The conversation around AI in talent acquisition took center stage at HR Tech 2025. Across live sessions, customer stories and showcases, three themes consistently emerged: the excitement around AI agents, the importance of solving real business problems and the growing urgency of security. Together, they highlight both the promise of AI adoption and the practical challenges leaders must overcome.
This recap explores those conversations in detail and illustrates how Unilever, in partnership with Radancy, is already translating them into measurable results. The takeaway is clear: The future of talent acquisition won’t be defined by adopting the most tools, but by adopting the right tools in the right way.
1. Agents are top of mind – but implementation is the real challenge.
There’s no question that agent technology is here to stay. Leaders across industries expressed eagerness to deploy recruiting agents to streamline tasks, accelerate hiring and enhance the candidate experience. But while the “what” is clear, the “how” remains the sticking point. The path forward requires intentional adoption strategies, staged rollouts and alignment to business objectives – not just curiosity about the technology.
2. Technology creates impact when it solves real problems.
Another recurring theme was the danger of investing in solutions without a clear application. Buying tech for tech’s sake almost always leads to shelfware. The takeaway for talent leaders: Define the use case first, then select the tool. Success depends on mapping technology to outcomes – whether that’s reducing time to hire, scaling sourcing capacity or improving candidate conversion.
3. Security is non-negotiable.
Fraudulent applications and malicious actors are on the rise, and many organizations now see the application process as a potential backdoor into sensitive systems. Security is both an IT and a talent concern. Every new tool, integration or workflow must be designed with candidate data protection, compliance and fraud prevention as core requirements.
Unilever: A Case Study in Getting It Right
Among the strongest voices at HR Tech 2025 was Unilever, who shared how they’ve moved past the hype and into measurable results by partnering with Radancy. Their approach captured the spirit of all three takeaways:
- Agent adoption with purpose: Unilever embedded Radancy’s Scheduling Agent directly into their talent acquisition flow, immediately addressing recruiter pain points and scaling interview management across markets, rather than experimenting with the agents for the sake of it.
- Clear business application: From day one, adoption was tied to measurable outcomes. In just the first 30 days, Unilever saved 77 recruiter hours and scheduled 1,700 interviews, demonstrating that AI was deployed to solve high-impact challenges.
- Security at the center: Consolidating onto a unified, AI-powered talent acquisition platform gave Unilever stronger visibility and control over candidate data. By designing for a responsible, future-ready and ethical agentic infrastructure, they ensured that automation improved efficiency while reinforcing trust and safeguarding against fraud.
Unilever’s story demonstrates what’s possible when AI adoption is grounded in business need and protected by rigorous security.
Looking Ahead
HR Tech 2025 made it clear: The winners in this next era of talent acquisition won’t be the companies that adopt the most tools. They’ll be the companies that adopt the right tools the right way – agents applied with intention, technology mapped to outcomes and security treated as a core design principle.
At Radancy, that’s the approach we lead with: guiding customers from excitement to execution, from technology to transformation.
With the Radancy Talent Acquisition Cloud, you can move from hype to measurable impact. Powered by Agentic AI, intelligent automation and data-driven insights, our platform simplifies hiring, maximizes ROI and builds the workforce of tomorrow.
Book a demo to see how Radancy helps you adopt AI with intention, align technology to business outcomes and deliver secure, accelerated results.
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