy is the cornerstone of successful and sustained adoption.
Responsible AI is every leader’s obligation
There are serious ethical considerations to be made when it comes to AI, and it’s up to leaders to shape the frameworks these tools run within.
For example at JobAdder, when designing Adder Intelligence we focused on creating responsible AI through three core principles:
- Transparency – we clearly communicate about how our AI functions and makes recommendations.
- Control – we ensure recruiters can see how AI has reached its conclusions, and ultimately have the final say in taking action.
- Compliance – our AI meets strict GDPR standards, and undergoes regular audits and training to minimise bias.
Get the full leadership playbook for high-impact AI adoption
Simply having AI features on deck isn’t enough. Leaders need to use them consistently, confidently, and purposefully, or else they risk adopting tools that quickly get discarded.
To dive into these insights even more – including tips and actions for leaders to get the most out of their AI use and adoption – download our 2026 Recruiter’s Guide to AI.
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