AI in Recruitment & Discovering Talent

4 minutes, 4 seconds read

Published on Oct 15, 2019

Updated on Apr 13, 2020

The growing gig economy has added a new challenge to the organizations’ recruitment settings. While 62% of millennials believe gig work is a viable alternative to mainstream jobs (Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019), only 8% of HR Organizations believe they’re ready to manage gig or contract workers; thus opening new avenues for the use of technology in recruitment processes. Let’s see how AI in recruitment can benefit organizations in upscaling candidate experience, diversity and inclusion, and onboarding irrespective of geographical location.

How Organizations Can Leverage AI in Recruitment?

According to Grand View Research, the global HR management market is projected to reach $30.01 billion by 2025, of which Talent Management software will cover $13.8 billion worth of the market share. Advanced analytics, apps, and team-focused management practices will fuel the growth of recruitment technologies. The following are 5 areas where AI can out rule existing technologies and HR software.

#1 Screening

Identifying the right candidate from a large applicant pool terrifies recruiters. Surprisingly, only 9% of organizations possess a strong screening technology, says Josh Bersin in HR Technology Market 2019. According to Ideal’s recruiting software ebook, almost 65% of resumes received for a high-volume role are ignored. Now that the inclination towards an alternative workforce is growing, HRs face additional pressure in shortlisting candidates for the organizations.

In the age where candidates have equal rights to question employers, automated responses aren’t just enough. AI-powered chatbots can not only automate the resume screening processes but also understand the candidates’ queries better and respond in real-time.

For example, Olivia developed by Paradox is a recruitment assistant chatbot. It helps companies in collecting resumes, screening them, and interacting with the candidates. Olivia bot can schedule interviews and delivers one-to-one candidate experience.

#2 Identifying Passive Candidates and Rediscovery

According to Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Survey 2019, 61% of organizations consider finding qualified experienced hires as the most difficult recruitment challenge. Also, 26% of leading recruiters believe- inefficient technology is the reason for hiring setbacks.

Organizations rely on the capabilities of their existing workforce more than a new-hire. However, uncovering the talent that’s a great fit for a new role and their willingness to take up a new responsibility is quite a challenge. AI can help in rediscovering hidden talent among the existing employees thus reducing candidate acquisition costs.

Another aspect of recruitment, especially for sophisticated roles is passive candidate sourcing. However, identifying and engaging with people who are not currently looking for a job change can be daunting. AI can simplify this aspect as well. Instead of focusing only on a candidate’s resume, sourcing more information from his public profiles and making predictions about the success in acquisition can save a lot of human efforts.

#3 Sentiment Analysis

AI can judge a candidate’s sentiments better than a human because there won’t be any conflict of emotions during an interview. AI can identify, extract, quantify, and study the candidate’s states using procedures like NLP (natural language processing), computational linguistics, facial recognition, and biometrics.

Through AI, companies like Unilever, IBM, Dunkin Donuts, and many others are analyzing a candidate’s facial expressions during video job interviews. For instance, using the HireVue AI-driven recruitment platform, Unilever was able to hire for entry-level jobs from 1200 more colleges.

#4 Defining Jobs APIs

Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Survey 2019 reports – 25% of organizations feel constructing an appealing job offer as challenging. Moreover, according to HRDrive 2016 survey, 72% of HR managers claim to provide clear job descriptions. But, only 36% of candidates say they understood it.

AI can bridge this gap by mapping industry jargon and search queries. AI can also present descriptive job descriptions or skills requirements in concise language that can save the candidate’s time and hence improve conversions.

On 15th November 2016, Google launched Cloud Jobs API- a machine learning service to improve the hiring process by providing a lingua franca between the job seeker and employer job postings. It comprises of two ontologies- occupation and skills and establishment of relational models between them.

#5 Reducing Unconscious Bias

Organizations believe that a diverse workforce improves employee productivity, and retention and yields innovation and creativity. However, diversity hiring suffers a setback because of unintentional bias and recruitment preferences.

AI can help in reducing unconscious biases during recruitment because it is completely programmable. The model can be trained to clear patterns of potential prejudices based on gender, ethnicity, geography, or even academic institutions. According to Modern Hire research, 49% of candidates believe AI can improve their chances of getting hired.

Will AI Replace Recruiters?

PayScale suggests that 66% of organizations agree that employee retention is a growing concern, making hiring an even more sophisticated process. Benefits of AI in recruitment encircles around sourcing, screening, assessment, and identifying hidden talents. Technocrats believe AI will not replace recruiters, it will simply augment the existing hiring processes.

We are an AI-first products and solutions firm; feel free to reach us out at hello@mantralabsglobal.com for your industry-specific requirements.

The insurance industry thrives on relationships—but it can only scale through efficiency, precision, and timely distribution. While much of the digital transformation buzz has focused on customer-facing portals, the real transformation is happening in the field, where modern sales apps are quietly driving a smarter, faster, and more empowered agent network.

Let’s explore how mobile-first sales enablement platforms are reshaping insurance sales across prospecting, onboarding, servicing, renewals, and growth.

The Insurance Agent Needs More Than a CRM

Today’s insurance agent is not just a policy seller—they’re also a financial advisor, data gatherer, service representative, and the face of the brand. Yet many still rely on paper forms, disconnected tools, and manual processes.

That’s where intelligent sales apps come in—not just to digitize, but to optimize, personalize, and future-proof the entire agent journey.

Real-World Use Cases: What Smart Sales Apps Are Solving

Across the insurance value chain, sales agent apps have evolved into full-service platforms—streamlining operations, boosting conversions, and empowering agents in the field. These tools aren’t optional anymore, they’re critical to how modern insurers perform. Here’s how leading insurers are empowering their agents through technology:

1. Intelligent Prospecting & Lead Management

Sales apps now empower agents to:

Prioritize leads using filters like policy type, value, or geography
Schedule follow-ups with integrated agent calendars
Utilize locators to look for nearby branch offices or partner physicians
Register and service new leads directly from mobile devices

Agents spend significantly less time navigating through disjointed systems or chasing down information. With quick access to prioritized leads, appointment scheduling, and location tools—all in one app—they can focus more on meaningful customer interactions and closing sales, rather than administrative overhead.

2. Seamless Policy Servicing, Renewals & Claims

Sales apps centralize post-sale activities such as:

Tracking policy status, premium due date, and claims progress
Sending renewal reminders, greetings, and policy alerts in real-time
Accessing digital sales journeys and pre-filled forms.
Policy comparison, calculating premiums, and submitting documents digitally
Registering and monitoring customer complaints through the app itself

Customers receive a consistent and seamless experience across touchpoints—whether online, in-person, or via mobile. With digital forms, real-time policy updates, and instant access to servicing tools, agents can handle post-sale tasks like renewals and claims faster, without paperwork delays—leading to improved satisfaction and higher retention.

3. Remote Sales using Assisted Tools

Using smart tools, agents can:

Securely co-browse documents with customers through proposals
Share product visualizations in real time
Complete eKYC and onboarding remotely.

Agents can conduct secure, interactive consultations from anywhere—sharing proposals, visual aids, and completing eKYC remotely. This not only expands their reach to customers in digital-first or geographically dispersed markets, but also builds greater trust through real-time engagement, clear communication, and a personalized advisory experience—all without needing a physical presence.

4. Real-Time Training, Performance & Compliance Monitoring

Modern insurance apps provide:

On-demand access to training material
Commission dashboards and incentive monitoring
Performance reporting with actionable insights

Field agents gain access to real-time performance insights, training modules, and incentive tracking—directly within the app. This empowers them to upskill on the go, stay motivated through transparent goal-setting, and make informed decisions that align with overall business KPIs. The result is a more agile, knowledgeable, and performance-driven sales force.

5. End-to-End Sales Execution—Even Offline

Advanced insurance apps support:

Full application submission, from prospect to payment
Offline functionality in low-connectivity zones
Real-time needs analysis, quote generation, and e-signatures
Multi-login access with secure OTP-based authentication

Even in low-connectivity or remote Tier 2 and 3 markets, agents can operate at full capacity—thanks to offline capabilities, secure authentication, and end-to-end sales execution tools. This ensures uninterrupted productivity, faster policy issuance, and adherence to compliance standards, regardless of location or network availability.

6. AI-Powered Personalization for Health-Linked Products

Some forward-thinking insurers are combining AI with health platforms to:

Import real-time health data from fitness trackers or health apps
Offer hyper-personalized insurance suggestions based on lifestyle
Enable field agents to tailor recommendations with more context

By integrating real-time health data from fitness trackers and wellness apps, insurers can offer hyper-personalized, preventive insurance products tailored to individual lifestyles. This empowers agents to move beyond transactional selling—becoming trusted advisors who recommend coverage based on customers’ health habits, life stages, and future needs, ultimately deepening engagement and improving long-term retention.

The Mantra Labs Advantage: Turning Strategy into Scalable Execution

We help insurers go beyond surface-level digitization to build intelligent, mobile-first ecosystems that optimize agent efficiency and customer engagement—backed by real-world impact.

Seamless Sales Enablement for Travel Insurance

We partnered with a leading travel insurance provider to develop a high-performance agent workflow platform featuring:

Secure Logins: Instant credential-based access without sign-up friction
Real-Time Performance Dashboards: At-a-glance insights into daily/monthly targets, policy issuance, and collections
Frictionless Policy Issuance: Complete issuance post-payment and document verification
OCR Integration: Auto-filled customer details directly from passport scans, minimizing errors and speeding up onboarding

This mobile-first solution empowered agents to close policies faster with significantly reduced paperwork and data entry time—improving agent productivity by 2x and enabling sales at scale.

Engagement + Analytics Transformation for Health Insurance

For one of India’s leading health insurers, we helped implement a full-funnel engagement and analytics stack:

User Journey Intelligence: Replaced legacy systems to track granular app behavior—policy purchases, renewals, claims, discounts, and drop-offs. Enabled real-time behavioral segmentation and personalized push/email notifications.
Gamified Wellness with Fitness Tracking: Added gamified fitness engagement, with rewards based on step counts and interactive nutrition quizzes—driving repeat app visits and user loyalty.
Attribution Tracking: Trace the exact source of traffic—whether it’s a paid campaign, referral program, or organic source—adding a layer of precision to marketing ROI.
Analytics: Integrated analytics to identify user interest segments. This allowed for hyper-targeted email and in-app notifications that aligned perfectly with user intent, driving both relevance and response rates.

Whether you’re digitizing field sales, gamifying customer wellness, or fine-tuning your marketing engine, Mantra Labs brings the technology depth, insurance expertise, and user-first design to turn strategy into scalable execution.

If you’re ready to modernize your agent network – Get in touch with us to explore how we can build intelligent, mobile-first tools tailored to your distribution strategy. Just remember, the best sales apps aren’t just tools, they’re growth engines; and field sales success isn’t about more apps. It’s about the right workflows, in the right hands, at the right time.

5 Innovative Applications of AI in Recruitment