As organisations navigate the complexities of the modern workforce, harnessing the power of AI, has become a key differentiator in driving innovation within HR practices. Leading this transformation at CRISIL is the President and CHRO, Pooja Mirchandani, who brings a forward-thinking approach to embedding AI into HR processes while maintaining a human-centric philosophy.
Pooja discusses the profound impact of AI on recruitment, sharing real-world use cases from CRISIL's journey. She elaborates on the role of AI in redefining candidate experience, improving operational efficiency, and addressing challenges such as bias and data privacy. Additionally, Pooja sheds light on the ethical considerations surrounding AI in HR and offers a glimpse into the future of AI-powered hiring ecosystems, particularly in sectors like BFSI, technology, and consulting.
What are your thoughts on the impact of AI on how people are recruited in organisations? Any use-cases that you would like to share?
Generative AI (GenAI) can potentially have multiple use cases in defining the candidate experience. One of the interesting ones is revamping of job description basis changing skillsets and requirements and the subsequent customised pre-screening of candidates aligned with the revamped job description. Traditionally, this activity used to be effort-intensive involving multiple stakeholders and hours of alignment for a role. With GenAI tools, it is possible to get ‘an almost there’ draft in a few seconds. Similarly, some of the hiring managers have toyed with the idea of generating interview questions using prompts on GenAI platforms. Another area is to use GenAI platforms to strengthen outreach campaigns for precision and clarity. Many organisations have incorporated parsing of automated video interview transcripts to assess competencies objectively. But accuracy, tone, intent, and potential bias remain the key concerns. At CRISIL, we have attempted to match profiles against job description components such as skillsets, job title, location, etc. However, we do not use AI based tools to eliminate candidates at any stage of hiring. We have guardrails in place to avoid bias creeping into our recruitment processes.
What would be the key criteria to incorporate AI in the hiring process, systems and culture?
We are driven by our values of integrity, excellence, accountability, teamwork and respect. Given that people are our key IP, we employ multiple levers to ensure GenAI remains an aid to our high-performance, high-inclusion culture. One of the levers is continually reviewing the legal and compliance ramifications of GenAI deployment in all areas of the employee lifecycle, including recruitment. And periodic audits for non-discriminatory practices ensure fair and equitable hiring. The other key lever is to ensure transparency and consent from applicants on GenAI usage. Our career portal clearly states that we are an equal opportunity employer and there is no room for discrimination against any qualified candidate from any identity group. We are particularly mindful of this paradigm considering the mandates of the General Data Protection Regulations in Europe and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 in India. We consider recruitment as a human-centric intervention where personal touch is aided by GenAI-based tools.
How have you equipped the stakeholders — HR teams, prospective employees and line managers, business leaders to use AI for hiring?
Cross-functional teams have liaised and have undertaken a massive capability building program for GenAI understanding and use-case exploration. More than 75% of our top managers are comfortable with GenAI platforms and access them to arrive at use cases relevant to their area of work. At present, we have powered our recruitment platform with GenAI capabilities. On an informal basis, hiring managers and business leaders could use prompts to generate probable interview questions. Similarly, HR teams are exploring use cases how we can leverage GenAI to improve operational efficiency in the areas of candidate and role matching basis non-demographic parameters, job description revamp and outreach campaigns. But we have not yet implemented these. We are taking a cautious approach to deployment by ensuring there are guardrails to avert any adverse impact of GenAI usage at all stages of recruitment. We have embedded human-led interventions to minimise subconscious bias. For example, all our interview panels have at least one-woman employee as a member. Such a holistic approach ensures all stakeholders are equipped with the right set of resources to deliver efficiently and ethically.
How do the leadership and teams manage and mitigate risks while using AI-powered hiring platforms/ mechanisms?
Apart from partnering with subject matter experts (SMEs) both internally and externally, we have developed a framework to assess potential vendors on a 360-degree scale to filter hiring bias. The use cases developed are evaluated by respective business heads and their results are discussed with the internal SMEs to arrive at the rollout decision. Robust parameters ensure the selected platform has high validity, reliability and safety when performing transactions. Data security protocols are also in place. We regularly monitor identity groups across demographic filters to take note of any anomalies and fix these to ensure equitable representation. Managing personal information is done with great precision and care as we are bound by regulatory requirements and the immense trust reposed by clients. Vendor records are also assessed.
How do you think the AI-powered hiring ecosystem should evolve in the coming decade? Any clear callouts on related technology and/ market corrections that you foresee for BFSI/ Technology/ Consulting sectors?
The next decade promises to be very interesting. GenAI and our sustainability drive will determine if we can achieve scale, faster hire ratio and better candidate experience. For example, a sustainable platform should consume lesser resources than a traditional one. Issues of data privacy, algorithm transparency, risks of discrimination and bias amplification, and the ability to measure potential could be addressed to some extent over the next 5 years. With greater usage and adoption, the ecosystem is expected to be ‘wiser’ and ‘an aid to promote efficiency’. Some traditional roles in recruitment (for example, that of a scheduler) could be upskilled to ensure greater human connection with employees and prospective candidates. Data-driven insights can potentially upgrade employee experience starting with recruitment at the initial stage of the employee lifecycle.
With more than two decades of solid experience by her side, Pooja is a Global Transformational Leader covering Financial and ITES industry. She is a strength-based agile practitioner and a strong advocate of DEI values. Pooja has worked with the likes of WNS, Standard Chartered Bank and Standard Chartered Finance Limited.
