The AI Productivity Gap in Talent Acquisition

Tony Buffum shares insights on AI adoption in enterprise talent acquisition from the Conference Board's talent leadership summit and an executive dinner with 15+ CHROs.

AI in Talent Acquisition — The Productivity Promise Gap

If you spend a week with CHROs from companies with 60,000+ employees, one thing becomes immediately clear: AI in talent acquisition is the number one topic in every room. But the conversation has shifted. It's no longer about possibility. It's about pressure — and disappointment.

TA teams are being asked to implement AI tools fast and show measurable impact on costs. The mandate is straightforward: either reduce headcount through automation or increase capacity so existing recruiters can take on more volume. Speed to talent is the name of the game, and anything that's not value-added needs to be automated out of the process.

But here's what the keynotes don't cover: the gap between what vendors promise and what organizations actually experience.

"There's this productivity promise of AI. The reality is it's a lot of work and you often get a fraction of what is promised." — Tony Buffum

Change Management: The Real Bottleneck

The technology isn't the problem. The change is. Inside the largest organizations in the world, even well-planned AI implementations take enormous effort — not just to pilot and deploy, but to get people on board. Employees are used to doing things a certain way. When an agent or automated workflow takes over a task they used to own, the ask is simple but heavy: trust that it's going to work.

That trust doesn't come easily when the technology is new, the outcomes are uncertain, and the people impacted are still learning what these tools even do. Leaders who acknowledge the anxiety — instead of pushing past it — are the ones getting real adoption.

"Anytime we talk about AI implementation and get excited about the potential, there's also this fret — what does this really mean?" — Tony Buffum

Workforce Technology Decisions Need Trust, Not Pitches

The frustration with the productivity promise extends beyond AI tools. Across every category of workforce technology, buyers are tired of the gap between what's sold and what's delivered. The demo looked incredible. The case studies were perfectly polished. The ROI projections checked every box. Then implementation starts, and reality sets in.

This is exactly why peer validation matters more than vendor marketing. Real reviews from real leaders. Business cases with actual outcomes. Benchmarks you can customize to your specific business needs. When you can see that someone in a similar situation already made it work, you don't need to take a leap of faith.

"The closer and faster you can get to reality, the easier it is to make a decision and the more successful your implementation is going to be." — Tony Buffum

Community as Competitive Advantage

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the week wasn't about technology at all. It was about people. When HR leaders from completely different industries sit down together — over good food, honest conversation, and no vendor agenda — the insights that emerge are universally applicable. Change management challenges don't care what industry you're in. The experience of motivating teams to adopt something new transfers across every sector.

"Creating that community is one of the really fun parts of what we make happen at Human Cloud." — Tony Buffum

The Bottom Line

AI in talent acquisition isn't slowing down. The pressure to implement is only increasing. But the organizations that will win aren't the ones moving fastest — they're the ones closing the gap between what's promised and what's real. That means demanding better proof from vendors, learning from peers who've already been through the implementation, and building communities where honest sharing replaces polished pitches.

The productivity promise of AI will eventually be fulfilled. But right now, the leaders getting the most value are the ones who approach it with clear eyes, realistic expectations, and a network of peers who tell them the truth.

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About Tony Buffum

Tony Buffum is Co-Founder & CSO at Human Cloud with 20+ years in global HR and talent transformation. Former CHRO at FLIR Systems and VP HR at Stanley Black & Decker, he brings an operator's perspective to the future of workforce strategy.

Listen to the full episode: Human Cloud Podcast on Spotify

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This article was adapted from the Human Cloud Podcast. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.