As AI becomes more prevalent in recruiting, questions may arise about how these tools actually work. Let’s address some myths and clarify the facts about Workday’s AI recruiting tools.
At Workday, we champion technology’s power to create more opportunities for everyone. We develop AI that empowers businesses, maintains high ethical standards, and always keeps humans in the loop. However, as AI becomes more prevalent in recruiting, various questions may arise about how these tools actually work. So let’s address some of the myths and clarify the facts about Workday’s AI recruiting tools.
One misconception is that AI recruiting tools make hiring decisions for employers. This is simply not true for Workday’s AI tools. Our AI is designed to support and enhance the hiring process, not to replace human judgment. Workday AI does not make hiring decisions. Customers using Workday’s AI solutions retain full control and human oversight over their hiring process.
There are also valid questions around whether AI in recruiting could unintentionally disadvantage certain groups of job candidates—even if the system isn’t designed to discriminate. At Workday we dedicate substantial resources to proactively mitigating such risks and there’s no evidence that the technology results in harm to protected groups. Furthermore, Workday’s AI recruiting tools are not trained on, nor do they consider, protected characteristics like race, age, or disability.
Workday’s AI recruiting tools provide insights on how well a candidate’s qualifications match the requirements for a posted job. These tools only focus on the qualifications listed in a candidate’s job application and compare them with the qualifications the employer has identified as needed for the job. At the core of our approach to fairness is a simple principle: our AI does not consider or use protected characteristics like race, age, or disability.
Our AI can also help candidates by suggesting relevant skills based on what’s in their resumes. Similarly to employers, candidates are always in control. They can choose whether or not to include those suggestions in their application.
At Workday, trust is foundational—and that includes how we build and use AI. We have a dedicated team, led by the former chief analyst of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and composed of PhD-level data scientists and organizational psychologists, who focus solely on ensuring our AI is responsible, fair, and ethical. We have company-wide commitment to ethical AI practices, with input from various stakeholders from engineers to attorneys, privacy experts, accessibility experts, UX designers, and product managers.
Our AI governance program has been independently evaluated and certified by third-party experts, using leading standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the International Standards Organization (ISO).
We take a risk-based approach to product development, with ongoing reviews throughout the lifecycle to help prevent unintended consequences well before they reach our customers. And most importantly, our AI is designed to support—not replace—human decision-making. Our customers are always in control.
We believe that by dispelling myths and focusing on the facts, we can foster a better understanding of how AI can responsibly enhance the world of work.