# Why AI Has Made Recruitment Harder (Not Easier) | Greg Savage

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-recruiter-1198157/why-ai-has-made-recruitment-harder-not-easier-greg-savage
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-recruiter-1198157/why-ai-has-made-recruitment-harder-not-easier-greg-savage.md
Podcast: [The Resilient Recruiter](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-recruiter-1198157)
Published: 2026-02-18T09:05:26+00:00
Episode link: https://episode.flightcast.com/duhqegbcjkstlqtilfx94n5b.mp3
Audio file: https://episode.flightcast.com/duhqegbcjkstlqtilfx94n5b.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-resilient-recruiter-1198157/episodes/why-ai-has-made-recruitment-harder-not-easier-greg-savage
Duration seconds: 4040

## Resource

AI in recruitment was supposed to make hiring faster, smarter, and more efficient. Greg Savage believes it has made recruitment harder. Fraud at scale. Inflated CVs. AI screening tools producing just 14% shortlist overlap. And automation that speeds up broken recruitment processes instead of fixing them. In Episode 300 of _The Resilient Recruiter,_ we break down AI in recruitment, the future of recruitment agencies, retained vs contingent recruitment, and what recruitment agency owners must do to stay relevant in an AI-driven market. Greg was my very first guest back in 2019. In 2023, he made a series of bold predictions about how AI would reshape recruitment. Two years later? Those predictions were “scarily accurate.” But in some areas, things have accelerated even faster than expected. Greg has built four recruitment businesses. He’s the author of _The Savage Truth_ (20,000+ copies sold). He’s spent five decades watching the recruitment and executive search industry evolve. His view? AI hasn’t simplified recruitment. It has raised the bar. Episode Timeline00:00 Intro Chapters 00:00:00 The biggest threat — and opportunity — in decades 00:02:14 Why the contingent, multi-listed perm model is under pressure 00:06:34 The 14% shortlist overlap test in AI screening 00:08:32 What “automating dysfunction” really means 00:26:20 The highest ROI AI opportunity for recruitment agencies 00:30:43 Four questions to ask before buying any AI tool 00:54:04 The rise of the “techno-empath” recruiter What You’ll Learn About AI in RecruitmentThis is a strategic conversation about recruitment agency growth, retained search, executive search, and how to scale a recruitment business in an AI-driven environment. Why AI Is Making Recruitment Harder• The 14% shortlist overlap between major AI sc…

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