AI in Talent Acquisition: 2025 Report on Adoption and Trust
AI in Talent Acquisition is no longer experimental. It has become part of the recruiting infrastructure.
Across sourcing, screening, scheduling, and note taking, AI tools are now embedded in daily recruiting workflows. Many Talent Acquisition teams report real productivity gains, and most expect AI investment to increase over the next year.
At the same time, widespread adoption has not translated into full trust.
To understand how AI is actually being used in recruiting today, what is working, and where concerns remain, Elly partnered with HR Chief to survey 215 Talent Acquisition and recruiting professionals across North America.
The result is our 2025 research report:
>> AI in Talent Acquisition: How Talent teams are adopting, trusting, and navigating AI
Key stats
The following findings are based on Elly and HR Chief’s 2025 survey of Talent Acquisition professionals.
- 215 Talent Acquisition and People professionals were surveyed across North America.
- 87% of respondents use AI tools daily or weekly as part of their recruiting workflow
- 67% rate themselves as highly familiar with AI tools used in Talent Acquisition.
- 65% of organizations use AI for sourcing and talent search.
- 60% use AI for resume screening and review.
- 59% use AI for interview notes and summaries.
- 37% use AI for scheduling and coordination.
- Only 20% currently use AI-driven interviewing tools.
- 39% say improved productivity is the greatest benefit of AI today.
- 53% cite data privacy or security as a top barrier to AI adoption.
- 75% expect AI to have a positive impact on Talent Acquisition over the next 12 months.
- 82.5% of teams with a formal AI policy report high confidence using AI responsibly, compared to 58.5% of teams without a formal policy.
- 71% of teams with a formal AI policy expect their AI budget to increase next year, compared to 53% without a policy.
Why we ran this research report
The conversation around AI in recruiting often focuses on automation and efficiency, or on risk and replacement. In practice, Talent Acquisition teams are navigating both at the same time.
We ran this research to answer practical questions TA leaders are already asking:
- How often are teams using AI in recruiting today?
- Where is AI delivering real productivity gains?
- Where does trust break down?
- What role does governance play in successful adoption?
Our goal was to establish a realistic benchmark for AI adoption in Talent Acquisition, based on how teams are actually working today.
Key findings on AI in Talent Acquisition
What is AI adoption like in recruiting?
87% of Talent Acquisition professionals report using AI daily or weekly, particularly for operational tasks such as sourcing, screening, scheduling, and interview note taking.
AI is no longer limited to early adopters. Usage is consistent across teams, and confidence is growing as recruiters become more familiar with AI powered tools.
Are teams seeing AI productivity gains?
Recruiting teams using AI report:
- Faster workflows
- Less administrative overhead
- Higher output without increasing headcount
AI is helping teams keep up with rising application volume and growing expectations for speed and personalization. 39% of recruiters report improved productivity as the greatest benefit of AI in their recruiting work (the largest segment by far).
Do teams trust AI?
Despite widespread usage, trust remains one of the biggest barriers to deeper AI adoption in Talent Acquisition.
Recruiters continue to raise concerns about:
- Accuracy and hallucinations
- Bias and fairness
- Data security and privacy
- Fraud and low quality candidates
- Fragmented tools that do not integrate well with existing systems
“AI tools sometimes sound very sure even when they’re inaccurate. That makes people double-check everything, which reduces trust.”
AI is widely accepted as an assistant, but rarely trusted to make decisions. Human oversight remains essential, especially in screening and selection. 53% of Talent professionals list data privacy or security as a top barrier to AI adoption while 42% list bias or fairness concerns.
What is slowing down AI adoption for talent teams?
One of the strongest themes in the research is tool fragmentation.
Without clear AI governance and strong integration:
- AI tools multiply quickly
- Workflows become disconnected
- Trust erodes
- ROI becomes harder to measure
“There are so many tools out there that do not integrate or cross-pollinate with each other.”
Teams with defined AI policies report stronger outcomes across confidence, usage, and investment.82.5% of respondents at organizations with a formal AI policy report high confidence using AI responsibly, compared to 58.5% without a policy. These teams are also more likely to use AI weekly or daily (95% vs. 81.5%) and to plan increased AI budgets in the year ahead (71.3% vs. 53.3%).
What is the future of AI in Talent Acquisition?
TA leaders are not asking for more AI tools. They are asking for:
- Better integration with ATS and core systems
- Clear governance and usage guidelines
- Stronger fraud detection
- More transparency into AI outputs
- Workflows that support human judgment rather than replace it
The next phase of AI maturity in recruiting is about intentional systems, not experimentation.
Read the full AI in Talent Acquisition report
The full report includes:
- Detailed survey data
- Qualitative insights from open text responses
- Recommendations for Talent Acquisition leaders
- Guidance on AI governance, trust, and system design
About the research
This analysis is based on a survey of 215 talent acquisition and HR professionals, conducted in Q4 2025 across United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Respondent roles included primarily in-house talent acquisition and HR teams, with additional representation from recruiting and staffing agencies, people operations, business operations, and executive leadership.
The majority of respondents work in in-house recruiting or HR functions, with a smaller portion representing agency recruiting organizations.
The survey included a mix of single-select questions (such as AI confidence, usage frequency, and budget expectations) and multi-select questions (such as AI use cases, adoption barriers, and approval stakeholders).
All results reflect self-reported responses at the individual respondent level.
Percentages are rounded for clarity.
Data Summary
- Sample size: 215 respondents
- Field dates: Q4 2025
- Countries: United States, Canada, Mexico
- Primary audience: In-house talent acquisition and HR teams
- Secondary audience: Recruiting agencies, executive leaders
About the partners
Elly is an AI recruiting partner that helps Talent Acquisition teams reduce manual work and deliver a more consistent candidate experience. With tools like AI Sourcer, AI Interviewer, and AI Notetaker, Elly enables recruiters to focus on higher value, human centered work.
HR Chief is a community dedicated to improving the Human Resources and People Operations space. Through research, resources, AI tools, and the PeoplePeople Slack community, HR Chief supports people leaders in building better organizations.
