“Clients do want us to use AI - but not too much,” says Mia Zhou, a Director of Amrop in China. “They want meeting notes and internal alignment as soon as possible.” Mikael Norr echoes this cautious enthusiasm: “Most don’t complain if you record a meeting and have an AI taking notes; many even appreciate it. I was in a meeting with a lot of people including five AI assistants, welcome to you all, basically.”  

As we’ll explore, human nuance and expertise are still prized. Hiring organizations don’t want headhunters to delegate their craft to a robot, says Costa Tzavaras, Director of Amrop Global Programs. “At Amrop we use AI for process efficiencies: text generation, enhancing, translating, overviews of candidate pools. But not for decision making or comparative profiling. We retain our human-led, high value touch.” Mia Zhou agrees on the need to blend human- and AI power. “Clients want to understand the resources we put into a search, not how much AI we use.” 

Hiring organizations who use AI need to be transparent and meticulous. “There are many risks: discrimination, bias and poor filtering,” says Jamal Khan, Managing Partner of Amrop in Australia. “These can also mean you don’t get the best talent.” He warns against the temptation to “ping out emails all day on LinkedIn and automate the responses.”  

Job Voorhoeve leads Amrop’s Global Digital Practice. Data protection is another minefield, he adds. “We have always applied the legislation in our profession. But it is incumbent upon Amrop to show the quality of our tools, including our protected client portal.” 

Like test driving a Ferrari, clients use AI to check the work of Amrop consultants. They are welcome to do so. It reinforces quality, trust and insights, says Job Voorhoeve. Mikael Norr, an Amrop Global Board Member agrees: “Clients say: we want to digest this on our own. Some ask ChatGPT about candidate’s backgrounds. I think that’s okay.” But it’s important to check the findings, says Job Voorhoeve. “Then we can combat hallucinations.” Mia Zhou agrees: “We need to verify if an AI-generated name is a real person or an ambush, as frequently happens.” 

AI in C-suite hiring: Holy Grail or leaky bucket?  

This is a complex craft in which executive board members may lack experience, leaning on machines without grasping the financial and reputational stakes of a high-level fail. “The key is educating the C-suite how to work with a partner like us. It's akin to using an investment firm,” says Job Voorhoeve. Amrop Global Board Member Oana Ciornei agrees: “It’s our responsibility as market leaders to pass on our global knowledge from searches.” 

But AI use differs according to market sector and candidate level. Jamal Khan has anecdotal evidence of fully automated interviewing in the technology space, analyzed and filtered by a bot. “There’s no human oversight. This is more applicable for mass market recruitment, with huge volumes of people you need to filter quickly at the lower level. But someone still needs to oversee it.” Executive recruitment work requires sharp targeting. Mikael Norr agrees: “I haven't heard a single colleague coming out of a meeting saying that the client will use AI instead of us. AI is for more volume recruitment.” 

Read our full report: I Am Not A Robot - Part I: Mapping a Shifting Landscape.