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Let’s face it—today’s recruiters are being asked to do the impossible. Move faster. Deliver white-glove experiences. Prove impact. Oh, and do it all with fewer resources and tighter timelines. No wonder AI is having a moment.
It promises speed, scale, and sanity—exactly what stretched-thin talent teams are desperate for.
But here’s the catch: candidates are still giving AI the side-eye. Employ’s latest Job Seeker Nation Report revealed that while candidates think AI can help reduce bias in hiring, most (58%) still trust HR staff more. That tension—between promise and perception—is exactly why responsible, people-first AI matters.
At Lever, we’re proud to be part of Employ’s vision to build trust, transparency, and real recruiting outcomes into every innovation. With the launch of our Employ’s Spring ‘25 Release, that commitment takes a big step forward. Enter AI Companions: intelligent assistants built right into your ATS and designed to work alongside your team to ditch the friction—not your expertise.
In this blog, we’ll share what the AI Companion vision means for Lever users (spoiler: a lot of good stuff), explore the latest capabilities available now, and give you a glimpse of what’s ahead.
Introducing Employ’s AI Companion Vision
Each of Employ’s AI Companions are built for a specific, high-impact moment in the hiring journey—whether it’s sourcing, screening, or interviewing. By embedding intelligence directly into your ATS, they help your team cut the busy work and zero in on what really moves the needle.
But these Companions aren’t just built for speed—they’re built to drive results that stick. They reduce bias, enhance consistency, and create a better experience for everyone involved—whether you’re running point as a recruiter or sitting in the hot seat as a candidate. Think of it like adding a recruiting superpower—without losing your human touch.
Let’s take a closer look at the Companion that’s available today and what’s next on the horizon.
Unveiling AI Interview Companion
The first of Employ’s Companions—AI Interview Companion (formerly Pillar)—is available now in Lever.
Interviewing is one of the most high-impact (and let’s be honest, high-stress) parts of the hiring process. That’s why our new AI Interview Companion is built to bring structure, consistency, and actionable insights to every conversation.
With AI-generated interview guides, your team is empowered to run more structured, skills-focused conversations. And automated note taking means interviewers can stay fully present—no more frantic scribbles or post-interview memory games.
AI Interview Companion also provides real-time insights into your interview process, helping you:
- Track sentiment and talk time to monitor candidate experience and ensure balanced conversations.
- Flag potentially biased language and inconsistent scoring for training and coaching opportunities.
- Compare candidates side-by-side based on the skills that matter most to the role.
- Summarize interviews automatically, so feedback flows directly into Lever—without the follow-up chase.
The results? Stronger interviews, clearer decisions, and better hires. In fact, our users have seen a 32% decrease in first-year attrition—a win for hiring teams and candidates alike.
Enhancing Hiring Precision with Talent Fit
Talent Fit is the first step toward our future AI Screening Companion, which will continue to evolve and enhance how you identify right-fit talent faster than ever.
When you’re managing dozens of open roles and hundreds of applicants, hiring shouldn’t feel like searching for a needle in a haystack of resumes. That’s where Talent Fit comes in.
Lever’s new AI-powered matching engine instantly ranks candidates against your job requirements—giving you a shortlist of top matches, complete with transparent scoring and explanations.
Unlike basic keyword matching, Talent Fit analyzes a candidate’s skills and experience to deliver:
- A ranked list of top candidates, based on how well they align with your job requirements
- Clear explanations behind each match—so you know exactly why a candidate stands out.
- Potential gaps and areas to clarify, helping recruiters develop targeted interview questions.
This gives you the best of both worlds: speed and insight. And because the tool shows you why someone is a good match—not just that they are—you’re able to move forward with confidence and clarity.
Ensuring Trust with watsonx Governance
In today’s fast-moving AI landscape, innovation without responsibility just doesn’t cut it.
That’s why Employ’s intelligent hiring suite is built with IBM watsonx.governance—providing always-on compliance, fairness, transparency, and audit readiness from day one.
This isn’t just about checking boxes. It’s about giving your team the tools to stay in control of the technology, not the other way around.
Because here’s the truth: Responsible AI takes serious work. It means building systems that can explain how decisions are made. It means surfacing data quality gaps before they become risks. And it means making fairness and transparency part of the core product—not an afterthought.
With Lever and watsonx.governance, you’re not just getting AI—you’re getting AI you can trust.
Looking Ahead: Shaping the Future of Hiring—Together
This Spring ‘25 Release sets the foundation for a new era of recruiting with Lever. But we’re not stopping here.
Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming next:
- AI-generated interview transcripts that capture key moments and insights.
- Intelligent ROI recommendations that tie your hiring efforts to business impact.
- Talent Rediscovery tools that help you re-engage great candidates already in your database.
We’re building AI that works with you—inspired by real recruiting roadblocks and grounded in responsible innovation. Our goal is simple: help your team hire smarter, faster, and fairer than ever before.
Ready to embrace an intelligent, trusted, and people-first AI approach? See AI Interview Companion in action with our interactive demo—and keep an eye out for our future Screening and Sourcing Companions, coming soon.
