Why big-bang AI programmes fail in staffing agencies, and what works instead
Why the big kickoff AI programme fails in staffing agencies, and the duller approach that works: start read-only, one desk, one painful workflow.
Helge Bjorland, CEO of Globus.ai. First shared on LinkedIn.
Every autumn the same email goes round staffing firms across Europe. Everyone is back from the summer break, and leadership has decided: this is the year we do AI. Big kickoff, ten workstreams, everything automated by Christmas.
I run an AI company, so you would expect me to love that email. I dread it.
Why the big bang fails
The big bang version fails in a predictable way. Too many changes hit the desk at once. Recruiters are used to a CRM that gives the same answer every time. An agent can be right ninety nine times out of a hundred, and the one miss is what gets discussed at lunch. The first odd call it makes, and it will make one, trust in the whole programme wobbles. By November the project is quietly shelved and the conclusion becomes "we tried AI, it did not work". The technology never got a fair fight.
What works instead
What works is duller. Start read-only, so nothing can break. Pick one desk and one genuinely painful workflow, the inbox or availability chasing. Find the recruiter who is curious rather than the one who is loudest. Prove it there, then widen.
I would be lying if I said you switch this on and it works by magic. It takes a few months of honest effort, and someone inside the company has to own it.
Which means, basically: if you want agents actually pulling weight by winter, you do not start in November. You start now.
Related reading: AI for staffing agencies: what it actually does today and What is an AI agent? Explained for staffing and recruitment.
Want to see what a small, read-only start looks like in a real agency? Book a conversation.
