Hackett Finds Rapid Advancement in AI and Automation Transforms Talent Acquisition Technology

By: The Hackett Group, Inc. via Business Wire

January 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM EST

Advanced technologies drive 38% faster time to fill, 42% quicker time to hire and 46% more qualified applicants

The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) has released its latest Digital World Class^® Matrix focusing on the talent acquisition (TA) software marketplace. The report examines how rapid automation and generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) advances affect recruiting outcomes and reveals leading vendors.

Human resources (HR) organizations are frequently challenged to do more with less; the recruiting function is no exception. Talent acquisition professionals must sift through massive candidate pools for their open roles. They must find the right fit while delivering a great user experience for candidates and hiring managers. To achieve this, HR groups are using advanced automation and AI to reduce redundant tasks and increase efficiencies. As a result, recruiters can act more strategically to find talent who will propel the organization forward in terms of higher quality candidates, workforce evolution and upskilling.

The Talent Acquisition Digital World Class Matrix™ provides an in-depth guide to some of the biggest talent acquisition technology providers and how their solutions impact companies’ operations, recruiting effectiveness, and ultimately the success of the workforce. The report evaluated 15 providers for their capabilities and value delivered to clients based on vendor briefings and extensive customer interviews across 29 different criteria.

Capability ratings assess a vendor’s capacity to provide talent acquisition solutions across critical operational areas. These include candidate experience, recruiter experience, candidate relationship management, internal mobility, recruitment marketing, interview solutions, candidate assessment, onboarding and analytics, in addition to core platform functionalities such as user interface quality, data integration, and platform structure.

Value realization ratings assess a vendor’s impact across key metrics for TA performance, including time to fill, time to hire, qualified applicant improvement, cost per hire, internal mobility adoption, quality of hire, candidate diversity, customer service, pace of innovation, implementation experience, automation and integration, and overall satisfaction and business value to the organization.

Adopters of advanced TA technologies are realizing the benefits across these critical metrics. End users report an average 38% improvement in time to fill, 42% improvement in time to hire and 46% increase in qualified applicants entering the talent pool.

Leading TA vendors continue to push the envelope in developing new technologies to reduce recruiter workloads and provide greater insights for the broader talent management function. End users are starting to more openly adopt AI applications to improve their recruiting outcomes. Top use cases identified include intelligent automation, content generation and collaboration capabilities.

Other AI applications are still nascent in their TA journey but have tremendous potential once they are fully embraced and used properly. These include advanced interview solutions with Gen AI question prompts and predictive analytics that significantly advance strategic workforce strategies. The introduction of agentic AI is of particular interest, providing a significant leap in AI-powered automation. Agents can make multiple decisions and actions independently, dramatically reducing administrative workloads for recruiters. Agentic AI started being more broadly introduced in the HR function in the fall of 2024.

“The year-over-year evolution of AI applications within the talent acquisition space is moving at breakneck speed,” said Matthew Merker, senior research director for Human Capital Management Market Intelligence at The Hackett Group. “Early adopters of these applications are realizing significant improvements in critical metrics such as time to fill and cost per hire. Coupled with advances in candidate relationship management and candidate experience, AI applications are a game-changer for organizations seeking to attract and retain the best talent to drive their businesses forward.”

By using this comprehensive analysis, HR professionals can make informed purchasing decisions aligned with the strategic priorities and critical metrics they seek to impact in talent acquisition outcomes.

TA Digital World Class® assessments are part of The Hackett Group’s full 68-page report. The TA Digital World Class® assessments should be read in the context of the entire report. A 28-page summary is also available complimentary with registration: https://go.poweredbyhackett.com/dmtasr2501nr. Inquiries about purchasing the full research report can be made by visiting our Market Intelligence Service webpage at https://go.poweredbyhackett.com/dmtafl2501nr.

The Hackett Group does not endorse any participant, vendor, product or service depicted in its research. This research should not be considered as advice that a buyer select only those participants based on their ranking or position on the Hackett Digital World Class Matrix^™. You should not rely upon any material or information within this research as a basis for making any business, legal, financial or any other decisions. Any such reliance shall be solely at buyer’s risk. The Hackett Group research publications consist of the opinions of its research organization and should not be interpreted as factual statements. To the fullest extent permitted by law, The Hackett Group disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability, suitability or fitness for a particular purpose. The information contained in this research is provided on an “as-is” basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness. The Hackett Group assumes no responsibility or liability for damages of any kind arising from any information, data, content, materials, or references within its research, including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, and punitive damages.

About The Hackett Group

The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) is an IP and platform-based, Gen AI strategic consulting and executive advisory firm that enables Digital World Class® performance. Using AI XPLR^™ and ZBrain^™ – our ideation through implementation platforms – our experienced professionals help organizations realize the power of Gen AI and achieve quantifiable, breakthrough results, allowing us to be key architects of their Gen AI journey.

Our expertise is grounded in unparalleled best practices insights from benchmarking the world’s leading businesses – including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 89% of the Fortune 100, 70% of the DAX 40 and 55% of the FTSE 100.

For more information on The Hackett Group, visit: https://www.thehackettgroup.com/ or email media@thehackettgroup.com.

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