In the grunts of everyday decisions, the quiet choices shape the loudest outcomes. The mirror of recruitment is glazed with this truth, where every resume read, every conversation held, and every subtle gesture carries the weight of possibility. Artificial Intelligence can sway everything to everyone, but only a human can convince with empathy, inspire with understanding, and recognise the potential that data alone cannot see. In talent acquisition, the true mastery lies in weaving both the conviction and innovation of today’s world seamlessly.

At People Matters Talent Acquisition 2025, the interplay of forces harnessing progress highlighted the balance between technology and humanity and came alive in the form of a Power Panel on AI & The Human Touch: Leveraging Technology to Create People-Centric Policies. Chaired by Varadharaju Janardhanan, CHRO of Super Money (a Flipkart Group company), the discussion brought together leaders shaping the future of recruitment: Ritu Bhatia, Head of Recruitment at Genpact; Sowmya Santhosh, CHRO at CitiusTech and Shweta Maheshwari, Director-Sales at RippleHire.

The discussion focused on maintaining empathy and human insight while examining how AI may improve decision-making, tailor candidate experiences, and lessen bias.

AI as an enabler, not a replacement

For large organisations like Genpact, where talent demand runs into thousands of hires each year, Ritu Bhatia noted that AI-driven platforms are helping recruiters match skills with opportunities faster and more accurately. “It’s about cutting through the noise,” she explained. “AI allows us to quickly surface the candidates who are most aligned, so that human recruiters can focus on meaningful conversations rather than manual filtering.”

However, its effectiveness comes with a warning: technology should be viewed as a tool, not a substitute. The panellists emphasised that while technology can expedite processes and highlight patterns when used appropriately, it will never replace the interpersonal connections, emotional intelligence, and nuanced judgement that make recruiting truly people-centric.

Reducing bias, enhancing fairness

‍Bias in hiring, whether whispered in the subconscious or spoken outright, was another focal point. Sowmya Santhosh distilled its insidiousness into a sharp image: “Bias in recruitment is like glitter. You don’t realise how much there is until it’s everywhere.”

Sowmya explained how CitiusTech is deploying AI to anonymise résumés and standardise assessments. “When you strip away names, colleges, or even certain geographies, you give talent a fairer chance,” she said.

AI, when crafted with care, offers the promise of sweeping some of that glitter away. It can strip names from résumés, bring structure to interviews, and remind us to judge by skills rather than assumptions. Yet she was quick to add that technology cannot replace nuance. “AI can just as easily perpetuate bias if the data itself is biased. That’s why human oversight is non-negotiable. The role of leaders is to ask hard questions of the tools we adopt: Who built them? On what data? And are we auditing for fairness?”

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