Job seekers in all fields can expect to soon be doing a lot more initial screening interviews. While that may sound like positive news, it does not mean there will suddenly be more open positions. Instead, recruiters, who are often bogged down with determining which applicants are qualified for the next round, will outsource routine screening tasks to artificial intelligence. These tasks include checking backgrounds, salary needs, and availability.
A startup called Alex, which is building an AI recruiter, says it is already helping companies conduct video interviews and phone screens. Aaron Wang, who co-founded Alex about eighteen months ago, told TechCrunch that the startup’s voice AI tool can conduct autonomous interviews with applicants soon after they apply for a job. He stated that their AI recruiter does thousands of interviews a day and helps people get hired at some of the biggest companies in the world.
Although Wang previously worked at Facebook and spent time as a quant for a hedge fund, he declined to name specific customers. He did say they include Fortune 100 companies, financial institutions, nationwide restaurant chains, and Big Four accounting firms.
Investors view the rise of AI interviewers as a trend that many companies will inevitably adopt. That conviction led to Alex’s new seventeen million dollar Series A funding round, which was led by Peak XV Partners. The round included participation from Y Combinator and Uncorrelated Ventures, along with several chief human resources officers from unnamed Fortune 500 companies and others. This Series A follows the company’s three million dollar seed funding, which was led by 1984 Ventures last year.
Alex is not alone in offering AI recruiting services to companies. The startup’s competitors include other early-stage companies like HeyMilo, ConverzAI, and Ribbon.
Another company, Mercor, is a rapidly growing AI data labeling startup that is attempting to raise a new round at a ten billion dollar valuation. It also started its life as an AI recruiter.
Alex’s long-term vision is to interview millions of job applicants to build professional profile data that is richer and deeper than what LinkedIn currently offers. Wang said their thesis is that a ten-minute conversation tells them a whole lot more about a person than a LinkedIn profile does. But for now, Alex is focused on helping recruiters free up their time to build relationships with pre-qualified candidates and to advise hiring managers.