From Hidden to Human: The Case for Radical Transparency Around AI in Hiring 

Key takeaways:

• Candidates aren’t afraid of AI—they fear what you’re not telling them and whether humans are still in the equation at all.
• Employers who lead with radical transparency around AI in hiring hold a distinct advantage in the talent market.
• How can you build trust around AI? Treat transparency as an ongoing commitment, with living documentation, regular reviews, and process improvements. 

Editor’s note: The following is an opinion piece from Indeed Senior Talent Strategy Advisor Kyle M.K. The views expressed within this article are the author’s own. They do not represent the official position of Indeed. 

It’s 2026, and after hundreds of conversations with employers, hiring managers, and job seekers, one thing is clear: Technology has given us the ability to do more, faster than ever. 

Somewhere along the way, as the labour market tightened and technology evolved, the hiring process turned into a standoff between machines. The more job seekers used AI to build resumes that match job descriptions, the more employers used AI to evaluate whether candidates actually qualify. The more employers relied on AI to manage volume, the more candidates turned to AI to get past screening.

It’s robot vs. robot, each trying to optimize for the other, but ultimately failing to connect. And it’s left everyone suspicious of the other side’s AI use, even as both sides actively depend on their own.

At a moment like this, employers have a real opportunity to step out of the standoff and plant a flag that says we still believe in the power of human connection.

 Kyle M.K.

A Growing AI Trust Gap Between Employers and Job Seekers 

This modern hiring dynamic has, at its core, created a trust problem. Job seekers’ trust in AI for hiring has declined, even from just a year ago. Only a quarter of candidates trust AI to evaluate them fairly, and with offer acceptance rates down significantly, employers can’t risk eroding that trust further. 

On the other hand, employers are more wary of application fraud than ever before. And they’re increasingly uncertain whether the resumes they receive reflect what a candidate can actually do. 

But it’s not a situation of “us vs. them.” Job seekers aren’t trying to cheat the system. They’re afraid they won’t be seen if they don’t speak the algorithm’s language. Recruiters don’t want to offload critical decisions to a machine. They need help managing volume so they can do their jobs. Everyone is trapped by the system, and both sides are simply trying to protect themselves. 

To be clear, AI isn’t the problem. In fact, it’s a great tool in many cases for giving more candidates an opportunity who might otherwise go unnoticed. It’s also enabling TA teams to automate administrative tasks so they can focus on the human, relationship-building parts of their job.

Where technology becomes a problem is when it’s kept hidden. The lack of visibility breeds uncertainty, which leads to mistrust. And the best talent, the candidates with options, will opt out when they can’t trust the process.

Of course, laws aiming to regulate the unfair usage of AI in hiring already exist, with more on the way. But where compliance is required, radical transparency is chosen—and that choice is what candidates notice.

How Zapier Leads with Radical Transparency

Hiring is a relatively small part of the employment life cycle, maybe a few weeks or months out of someone’s entire career. But what hangs in the balance during that time—income, stability, the ability to show up for the people who depend on you—is anything but. And that’s exactly why this work is worth doing. 

Trust is a two-way street, but the roles are clear: Employers lead with transparency, job seekers lead with authenticity. So what does that actually look like?

If you’re tempted to add a few boilerplate sentences on your job postings about how you hire with AI, that’s a start, but it’s not enough. Instead of a checkbox, think of transparency around AI in hiring as a mindset shift. It’s a deliberate choice to show your work at every step, and trust that the talent you want to attract will respect you more for it.

One of the clearest examples of radical transparency around AI in hiring comes from Zapier, a workflow automation company. 

When testing agentic recruiters, they were upfront: Here’s why we’re doing this, here’s what to expect, and here’s how to opt out if you’d prefer. Even Zapier’s AI in hiring page encourages job seekers to use AI during the application process and outlines guardrails for responsible use. 

Through this level of transparency, Zapier and companies like it have committed to ensuring their internal company values carry over into their hiring process, too. It’s a smart move that sets the tone before someone even walks in the door. And more than a culture signal, it’s a long-term strategy to help them win top talent today and tomorrow. 

From Policy to Practice: 4 Steps to Transparent Hiring

Transparency isn’t one-size-fits-all, and not every company’s version of transparency will look like Zapier’s. But treating transparency as practice, rather than policy, is what matters most. Luckily, it doesn’t require extensive resources or effort. 

1) Review your processes

Before you communicate anything to candidates, take stock of what’s actually happening inside your organization during the hiring process. Define how AI is being used at every touchpoint. Some key questions to start with include:

• Is AI writing job descriptions? 
• Does it screen resumes, and if so, who sets the criteria for how it does that? 
• Is it scheduling interviews? 
• Does it evaluate interview performance? 
• How is it being monitored for fairness at each stage?

If you already have policies in place around internal AI use at your organization, you’ve already done the hard part. You can likely adapt many of those same policies directly to your hiring process. 

As a general rule, AI is best at highlighting technical skills, and humans are best at determining relational skills. AI is checking off boxes and looking for patterns, but it can’t tell you if someone’s values will strengthen the community you’re trying to build.

Once you’ve drawn those lines, equip every candidate-facing member of your hiring team with the knowledge they need to speak to it confidently. If your TA team can’t answer basic questions about how AI is used in your process, no amount of external transparency messaging will hold up.

2) Share your hiring philosophy

After you’ve mapped out how AI is used in the hiring process, it’s time to communicate it. And not in legalese buried in a disclaimer, but in clear, plain language that a candidate can understand and act on.

Write a blog post, update your careers page, or—if you want to go further—build a dedicated landing page. Your goal is to clearly explain why and how you use the technology so job seekers don’t feel the need to game the system just to be seen. Point them to this page to learn more in your job postings.

More importantly, tell them exactly where and when humans stay in the loop. Being explicit about human involvement is a powerful trust-building signal that reassures them that AI is a support tool for your people and not a replacement. 

By offering this level of transparency, you’re also giving them enough information to make an informed decision about whether to apply. Being upfront about your process—even the parts that might not appeal to everyone—is how you find the right person for the right role.

Counterintuitively, sharing details about how you use AI to hire can actually help you build deeper connections with candidates.

3) Give them the power of choice

Transparency is about more than disclosure—it’s about giving people agency to do something meaningful with the information. 

It’s not unreasonable for a job seeker to want a human to review their resume, so consider giving candidates the option to request a human-led screening process. If the idea of screening additional resumes feels like a burden, remember that it wasn’t too long ago that a human was screening all of them. You can still pull that lever.

It’s also worth keeping tabs on emerging AI regulations to inform your organization’s philosophy around candidate rights. As an example, some companies I’ve worked with use the Blueprint AI Bill of Rights (introduced in 2022) to shape their own policies for keeping job seekers in the loop. 

Candidates want to know what they can expect at each stage of the process, what data is being collected, and how decisions are made. So not offering them options or information can cost you more than time spent reviewing extra resumes—in trust, in employer brand, and in the talent you never knew you lost.

4) Assess regularly and evolve 

Transparency is an ongoing commitment to your teams and your company values. 

Revisit your AI governance policies as tools and systems continue to evolve. Build in regular checks for fairness, and treat your candidate-facing communications as living documents that need regular updates. Something like a checklist for transparent AI can also help guide you on what to look for. 

Wherever possible, share your findings—including what you’ve fixed. The employers who do this will also be the most prepared as regulations tighten and candidate expectations rise.

The Case for AI Transparency Goes Beyond Compliance

In every conversation I’ve had—with leaders, hiring managers, recruiters, and candidates—all roads lead back to the same question: Are you being honest? 

The employers who are getting it right understand what’s actually at stake. Not just because it’s good for business—but because there are real people on the other side of that application, and they deserve better than silence.

As systems continue to evolve, the tension between candidate AI vs. employer AI will also find new forms. But the employers who build their processes on transparency will always have something more enduring to offer: trust.

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