A few years ago, I had what I can only describe as one of the most uncomfortable job interview experiences of my career. And yep - you guessed itit involved AI.

It was one of those one-way video interviews. You know the kind: questions pop up on the screen, you get a little countdown timer, and then a robotic voice says something like:

"You have 60 seconds to answer this question go."

So there I am, staring at my own face on screen, awkwardly talking to myself while a timer ticks down in the corner like a game show buzzer. I'm trying to sound confident but not rehearsed, authentic but not rambly, and I'm also very aware that I'm talking tono one.

Halfway through answering one of the questions, I'm watching the clock and realizing - oh no, I'm going to get cut off - and then bam, it ends.

Then comes the next delight:

"Click here to accept your answer. Click here to re-record."

Oh lovely, so now I get to re-watch myself and judge how terrible I looked and sounded before someone else does?

And after a few more of those? I hit submit and poof - it all disappears into a black hole.

No follow-up. No human. Just silence.

If You've Ever Had That Experience, You Get It

I walked away from that interview thinking:

"If this is what AI hiring looks like, I'm out."

Fast forward to late last year when I was meeting with PSG Global Solutions , learning about the company, all the work they do in the RPO space, and exploring career opportunities with them. Naturally, I was curious - and a little cautious - about their AI stack.

Because while PSG has a strong reputation for best-in-class RPO services, they also have Anna AI, a digital recruiter that's now part of how they deliver hiring support at scale.

So early on in our discussions, I was brutally honest.

I remember one conversation along the lines of "I've had some not-so-great experiences with AI in hiring. If I'm going to join the team and represent the full scope of what we offer, I need to feel genuinely good about ALL of it."

That meant learning everything I could about Anna - not just what she does, but how she actually works.

What I Found Was Not What I Expected

Anna isn't a one-way, high-pressure video screen. She's not asking candidates to rehearse answers or talk to themselves. She doesn't email over a list of questions and hope for the best.

Anna talks to people. Literally.

She picks up the phone and has real, structured conversations with candidates. She asks about their background. She screens for fit. She follows up if they ghost. She nudges them to complete assessments or paperwork. And she does all of this - on brand, on tone, and at scale.

Anna can be customized to reflect a company's tone - whether that's warm and casual or buttoned-up and professional. She adjusts to dialect and language. And most importantly, she treats every candidate with consistency and care.

• Every candidate gets the same customized, core questions
• Every conversation is captured and summarized
• Every follow-up is timely and thoughtful

She doesn't get tired. She doesn't have bad days. She doesn't make assumptions. And she doesn't let a gut feeling cloud her judgment. And when something's too complex for automation, she knows when to pull in a real recruiter.

Anna wasn't built to take humans out of hiring.

Anna was built to take bias-prone, burnout-prone, inconsistent moments out of hiring.

What Changed for Me

I came into the process with real hesitation - and I think that's important to say out loud.

But the more I saw Anna in action, the more I realized she's not trying to replace the human experience. She's making room for more of it.

And then someone at PSG said something that really stuck with me:

"We're not trying to replace recruiters - we love recruiters! We employ over 4,000 of them. Anna was built to empower them."

That was the moment it clicked for me.

Anna helps recruiters focus on the high-impact stuff - building relationships, coaching candidates, consulting with hiring managers, making strategic decisions - instead of getting stuck in admin and operational overload.

Anna removes the admin from the hiring process.

She doesn't replace the human connection. She protects it.

That's when I knew: this is different.

That's when I knew I wanted to be a part of what PSG is building - and help more people see what's possible when AI is designed to support people, not replace them.

If You've Written Off AI in Hiring, I Don't Blame You

But I'll say this: the tools have evolved. And Anna is not the AI you met a few years ago.

She's smarter. More thoughtful. And built to actually support the human experience - not strip it away.

If your only experience with AI interviews was like mine - awkward, impersonal, and a little bit traumatizing - then I get it.

But give me 15 minutes, and I'll show you how different this can be.

"Anna is NOT the AI you were first introduced to."

I'd love to set you up with a demo call! Drop me an email at akroe@psgglobal.com