Benji Encz, CEO and Co-founder of Ashby, discusses the background and development of the all-in-one recruiting platform. He explains that the inspiration for Ashby came from his experience as a director of engineering, where he faced pain points with existing tools in the space, particularly around data and reporting, as well as scheduling coordination. Benji saw an opportunity to build a new platform from scratch that addressed these issues and incorporated modern recruiting operations, data analytics, and automation. While initially targeting early-stage companies, Ashby is now expanding to serve enterprise-level customers. Bob Pulver and BenjI discuss the use of automation and AI in the talent acquisition process. They explore the benefits of automation in scheduling interviews and coordinating the hiring process. They also discuss the importance of setting realistic expectations in product development and the value of delivering features iteratively. BenjI shares his thoughts on the potential of AI in areas such as candidate sourcing and matching. They also touch on the need for individuals to embrace learning and adapt to new technologies in order to elevate their AIQ. Keywords recruiting platform, Ashby, software engineering, data and reporting, scheduling coordination, recruiting operations, data analytics, automation, ATS, CRM, sourcing, AI capabilities, decision-making, fairness, quality of hire, interview intelligence, scheduling efficiency, automation, AI, talent acquisition, scheduling, product development, expectations, candidate sourcing, candidate matching, learning, AIQ Takeaways Ashby was developed to address pain points in the recruiting space, particularly around data and reporting, as well as scheduling coordination. The platform incorporates modern recruiting operations, data analytics, automation, and features of an ATS, CRM, and sourcing tool. AI capabilities are being incorporated thoughtfully, focusing on areas such as outbound personalization, advanced candidate search, and resume review assistance. The goal is to improve the efficiency and fairness of the recruiting process, providing a better experience for both recruiters and candidates. Automation and AI can greatly improve the efficiency and experience of the talent acquisition process. Setting realistic expectations in product development is crucial, and delivering features iteratively can help avoid missed timelines and commitments. AI has the potential to revolutionize candidate sourcing and matching, allowing for more targeted and efficient talent acquisition. Individuals need to embrace learning and be willing to adapt to new technologies in order to stay competitive in the future of work. Sound Bites "Recruiting operations was becoming a thing. Teams were working more with data. People were buying more tools." "We started with outbound personalization, which LLMs are generally really good at." "We started with our kind of advanced candidate search, packaging that in natural language." "What it took to get there is a lot of logic and steps and data to look at and coalesce." "We've stayed in this more natural state of kind of evolving the product more iteratively." Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 08:10 Incorporating Outbound Personalization 14:01 Improving Fairness in the Recruiting Process 23:27 Adoption of Scheduling Technology 28:14 Setting Realistic Expectations in Product Development 35:29 The Potential of AI in Candidate Sourcing and Matching 46:48 Elevating Your AIQ: Embracing Learning and Adapting to New Technologies Benji Encz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminencz Ashby: http://www.ashbyhq.com For advisory work and podcast sponsorship inquiries: Bob Pulver: https://linkedin.com/in/bobpulver Elevate Your AIQ: https://elevateyouraiq.com