If you apply on Zapier, you may be invited to a recruiting screen with an AI agent.
We want you to know why.
Our Talent Acquisition (TA) team is experimenting with agent recruiters. AI-powered screening conversations designed to help us handle high application volumes while giving more candidates a chance to shine.
Given Zapier’s default transparency value, we’re sharing it for two reasons:
So candidates understand how this can shape their experience with us.
What is possible – and what does kindergarten need – to contribute to the dialogue of the wider talent community?
Challenge: Volume, noise and candidate experience
Job seekers are increasingly using AI to improve their experience and writing applications and send many more applications. On the one hand, candidates can highlight skills more effectively. On the other hand, recruiters are now faced with a flood of submissions that look strong on paper but often don’t hold up in practice.
When we opened a recent software engineering role, we received several thousand applications in just 48 hours. Zapier commits to respond to every candidate within seven days. But at this scale, our recruiters would need to spend hundreds of hours interviewing initial candidates. We don’t have the human bandwidth to do this, but we want to give every qualified candidate a chance to shine.
On top of job growth beyond what we can traditionally handle, we’re finding that up to 30% of applications are fake. We have observed fake identities, unverifiable credentials, and misleading profiles. We’ve even caught some intimate facsimiles on live interviews! our Fraud Alert System Helpful, but every minute spent here takes time away from real candidates. We want to make sure our focus is on people who can really thrive at Zapier.
Our experience: Bringing the power of AI to the first interview
To address these challenges, we will be launching our pilot agent recruitment screens in the coming months. We will test this approach with a small number of roles, primarily software engineering, where we have the highest volume of applications.
How it works:
After an initial application review by a member of our team, significantly more candidates can now proceed 15–20 minute AI-led screening call.
asks the AI recruiter Same structured questions Our human recruiters, with smart follow-up as per our standards.
Candidates can complete their interview at their convenience, making the interview more flexible and accessible with Zapier.
Then, AI helps summarize the responses against our rubric, and A human zipper recruiter Review notes, transcripts, and recordings—along with your application. It is the human recruiter who makes the final decision whether to advance the candidate or not.
Your experience as a candidate
There is participation Totally optional. If you prefer to participate, you cannot affect your candidature. We will review your request as usual.
That said, we believe there are real benefits to participating:
A chance to tell your story – because we’re not limited to the handful that look “perfect” on paper.
To schedule on your terms and in your time zone. flexibility
Trust that your candidacy will always be reviewed by a real recruiter, not an algorithm.
Transparency in how we are evaluating the process.
For recruiters, this experience means more time to build relationships with candidates who advance deeper into the interview process. This translates into more personalized, tailored support from our team if you go ahead.
And this experience reflects how Zapier operates as an AI-first company: always looking for ways to optimize computers, so we humans can focus on doing what we do best.
Putting people at the center
Bottom line: AI does not make hiring decisions at Zippier. Our recruiters and hiring managers do.
AI helps us:
Applying consistent criteria across hundreds of candidates, reducing the risk of unconscious bias.
Focusing on the content of responses, not the tone or speech patterns, thanks to the safeguards we’ve built in.
When screening dozens of candidates a day, surfacing busy people can feel lacking.
But last call always Relaxes with people. We use AI to augment human judgment, not replace it.
The big picture
Zapier isn’t alone in trying to hire a job. Across industries, companies are exploring AI in recruitment, while researchers remind us of the risks if these tools are not applied carefully. We believe AI can hire — but only when paired with strong defenders. Our approach is simple: Experiment thoughtfully, learn openly, and put people at the center.
Looking ahead, the future of skill acquisition will rely on human judgment regarding AI health. AI is not replacing recruiters – in fact, we recently added recruiters to our team. Instead, we see AI as a tool that frees recruiters to focus on what matters most: connecting with candidates who are the best fit.
This is just the beginning of our journey. We know that the use of AI in recruiting will shape the candidate experience in different ways – some will see it as an exciting signal of innovation, others may find it less personal. Either way, we’ll continue to share what we learn and invite feedback from candidates and the wider TA community. Because ultimately, rental improvement isn’t just about moving fast.It’s about creating fair, human experiences that lead to the right match.