Why AI and Digital Efficiencies Still Need the Human Touch to Find What’s Truly Valuable
We’ve never had more tools at our fingertips. Applicant tracking systems scan thousands of resumes in seconds. AI chatbots pre-screen candidates while we sleep. Metrics, dashboards, algorithms, everywhere we look, we see automation designed to make hiring “smarter.”
And it works...until it doesn’t.
Because for all the speed and efficiency, we’re losing something essential in the noise: the people we never see. The ones who get screened out because they didn’t use the right keyword. The ones who aren’t optimised for a machine’s logic but would thrive in a human culture. The ones whose greatest strengths don’t live in bullet points or perfect formatting.
Let me tell you a story.
A few years ago, I interviewed someone who had been unemployed for over a year. On paper, their resume was chaotic. Gaps, job changes, industries that didn’t “align.” They would have never made it past an AI filter. But in conversation? They were brilliant. Gritty. Strategic. And full of emotional intelligence, someone who had led teams through crises, learned hard lessons, and emerged with a depth you don’t find in a LinkedIn profile. We presented them to the client, they hired them. They became one of their strongest performers.
That kind of talent doesn’t surface on its own.
This is the paradox we’re living in: the more we lean on machines to do our screening, the more we risk becoming blind to the very thing we claim to want, unique, dynamic, deeply human potential.
Let’s be clear: AI has a place. It can streamline processes, reduce bias when trained properly, and free us up to focus on more meaningful conversations. But it can’t replace judgment. It can’t replace intuition. And it definitely can’t replace connection.
Hiring isn’t just a pipeline problem, it’s a perspective problem. If we’re only looking for “efficiency,” we’re going to miss the people who don’t fit neatly into a box. The ones who are pivoting. Rebuilding. Coming back from something. Or just plain extraordinary in ways that no keyword match will ever capture.
So here’s my ask:
Don’t stop at what’s easy. Go deeper. Be curious. Get personal.
Pick up the phone. Ask better questions. Talk to someone who might not look “perfect” on paper. Trust that the best hires are often the ones who weren’t “predictable.”
We are not building companies of robots, we are building teams of people.
Don't have time for the personal touch? Contact us, we support your team, we make time for you.
