In 2023, the world embraced the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) more than ever before. With the explosion of ChatGPT into individualsā pockets at the end of last year, weāve seen interest and trust in AI solutions from organizations skyrocket.
The year 2023 stands as a testament to the potential of AI in creating an enriched, unbiased, and empowering hiring experience.
Weāve compiled the highlights that have made this year our most exciting so far ā click the button below to immerse yourself in the year thatās been.
The Sapia.ai Difference: Our Candidate Experience
Numbers speak louder than words. And our 2023 candidate numbers resound with success. Almost 1.4 million candidates shared their stories this year in a Chat Interview, giving every one of them a fair and equal chance at success.
450,000 candidates completed a Video Interview, giving them the chance to share more about who they are, and enabling hiring teams to āmeetā shortlisted candidates at a time that suited them.
Of the candidates who started a Chat Interview, 91.8% completed it, showing that candidates appreciate the opportunity to open up and bring their real and best selves when applying for a job.
The impact that allowing candidates to interview, and receive personalised feedback that they can use in their lives and careers, is huge.
Not only did 96% of candidates find the feedback they received useful, but the follow-on effect to our customerās brands is a testament to the visionary talent leaders seeing the benefits of investing in their candidate experience.
79% employer brand advocacy and 84% consumer brand advocacy show how a candidateās experience with AI, when curated in a respectful, low-pressure way, can positively impact your consumer brand.
Reducing Bias: A Key Achievement in 2023
One of the most significant pillars of our mission that weāre proud of is our unwavering commitment to reducing bias in the hiring process. In 2023, weāve made substantial strides in ensuring that every candidate gets a fair chance, regardless of their background, making the hiring process more equitable and just.
In March of 2023, independent research was published that underscored the transformative impact of Sapia.ai in workplaces. The study highlighted how our platform significantly reduces the gender gap in technology hiring, a traditionally male-dominated sector. This research serves as a testament to our commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion, and our unwavering pursuit to level the playing field in the recruitment process.
The strides weāve made with Sapia.ai are not just about challenging the status quo; they are about shaping a future where opportunities are boundless, and talent is recognized, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, age, or any other irrelevant piece of information about a person other than their potential to perform in the role.
Customer Impact: The True Measure of Our Success
Our customerās satisfaction is the heartbeat of Sapia.ai. And in 2023, the pulse is strong. Our customer testimonials echo our commitment to excellence in the hiring process. They tell a story of transformed hiring experiences, saved time and resources, and how Sapia.ai has been a game-changer for businesses.
You can read our testimonials in our Year in Review highlight here.
By automating the screening and assessment of candidates, weāve made a remarkable difference in streamlining the recruitment process. This year, weāre proud to share that weāve saved each recruiter and hiring manager who uses Sapia.ai almost 30 hours per month. This has not only led to improved efficiency but has allowed hiring teams to focus more on their people. The time saved translates to increased productivity, enhanced candidate experience, and a more personable approach to hiring.
New Customer Partnerships: Strengthening Our Reach in 2023
This year, we had the pleasure of welcoming some esteemed brands to our growing network. These organizations are not just our valued clients; they are visionary leaders who embrace Responsible AI to make the hiring process better and more equitable.
Weāre proud to collaborate with Kmart and Target Australia, global entities renowned for their commitment to diversity and fairness. Starbucks Australia, another of our prestigious customers, is making strides in efficient, responsible hiring practices with our platform. Weāre also excited about our global partnerships with Joe & the Juice, a dynamic and innovative brand with a presence across the UK, Europe, and the US; Edge, an American organization known for its forward-thinking leadership; and Ecentric Payments, a pioneer in the South African digital payment solutions sector.
These partnerships demonstrate our shared vision to transform the hiring landscape, making it fairer and more efficient for all.
Expanding Our Integrations in 2023
This year, we also made meaningful strides in strengthening our partnerships with other major organizations in the HR space.
Weāre thrilled to announce the successful completion of our integrations this year with SAP SuccessFactors, LiveHire, iCIMS, and Avature.
These partnerships have been instrumental in expanding our reach and capabilities. Through these integrations, we can now offer a seamless, comprehensive experience encompassing every stage of the hiring process for users of these platforms.
This simplifies the recruitment workflow and ensures a smooth, hassle-free journey for both candidates and hiring teams.
Product Innovations of 2023
In April we introduced our multilingual capability, starting with French and Spanish, and rapidly expanding to Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, and Swedish. This significant expansion in our language offering for candidates facilitates easier communication for speakers of languages other than English fostering inclusivity and paving the way for a more diverse talent pool. The ability to accommodate various languages is instrumental in meeting our goal of making hiring equitable and accessible on a global scale.
In July we uplifted the review section of our Video Interviews, enabling a panel-style review process with multi-assessor capability. With new permissions sets that ensure hiring managers can only see their ratings, this feature helps to reduce the possibility of conformity bias, encouraging hiring managers to rate candidates solely based on their perspective and not be influenced by othersā opinions.
Also in July, we achieved a significant milestone with the development of our first proprietary large language model, which played a crucial role in the creation of our innovative Artificially Generated Text Detector. This language model, built with advanced machine-learning techniques, represents a significant leap forward in our commitment to innovation in AI. It can differentiate human-like text from artificially generated text, thanks to our large collection of human answers.
The detector can efficiently and effectively scan for artificial content, created with tools like ChatGPT. This innovative feature has been instrumental in ensuring the authenticity of our Chat Interview, reducing plagiarism by an astounding 78% almost overnight. By curbing plagiarism, we ensure each candidate has a fair opportunity to showcase their unique skills and competencies; and preserve the integrity of our platform in maintaining fairness in the recruitment process.
In October we launched Talent Hub, a game-changing feature that has accelerated the shortlisting process for recruiters and hiring managers. This tool provides a central hub for all Sapia.ai insights and data, reducing the clicks to review and progress a candidate by an impressive 75%. Now, the entire recruitment process is faster, smoother, and more efficient than ever before.
This month we released SMS reminders, which will help to boost our already industry-leading completion rates, enabling our customers to assess a broader talent pool.
Lastly, one of the most exciting innovations to have kicked off in 2023 was the proof of concept of Phai, our career site chatbot powered by generative AI.
Our customers have been crying out for us to bring the power of chat earlier in the candidate journey, connecting with candidates on a personalized level from the moment they land on the career site. Phai is the first step in this direction, with general availability slated for Q1, 2024; and a roadmap of functionality planned that will elevate the candidate experience even further.
To interact with Phai, simply click the chat button on the bottom left of your browser window.
Global Recognition: Our Scientific Research
In 2023, our efforts in scientific research and practical application of AI garnered global recognition, amplifying our commitment to innovation and responsible AI. We were profoundly honored to have had the opportunity to present four research papers at the 2023 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) annual conference, the leading global event for I/O psychologists.
This recognition underscores our dedication to rigorous scientific research and our quest for knowledge, driving us to continue exploring new frontiers. We are also thrilled to announce the news that 6 research papers from Sapia.ai have been accepted for presentations at the 2024 SIOP conference and a poster at the NVIDIA GTC conference, one of the leading venues for showcasing Gen AI innovations.
Moreover, our work has been acknowledged by the National AI Centre in Australia, emphasized in a recent paper on the countryās expanding AI ecosystem. This recognition serves as a testament to our impactful contributions to the Responsible AI ecosystem in Australia and beyond. It also highlights our pivotal role in shaping the future of AI and its practical applications, further reinforcing our commitment to enhancing the recruitment process using ethical AI.
Looking Forward to 2024
As we reflect on an extraordinary 2023, weāre filled with immense gratitude for our partnerships, innovations, and recognitions that have shaped the year.
Leaping into 2024, we have some incredibly exciting plans shaping up that will elevate the experience for candidates and hiring teams and move us closer to achieving our mission of using ethical AI to make hiring fairer, more efficient, and more effective.
Related
Blog
Reinventing the Competency Framework: A Data-Driven Approach for the AI Era
We canāt hide from reality anymore. Talent needs are shifting overnight, and AI is redefining what it means to work. Traditional talent frameworks are no longer fit for purpose. At Sapia.ai, we believe the future of talent strategy lies in a smarter, fairer, and more adaptive way of defining what great looks like.
Our AI hiring platform is built on the largest proprietary dataset of interview answers globally ā weāre a data company at heart, and weāve seen the power of data-driven people methodology in transforming how organisations hire and retain good talent.
So, when it came to building a new Competency Framework that could be leveraged globally for hiring for any role at any scale, of course, we used a ground-up, data-led methodology that bridges the gap between organisational psychology and AI.
Why Rethink Competency Frameworks?
Conventional frameworks are typically crafted through expert interviews and focus groups. While valuable, they tend to be subjective, static, and too slow to keep pace with evolving job demands. As roles become more fluid and technology augments or replaces task-based skills, organisations need a new way to understand the human capabilities that genuinely matter for performance.
We wanted to identify enduring, job-agnostic competencies that reflect what drives success in a modern workplace ā capabilities like adaptability, resilience, learning agility, and customer orientation.
(Why competencies and not just skills? Read why here.)
Our Approach: Where AI Meets I/O Psychology
Sapia.aiās methodology is rooted in the science of human behaviour but powered by cutting-edge AI. We asked two core questions:
- Can we make competency discovery agile, scalable, and evidence-based?
- Can we use AI to automate the process without losing the rigour of traditional psychology?
The answer to both: yes.
We began with a rich dataset of over 37,000 job descriptions across industries and role types. Using large language models (LLMs) and advanced NLP techniques, we extracted over 200,000 behavioural descriptors. These were distilled down through a four-step process:
- Behavioural Descriptor Extraction
- Clustering and Labeling
- Cluster Analysis by I/O Psychologists
- Thematic Categorisation and Definition of Competencies
This resulted in a refined list of 25 human-centric competencies, each with clear behavioural indicators and practical relevance across a wide range of roles.
Built to Scale. Built to Adapt.
Our framework is intelligent, but importantly, itās adaptive. Organisations can apply this methodology to their own job descriptions to discover custom competencies. This bottom-up, role-data-led approach ensures alignment to real work, not just theoretical models.
And because the framework integrates directly with our AI-powered hiring tools, you get a connected system that brings your talent strategy to life.
Our framework comes to life in the following tools:
- Job Analyser ā Starting with a job description, it creates a unique competency profile for each role to build tailored structured interviews in seconds.
- Structured Chat-based Interviews that assess candidatesā responses according to the competency profile for consistent candidate assessment.
- Talent Insights Reports from every interview with deep reasoning and explainability for fair and objective hiring decisions.
- Phai Career Coach for internal mobility and employee growth that considers their competency strengths and career aspirations.
The Future of Talent Acquisition & Development is Competency-First
Skills alone cannot predict success. Competencies do. As AI continues transforming how we work, Sapia.aiās Competency Framework offers a scalable, scientific, and fair foundation for hiring and developing the talent of tomorrow.
Want to see how it works? Download the full framework.
Blog
Itās Time to Stop Hiring for Skills, and Start Hiring for Competencies
If youāre a CHRO or Head of Recruitment at an enterprise today, chances are youāve been inundated with messages about the importance of āskills-based hiring.ā LinkedInās recent Work Change Report (2025) is full of compelling data: a 140% increase in the rate at which professionals are adding new skills to their profiles since 2022, and a projection that by 2030, 70% of the skills used in most jobs today will have changed.
This is essential reading. But thereās a missed opportunity: the singular focus on āskillsā fails to acknowledge the real metric that talent leaders need to be using to future-proof their workforce ā competencies.
Skills vs Competencies: The Crucial Distinction
- Skills are task-specific capabilities. Think Python programming, Excel, or even negotiation.
- Soft skills refer to interpersonal or behavioural qualities like adaptability, communication, and resilience.
But skills on their own ā even soft ones ā are generic, disjointed, and often disconnected from real-world performance. In contrast:
- Competencies are clusters of skills, knowledge, behaviours and abilities that are observable, measurable, and context-specific.
Put simply, competencies answer the all-important question: Can this person apply the right skills, in the right way, at the right time, to deliver results in our environment?
Why Competencies Matter More Than Ever
The Work Change Report outlines a future where job titles are fluid, roles evolve quickly, and AI is a constant disruptor. This creates three massive challenges for hiring at scale:
- Roles are changing faster than static skill frameworks can keep up
- Job candidates may have non-linear, cross-functional backgrounds
- The shelf-life of technical skills is shrinking rapidly
Skills alone donāt tell us whether someone can succeed in a role that will look different 12 months from now. But competencies can. Because they measure not just what a person knows, but how they apply it.
Adaptive Talent: The New Competitive Advantage
The LinkedIn report highlights a critical insight: organisations now prioritise agility in entry-level hiring. And thereās a good reason for that. With professionals expected to hold twice as many jobs over their careers compared to 15 years ago, adaptability is not just a nice-to-have. Itās core to success.
But you canāt measure agility with a keyword on a CV. You measure it by looking at competencies like:
- Learning agility
- Change resilience
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Problem-solving in ambiguous contexts
When you shift the focus away from skills to behavioural competencies that can be defined, observed, and assessed in structured ways, you open yourself up to a much more dynamic and more useful way of managing talent.
Building a Competency-Based Talent Framework
To hire effectively at scale, particularly in a technology-driven world of work, talent leaders must shift their lens:
- Define Role-Specific Competencies: Move beyond job descriptions based on qualifications or vague skill sets. Break roles down into measurable competencies that reflect current and emerging performance expectations. This step is crucial for organisations to be able to accurately assess role-fit in the next stages. Sapia.ai does this automatically, taking job descriptions and building role-specific competency models in seconds.
- Assess Competencies Fairly and Objectively: Use structured behavioural interviews, ideally at scale. These provide a much more accurate picture of a candidateās readiness than self-reported skills or credentials. Sapia.aiās AI powered interviews enable competency assessment, at scale.
- Build Pathways for Development and Internal Mobility: A competency framework makes it easier to identify transferable strengths, development gaps, and future-fit potential. It gives employees clarity on how to grow within the business. Using an AI-powered coach can help ensure that talent is being continuously developed against the organisationās competency framework.
The Future of Work Requires Depth, Not Just Breadth
LinkedInās data shows that people are learning more skills more quickly than ever. But the real question for talent leaders like you is: Are those skills being applied in ways that drive value? Are we hiring for task proficiency or performance?
The truth is that the organisations that will thrive in an AI-driven, skills-fluid economy arenāt the ones chasing the next hot skill. Theyāre the ones designing systems to identify, develop and scale competence.
Keen to Shift to Competencies, but Lacking a Framework?
Sapia.ai has developed a comprehensive Competency Framework using a data-driven approach. Download the full paper here.
Blog
The AGC Debate: Are AI-Written Interview Answers a Red Flag or Smart Strategy?
Every day, we read stories of increased fake or AI-assisted applications. Tools like LazyApply are just one of many flooding the market, driving up applicant volumes to never-before-seen levels.
As an overwhelmed hiring function, how do you find the needle in the haystack without using an army of recruiters to filter through the maze?
At Sapia.ai, we help global enterprises do just that. Many of the worldās most trusted brands, such as Qantas Group, have relied on our hiring platform as a co-pilot for better hiring since 2020.
Our Chat Interview has given millions of candidates a voice they wouldnāt have had ā enabling them to share in their own words why theyāre the best fit for the role. To find the people who belong with their brands, our customers must trust that their candidates represent themselves. Thus, they want to trust that our AI is analysing real human answersānot answers from a machine.
The Rise of GPT
When ChatGPT went viral in November 2022, we immediately adopted a defensive strategy. We had long been flagging plagiarised candidate responses, but then, we needed to act fast to flag responses using artificially generated content (āAGCā).
Many companies were in the same position, but Sapia.ai was the only company with a large proprietary data set of interview answers that pre-dated GPT and similar tools: 2.5 billion words written by real humans.
That data enabled us to build a world-first:- an LLM-based AGC detector for text-based interviews, recently upgraded to v2.0 with 99% accuracy and a false positive rate of 1%. An NLP classification model built on Sapia.ai proprietary data that operates across all Sapia.ai chat interviews.
Full Transparency with Candidates
Because we value candidate trust as much as customer trust, we wanted to be transparent with candidates about our ability to detect artificially generated content (AGC). As an LLM, we could identify AGC in real time and warn candidates that we had detected it.
This has had a powerful impact on candidate behaviour. Since our AGC detector went live, we have seen that the real-time flagging acts as a real-time disincentive to use tools like ChatGPT to generate interview responses.
The detector generates a warning if 3 or more answers are flagged as having artificially generated content. The Sapia.ai Chat Interview uses 5 open-ended interview questions for volume hiring roles, such as retail, contact centre, and customer service, and 6 questions for professional roles, such as engineers, data scientists, graduates, etc.
Letās Take a Closer Look at the Dataā¦
We see that using our AGC detector LLM to communicate live with candidates in the interview flow when artificial content has been detected has a positive effect on deterring candidates from using AI tools to generate their answers.
The rate of AGC use declines from 1 question flagged to 5 questions ā raising the flag on one question is generally enough to deter candidates from trying again.
The graph below shows the number of candidates, from a total of almost 2.7m, that used artificially generated content in their answers.
Differences in AGC Usage Rate by Groups
We see no meaningful differences in candidate behaviour based on the job they are applying for or based on geography.
However, we have found differences by gender and ethnicity ā for example, men use artificially generated content more than women. The graph below shows the overall completion ratios by gender ā for all interviews on the left and for interviews where the number of questions with AGC detected is 5 or more on the right.
Perception of Artificially Generated Content by Hirers.
Weāre curious to understand how hirers perceive the use of these tools to assist candidates in a written interview. The creation of the detector was based on the majority of Sapia.ai customers wanting transparency & explainability around the use of these tools by candidates, often because they want to ensure that candidates are using their own words to complete their interviews and they want to avoid wasting time progressing candidates who are not as capable as their chat interview suggests.
However, some of our customers feel that itās a positive reflection of the candidate, showing that they are using the tools available to them to put their best foot forward.
Itās a mix of perspectives.
Our detector labels it as the use of artificially generated content. Itās up to our customers how they use that information in their decision-making processes.
This concept of having a human in the loop is one of the key dimensions of ethical AI, and we ensure that it is used in every AI-related hiring product we build.
Interested in the science behind it all? Download our published research on developing the AGC detector š