Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept or a futuristic experiment, it’s here, reshaping the way businesses operate and hire talent. For James Atchison-Wootton, Global Senior Manager of Innovation & AI at Robert Walters, AI in recruitment isn’t about replacing humans; it’s about empowering them to work smarter, faster, and more effectively.
Speaking ahead of a British New Zealand Business Association event in Auckland on 20 November, where he will be part of an expert panel exploring AI in action, James outlined how Robert Walters is using AI to revolutionise recruitment globally, while maintaining fairness, transparency, and the human touch.
Embedding AI safely and strategically
James describes Robert Walters’ approach as careful and measured. “We made a choice probably coming up to three years ago to actually say, right, I think this could be a thing,” he explains. The company began by incubating AI internally, assessing how the technology could solve real business challenges. Rather than jumping straight into generative AI tools for every function, the firm considered whether solutions could be bought off the shelf or needed to be built in-house.
Data security was paramount. James says that ensuring fairness, transparency, and compliance is essential, especially when dealing with sensitive candidate data. “Everyone wants to use AI, but essentially, if you’re dropping in accounts or CVs into ChatGPT or similar tools, you are training their data. We don’t want our people inadvertently sharing data into the ether,” James warns.
With candidates’ personal and sensitive information at stake, Robert Walters developed its own secure AI environment – a private, Microsoft Azure-hosted version of ChatGPT – allowing employees to experiment safely while keeping all data within the company’s ecosystem. “From the onset we knew that when it comes to data we’re actually classed as high risk, the same risk as financial data, because of the information that we take from people,” James says.
By building a secure, private AI environment, the firm safeguards personal information while enabling practical applications that improve productivity. Moreover, educating staff and clients on responsible AI use is part of the process.
Building on this safety-first priority, the early focus for the tech’s implementation was on efficiency and freeing staff from repetitive administrative tasks. For instance, creating a job advertisement could take up to an hour, factoring in language, SEO, and inclusivity. AI tools now streamline the process to as little as three minutes. “We looked at where we could reduce time and capacity on repetitive admin and longer tasks. That was what we really focused on in the early days of developing and bringing AI into the business,” James says.
However, he says that AI is not just transforming internal workflows at the firm. It’s reshaping the global recruitment ecosystem. Candidates now submit applications with AI assistance, from CV summaries to tailored cover letters, increasing both the volume and quality of applications. “You used to apply for two or three jobs a day, putting a huge amount of thought into it. Now, with AI, people are able to expedite that.”
However, the technology also presents challenges. Automated tools and applicant tracking systems (ATS) increasingly use AI to shortlist candidates, which can inadvertently introduce inconsistencies. “You can put the same kinds of CVs through five times, and the top three will be different every time.” For Robert Walters, AI is a tool to augment human judgment, not replace it. James says the company deliberately avoids using AI for final candidate matching, focusing instead on trend analysis, contextual insights, and efficiency.
Human judgment in an AI world
For James, the greatest value of AI lies in freeing recruiters to focus on human-centric work. “Our focus around AI is to free up people to build stories. Let people tell their stories, whether it’s clients or candidates,” he explains. By automating administrative processes, recruiters can spend more time engaging with candidates, understanding client needs, and nurturing relationships.
This blend of human insight and AI speed, he says, is critical. While AI can handle data processing and trend identification, it cannot replicate the empathy and nuanced understanding that make a recruiter effective. “The future of recruitment isn’t AI replacing humans, it’s making humans better at being human.”
Beyond technology, James notes the importance of cultivating skills that allow organisations to thrive in an AI-enabled workplace. “The most valuable skills for our candidates and clients aren’t technical,” he says. “It’s more about thinking critically and using AI creatively to solve problems.” Soft skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and adaptability, he says are becoming the “hard currency” in the AI era.
Equally, companies must equip their teams to evaluate AI initiatives critically, separating hype from reality. “It’s really easy just to emit AI because of AI and the hype, rather than looking at your business reality and seeing where it’s needed.” This mindset, he says, ensures AI adoption delivers genuine business value rather than becoming an experimental distraction.
To help organisations take those first steps confidently, Robert Walters offers an AI Readiness programme designed to assess a business’s current capability and support its journey toward safe and effective AI adoption.
From pilot to enterprise impact
One of the most significant lessons from Robert Walters’ journey is the importance of starting small, measuring results, and scaling quickly. “A lot of companies will stall at pilot stages. Everybody talks about proof of concept. For us, it was really starting small, measuring fast, and scaling,” James says.
Employee engagement has been critical too. Unlike many transformative initiatives, AI adoption he says has been embraced enthusiastically, thanks to the visible market relevance and curiosity surrounding the technology. “We have a really captive audience because people are scared of missing out on this knowledge.” The company also developed a prompt library, supporting thousands of users globally, making it easier for their people to get started with AI and apply it to real recruitment tasks. For James, the future of AI in recruitment lies in more embedded, autonomous tools such as AI copilots that nudge recruiters toward optimal actions, anticipate hiring needs, and personalise candidate engagement. “We have enough data from our clients to understand hiring trends, but we’re probably not actioning it well enough to service them proactively.”
The overarching theme is clear: AI is not about replacing human intelligence but amplifying it. By handling repetitive tasks, providing actionable insights, and enabling smarter decision-making, AI empowers recruiters and business leaders alike to focus on what machines cannot do, understanding people, fostering relationships, and driving meaningful business outcomes.
Join the panel discussion
James Atchison-Wootton will bring these insights to life at a British New Zealand Business Association panel discussion titled AI in Action: A conversation on turning innovation into impact, in Auckland on 20 November at AUT’s City Campus, sharing a global perspective on how AI is transforming recruitment while enhancing human potential. Register for the event, here.
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