Back in October 2023, we hosted a Sharing Strengths & Struggles event at Babbel’s HQ in Berlin. At the time, many in-house recruitment teams were only beginning to explore the potential of AI tools like ChatGPT – testing how they could improve efficiency, streamline processes, and enhance candidate experience.
Now in 2025, things look very different.
AI in Talent Acquisition is no longer something “new” or “experimental.” It’s embedded in how we work – powering everything from sourcing strategies and job descriptions to pipeline management and stakeholder collaboration.
Our panel at the event featured three incredible TA leaders who generously shared their perspectives:
- Adriana Evtimova – *then* Talent Acquisition Lead at Trade Republic
- Stephen Collopy – *then* People Lead at GetYourGuide
- Cemre Akdemir – Talent Acquisition Lead at Babbel
Their insights were ahead of the curve and still feel incredibly relevant today. Here are four key takeaways that stood out:
1. AI Saves Time – and Boosts Inclusivity
“It’s much quicker than starting from scratch.” – Adriana Evtimova
Adriana explained how her team used ChatGPT to turn bullet points from hiring managers into polished, on-brand job descriptions. Not only did this save significant time, it also allowed them to prompt the tool to remove bias – helping them create more inclusive content that better reflects their employer brand.
2. AI Supports Smarter Sourcing
“ChatGPT helps us with market mapping too.” – Stephen Collopy
Stephen and Adriana highlighted the value of using AI for talent intelligence – from generating Boolean strings and identifying synonyms to mapping out competitors and uncovering sourcing patterns.
3. Empowering Hiring Managers Is Essential
“We should empower hiring managers, not just support them.” – Adriana Evtimova
Adriana reminded us that Talent Acquisition plays a strategic role. Stephen shared how he enabled consistency by developing question banks, interview scorecards, and documented processes.
4. Collaboration Helps Scale Effectively
“At first, there was resistance to sharing pipelines… but it worked.” – Cemre Akdemir Cemre shared how Babbel scaled quickly by encouraging hiring managers to align on core skills and unify their candidate pipelines – building trust across departments and ultimately reducing time to hire by 30%.
What’s Next: AI in TA is Here to Stay
This event marked a turning point. What was once a curiosity is now the foundation of how many TA teams operate. And as tools become smarter, the conversation is moving toward responsible, effective, and human-centered adoption.
We’re now planning our next Sharing Strengths & Struggles event – and this time, we’ll be diving deeper into AI in Talent
Acquisition.
If you’re doing something exciting in this space – whether you’re experimenting with new tools, automating parts of your process, or thinking about how to keep AI ethical in hiring – we’d love to hear from you.
To speak, contribute, or attend:
sarah.jamesoc@transition-partners.co.uk
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