BBC Tech Now Puts Willo Insights to the Test

How AI Is Changing Both Sides of Hiring

Willo was recently featured on BBC News, exploring how artificial intelligence is changing the way candidates apply for jobs and how employers assess them.

The BBC’s technology correspondent put Willo Insights to the test by stepping into the shoes of a candidate and completing an assessment herself.

Watch the full BBC feature on iPlayer →
Watch the highlights and join the conversation on LinkedIn →

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A new challenge for hiring teams

AI has made it easier than ever for candidates to create polished CVs, applications and cover letters.

While these tools can make the application process more accessible, they also create a significant challenge for employers. When applications increasingly look and sound the same, it becomes harder to understand the real person behind each one.

Hiring teams are already managing more applications with limited time and resources. The continued growth of generative AI means traditional screening methods are becoming less effective at identifying genuine skills, experience and potential.

The answer cannot simply be to add more automation.

Employers need better evidence, clearer processes and technology that supports human judgement rather than attempting to replace it.

Why we built Willo Insights

Willo Insights has taken more than 18 months of research and development, supported by over $1 million in investment.

It was created to help hiring teams cut through growing application noise and better understand the evidence contained within candidate responses.

Candidates respond to structured, role-relevant questions through video, audio, written answers or file uploads. Insights then helps hiring teams review those responses against the criteria that matter for the role.

Rather than relying entirely on CV keywords or polished application language, employers can assess what candidates actually say, show and submit.

Insights brings that evidence together clearly, helping teams identify stronger candidates and build more informed shortlists.

Importantly, people remain in control. Insights supports the decision-making process, but it does not make the final hiring decision on behalf of an employer.

Putting the technology to the test

As part of the BBC feature, technology correspondent Shiona McCallum completed a Willo assessment and experienced the process from a candidate’s perspective.

Her responses were reviewed using Insights, demonstrating how the technology can surface relevant evidence and help an employer understand how closely a candidate’s answers align with the requirements of a role.

It offered a practical look at what happens when AI is present on both sides of the hiring process.

Candidates are increasingly using AI to support their applications. Employers must now consider how they can use technology responsibly to assess growing volumes of candidate information without losing fairness, transparency or human oversight.

Better technology should create better human decisions

There is a growing debate about whether AI will make recruitment more or less human.

At Willo, we believe the outcome depends on how the technology is designed and used.

AI should not become an unexplained scoring system that removes people from important decisions. It should help hiring teams understand evidence more clearly, apply consistent criteria and spend more time engaging with the right candidates.

Bias mitigation also cannot be solved by technology alone. It begins with the people, processes and training behind every hiring decision.

Structured assessments and clearer evidence can support greater consistency, but employers must remain accountable for how candidates are evaluated and how decisions are made.

A huge moment for the Willo team

Seeing Willo Insights featured on the BBC was a huge moment for our entire team.

A significant amount of hard work, research and care has gone into creating something we believe is genuinely different from anything else currently available in the market.

The feature recognized not only the technology itself, but the wider challenge it has been designed to solve.

Hiring is entering a new era. Application volumes are increasing, candidate behaviour is evolving and employers need a more reliable way to understand the people behind every application.

We are incredibly proud of what we have built and cannot wait to share it with more hiring teams around the world.