Part 1: "I Didn't Sign Up For This"

What nobody tells you about introducing AI to your recruiting team

So... you're implementing AI in your hiring process and don't really know what to expect? You're not alone. I didn't either.

I'm not a tech guy. I didn't come up through IT or data science or anything like that. I came up through recruiting. Like a lot of TA leaders, I've led teams, dealt with the chaos of peak hiring seasons, and tried dozens of different ATS's. So when AI entered the picture, I thought, "Sure, I've used ChatGPT to help write job posts and emails. Isn't that AI?"

Turns out, that's what most people think. That's what I thought. And it's exactly what my team thought too. So when we introduced Anna AI across our recruiting teams at PSG, the initial reaction wasn't excitement. It was skepticism. They were like, "We already use AI... don't we?"

But what we were really doing was dabbling in AI, not actually integrating it into the recruiting process in a way that solves real problems. Anna wasn't just a writing tool. It was built to handle screening, scheduling, follow-ups all the operational stuff that fills recruiters' days and drains their energy.

Still, that didn't mean the rollout was smooth.

We had a solid plan: internal messaging, onboarding sessions, training. But even with all of that, some reactions ranged from side-eye to straight-up panic. One recruiter asked, "Am I still going to have a job next year?" Another said, jokingly but also not joking, "So the robot's doing my job now?"

Here's what I learned quickly: Don't launch AI. Launch a conversation.

Here's what worked for us, as we implemented Anna across a global team of 4,000 recruiters:

• We asked our teams: "What's one task you do every day that makes you want to scream?"
• We didn't lead with "look what Anna can do." We led with "what if you never had to do this again?"
• We shared real, small wins. Like the recruiter who used Anna to screen 600 resumes in 4 hours and found better matches than doing it manually.

If you're a TA leader staring down your own AI launch, remember this: your team didn't ask for AI. They asked for help. Start there.

Surviving Day 1 means listening more than you explain, and giving people space to feel unsure. That's leadership.

Part 2: "You're Not Behind. You're Early."

Why slow, thoughtful adoption beats fast, flashy change

Let me tell you a secret: no one's really ahead with AI in recruiting. At PSG, we support thousands of recruiters across dozens of industries, and even the most tech-forward ones are still figuring it out.

Early on, we had teams ask, "Should we roll this out across the whole org next week?" The answer was always no.

When we launched Anna, we started with one pain point: resume screening. That's it. We let recruiters test it, track time saved, and share what worked. One team saved 12 hours in the first week. Another filled twice as many roles in half the time - all by automating just that one screening step. And we celebrated it.

Tips for surviving Week 2-3:

• Make adoption visible: Celebrate wins in team huddles
• Don't overwhelm the team with 20 features. Pick one. Nail it. Celebrate it
• Ask recruiters to be testers, not perfect users. That mindset changes everything

You don't need to change everything. Just change something - on purpose.

Part 3: "AI Won't Replace Your Team - But It Will Reshape It"

Coaching your recruiters through the identity shift AI brings

By Day 30, something interesting happens. Recruiters stop asking, "What does Anna do?" and start asking, "What do I do now?"

And that's when the real leadership work begins.

At PSG, we saw this firsthand. As Anna took over admin-heavy tasks like resume screening, follow-ups, and interview scheduling, our recruiters started leaning into the work that really matters: engaging candidates, influencing hiring managers, building pipelines, and making decisions faster.

And the results were hard to ignore - in some teams, we saw productivity jump by more than 400%. Not because people worked harder, but because they worked smarter and were powered by AI to handle all of the time consuming admin and operational tasks that were bogging them down. We reminded them: AI doesn't take away your job. It takes away the stuff that slows you down.

Coaching your team through this shift means helping them:

• Step into their new value: relationship-building, personalization, strategic thinking
• Celebrate what they're doing more of, not what they're no longer doing
• Stay in learning mode - it's OK not to be perfect at this yet

Leadership in the age of AI isn't about having all the answers. It's about asking better questions, staying close to your people, and showing them how they can do their best work with the right support.

If you're 30 days in and things still feel bumpy - good. That means you're learning. So is your team. And the future? It's already here.