October NY AI & OJ: The HR & TA Leaders Breakfast - Oct, NY

Attendees kicked off the morning with fresh juice, fresh ideas, and a focused discussion on the evolving role of AI in hiring. The session brought together a diverse group of talent acquisition and HR leaders from across New York, each sharing how their teams were navigating candidate authenticity, AI integration, and upskilling in an increasingly automated landscape.

Key Discussion Themes

Fraud Detection & Candidate Verification

Participants shared how candidate fraud and identity theft had become a growing challenge in recruiting. Many described patterns such as newly created LinkedIn profiles with extensive experience histories, reverse career progression, or unusually low salary expectations.

Several teams had developed creative methods to verify authenticity, from checking sports teams or class listings at claimed universities, to confirming whether candidates listed technologies that were actually in use at a company during the period they claimed to have worked there.

Fraud detection tools within ATS systems, like IP tracking and VoIP flagging, were highlighted as increasingly important. A few participants also noted that some fraudulent candidates appeared to be part of organized operations, making early screening questions critical.

Interview Techniques & AI Detection

A major portion of the conversation focused on distinguishing genuine candidates from AI-assisted ones. Many recruiters had adopted policies requiring video interviews and camera-on participation for every call. Others used questionnaires designed to compare writing tone and style between personal and professional responses.

Some teams even incorporated creative “bot checks” into their screening process, such as requiring candidates to include a specific word in a technical answer to confirm human interaction.

Interviewers were also learning to recognize the cadence and structure of ChatGPT-generated responses, such as overly polished, newsletter-style phrasing.

Good vs. Bad AI Usage

Rather than discouraging AI entirely, most leaders agreed the goal was to differentiate between effective and lazy use. Candidates who leveraged ChatGPT or Gemini to refine their work, generate ideas, or speed up workflows were viewed positively. Those who relied on AI to produce generic answers without original input were not.

A common strategy was to ask candidates to “explain it like I’m five” for niche roles, or to share their screens to demonstrate how they used AI tools. Some interviewers asked candidates to explain their jobs as if they were speaking to a CEO, a child, or a colleague, tests that revealed depth of understanding beyond AI assistance.

Upskilling & Implementation Strategies

Leaders also discussed how they were training existing staff on AI tools and setting clear standards for AI proficiency by role level. Many teams were experimenting with ChatGPT to calibrate hiring rubrics, generate interview questions, or streamline spreadsheet tasks.

There was broad agreement that curiosity, adaptability, and scrappiness mattered more than access to any particular tool. Several participants described evaluating candidates not by the sophistication of their tech stack, but by their willingness to experiment and learn.

Hiring Workflow Optimization

The group compared strategies for managing high-volume roles, balancing inbound vs. outbound sourcing to reduce fraud risk, and experimenting with asynchronous video assessments. Some leaders found that outbound recruiting, while slower, produced higher-quality candidates. Others emphasized the need to retain inbound channels for volume hiring but strengthen early-stage filters.

Closing Thoughts

The session concluded with a shared takeaway: in a world where AI-generated applications are multiplying, the future of hiring depends on digging deep for uniquely human answers. Recruiters agreed that authenticity, curiosity, and specificity will be the new signals of quality talent.