The CEO Perspective: Leading Through AI Disruption with Skill-Based Hiring

July 17th, 2025
Jeremy Friedman, Chief Executive Officer

The second quarter of the year offered some good news for candidates with the most recent jobs report, but we’re hearing from candidates in the media and on social media that the job search is getting harder despite relatively strong market data. Their commentary confirms what we’re seeing with increased interviews per role – it’s an employer’s market right now. Illustrating the economy’s resilience, June’s jobs report showed employers adding 147,000 jobs for the month and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent. In part because of labor market stability, the Federal Reserve continues to hold off on changing interest rates.

It’s safe to say that unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve got some thoughts on generative AI. While some people are excited – myself among them – others are worried. The anxiety is especially strong for people concerned about career stability (I think it is a big contributor to the uncertainty candidates are expressing), but businesses of all sizes are rapidly integrating AI into products as well as looking for opportunities to improve employee productivity.

At Hirevue, we’re striving for a balanced approach with our strategic thinking about generative AI. Here’s a bit about how we’re approaching integration and employee productivity, and concerns:

  1. Next month, we’re releasing a new Match and Apply AI agent that is built leveraging generative AI. The agent won’t make the final determination about candidates, but it will help serve up suggested roles based on their skills. We’ve been methodical in our approach and not rushing products before they’re ready, given how high-stakes hiring is for everyone involved.
  2. We’re thinking deeply about how we can redeploy folks if there are roles that could be largely automated with generative AI (but frankly, I don’t think we’re there). Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy, recently said that AI advancements will necessitate fewer employees in certain roles, and I think saying otherwise would be untrue, but businesses need to undergo a paradigm shift and think about reallocation rather than reduction. Move your skilled and capable team members onto more fulfilling roles that AI isn’t capable of doing.

What is on the horizon for talent teams?

  • Learning and development teams – it’s your time to shine. Organizations have to invest in employee upskilling and re-skilling like never before. Equip your people with skills that are complementary to AI technologies. Be realistic about areas of the business that are poised for serious change, and figure out the learning and development plans as best as you can.
  • Encourage your employees to show off a bit. What do I mean? Build a culture where no one is hiding how they’re using AI. We do a monthly company-wide showcase of how team members are using AI to make their jobs easier, accelerate project timelines, and reduce costs. We’re all learning about this technology in real-time. Give employees the space to tinker, then let them do a show and tell.
  • The next big trend in our industry will be a growing cabal of internal-only recruiters. Hiring new people is expensive, and companies are going to want to hold onto their vetted talent, while also being able to identify and measure things like an agile mindset to deploy people to new roles.
  • We continue to see that skill validation is gaining preference over inferred and self-reported skills. Assessments utilization amongst our customers is trending upwards, with a 24% growth rate in the last 3 quarters. Virtual Job Tryouts that measure on-the-job skills (without even using AI) continue to be a huge driver of this increase.

Conclusion

I am on the side of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: The labor market is changing - but not collapsing. And in this moment, employers have to start building the kind of workforce that thrives in ambiguity.

At Hirevue, we believe talent is more than a resume or a job title - it’s about potential. Generative AI isn’t replacing that potential; it’s demanding that we recognize, develop, and deploy it more intelligently. That means investing in assessments that measure real skills, fostering internal mobility, and giving employees permission to grow into what's next.

The companies that win in this new era won’t be the ones that fear change or force-fit outdated structures. They’ll be the ones who know how to hire for what's coming.