'I've seen organizations where AI is front and center, and that becomes problematic' says KPMG director
As employers scramble to attract top talent in a competitive job market, artificial intelligence is taking on a central role in the hiring process.
But while the tech promises speed and scale, its application raises crucial questions about fairness, reliability, and what might be lost when human judgment takes a backseat.
Paul Hamilton, director of national talent attraction strategy and operations at KPMG Canada, views AI as a "game changer" in recruitment, offering both speed and strategic value in a hyper-competitive job market. He’s quick to note that technology gives hiring teams a crucial edge in reaching qualified candidates faster.
“The use of AI is helping organizations to gain tremendous efficiencies,” he said. “It's such an ultra competitive marketplace right now so any advantage that you can get using technology to get to the right candidates sooner, quicker, faster is going to help. It's a game changer.”
Another efficient use of AI is its role in sifting through applicant pools to identify the most promising candidates. He highlighted how organizations are using AI to look at the pool of candidates and determine who the top 50 or 60 applicants are that the recruiter should consider.
However, he made it clear that AI is not making any hiring decisions.
“No decisions are being made by AI. It’s about leveraging the power of AI to reduce the administrative tasks so that the recruiters can focus on more the value add and the strategic elements. What's important is that the human still remains in the loop,” he said.
Indeed, the human element remains at the forefront of utilizing AI, as Hamilton emphasized that the real promise of AI in recruitment lies in its responsible application. Not in the technology alone, but in how it's governed and led.
At the core of that framework, Hamilton asserted, must be human leadership and cautions against making AI the centerpiece of hiring strategies.
“I’ve seen organizations where AI is front and center, and I think that becomes problematic,” he said. Instead, the process should be led by people, not machines.
Consequently, while it’s imperative that employers remember humans are the ones who guide AI, Hamilton believes organizations often misunderstand this hierarchy.
“We often hear the term ‘Artificial intelligence and human resources.’ I think sometimes we have it actually backwards. It’s actually ‘human intelligence and artificial resources’,” he said, underscoring that leadership must come from people, while AI should be a tool, not the driver.
“It’s the human intelligence that’s leading the charge. If you’re running and leading with AI, then you’re at the mercy of the system," he added.
Similarly, ethics can’t be an afterthought. Hamilton argues the ethical component is foundational to any proper application of AI.
“That has to be one of the key essential ingredients when you're baking AI into your solution and ensure that you're really clear and transparent with your audience. Any organization that’s using AI needs to inform their candidates that they are using AI,” he said.
And while many companies have established solid AI governance structures, particularly around privacy and cybersecurity, he acknowledges there are still critical risks in using AI for recruitment that can’t be ignored. One such risk is that AI lacks depth in assessing human qualities.
“It’s essentially looking at your LinkedIn profile, your resume, and maybe some other data points,” Hamilton said, adding that limitation means AI misses vital interpersonal signals.
This is why he rejects the term “soft skills,” preferring to call them “power skills”, things like communication, eye contact, and conversational ability.
“We’re in the people game,” he said. “It’s important that I feel confident and not only is your resume solid but that you conduct yourself in a way that I would feel comfortable putting you in front of our clients.”
Whereas AI, he emphasized, can’t make that call.
“That’s why it’s so imperative that organizations use AI to help but not make decisions.”
Still, he outlined three core reasons why and how companies are integrating AI into their hiring processes. The first is its ability to clear away the routine and time-consuming administrative work that often clutters recruitment workflows.
This efficiency “allows you to get through the clutter of some of the old transactional administrative tasks” so employers can get to the right candidate at the right time as well as interviewing and assessing the candidate’s skills and their power skills,” he noted.
Second, he pointed out AI’s unique capacity to locate and engage with talent in specific professional or digital “sandboxes.” By analyzing where individuals spend time online and aligning those spaces with a job’s required skills, recruiters can tailor their outreach to resonate more effectively.
“AI can help us to understand sort of where these individuals are so that we can then hone and tailor our messages to go after that particular type of candidate,” he said.
The third advantage, he said, lies in AI’s robust data analysis and forecasting ability. The technology can predict timelines for future hiring, allowing organizations to reverse engineer recruiting practices to enable HR administrators to fill the position and minimize the disruption to the business. Plan sponsors can also use AI in a similar way, particularly when it comes to benefits selection.
AI and personalization of benefits
When asked how AI is being used for benefits selection, Hamilton acknowledged that employee benefits are deeply personal and success depends on a genuine understanding of individual needs.
One example he pointed to is KPMG’s decision to provide $3,000 annually for mental health support.
“That doesn’t happen unless you understand the needs of what’s going on with your employees,” he said, underscoring that kind of insight is where AI can make all the difference.
AI’s strength lies in data, particularly its ability to synthesize complex, changing factors such as geopolitical dynamics, economic pressures, and social conditions. Hamilton emphasized feeding that context into an AI platform allows plan sponsors to forecast evolving needs and plan accordingly.
“There’s so much going on in the minds of the employees,” he said. “It’s so imperative that you're leveraging AI to constantly research the needs of your employees and then create a package where they feel as though you really listen to them."
