SmartRecruiters is no stranger to disruption. Founded in San Francisco and operating globally, the recruiting AI company is trusted by 4000+ organisations with business-critical hiring needs. It has been named a leader by both Gartner and IDC for its commitment to AI innovation, user experience, and measurable hiring outcomes.

With customers including Amazon, Domino’s, H&M, Xplor, Nine, Bosch, LinkedIn and Visa, SmartRecruiters has spent more than a decade pushing recruitment to be faster, smarter, and more candidate friendly.

And on 10 June 2025, it launched Winston and SmartOS — a purpose-built platform that signals the end of the traditional ATS era and accelerates the shift to AI-native talent acquisition.

It's well-timed, too. Global research shows that 60% of leaders aren’t confident in their hires. That points to a systemic problem, not a talent one. And the costs are real. According to that same study, negative impacts of ineffective hiring include slower business growth, damaged brand reputation, reduced service quality, and weaker sales performance. Sixty-two percent of business leaders agree their companies would be more profitable if their talent strategies were more effective.

SmartRecruiters has tackled that head-on with Winston and SmartOS, its end-to-end Recruiting AI solution to be showcased at the upcoming HR + L&D Innovation & Tech Fest NZ.

The ATS Era Is Over. Here’s What Comes Next.

For too long, recruitment systems have forced people to work around technology. Legacy ATS platforms were built for compliance and admin, not speed, adaptability or experience. They’re often bloated with bolt-ons and difficult to scale.

That era has come to an end.

Winston is the AI-native hiring agent and decision layer embedded into SmartOS, the first intelligent Talent Operating System.

Early adopters are already seeing results such as:

• 95% reduction in time spent scheduling interviews

• 75% decrease in recruiter effort on screening tasks

• 60% faster time-to-hire with automated coordination

• 2X higher candidate conversion with Winston Chat\

• 300+ estimated hours saved per recruiter per year through Winston Companion

 

How Agentic AI Will Reshape Recruitment

SmartRecruiters CEO Rebecca Carr says that speed matters — especially in sectors like retail, healthcare, and tech where unfilled roles hit revenue daily.

“But it’s not just about moving faster. It’s about hiring smarter,” she says. “That means using AI, insight, and data to improve quality and consistency across the board.”

She is clear about the democratisation of recruitment: “Hiring is one of the most collaborative business processes we have — involving recruiters, managers, and interviewers across functions. But most tech is still designed primarily for recruiters. That creates friction. Businesses need to know the systems they invest in will reduce silos, not create more.”

Carr also emphasises the need for thoughtful design: “There’s a big difference between adding AI to a broken workflow and reimagining the system entirely.”

And when it comes to impact, she’s blunt: “The hiring game is changing fast, and the tools companies have been using aren’t solving the root cause of their problems.”

SmartRecruiters has re-architected its platform to move beyond the limits of legacy applicant tracking systems and usher in a simpler, smarter, and more powerful era of hiring that reduces costs, increases efficiency, and improves the end-to-end experience.

Winston on Display at the HR + L&D Innovation & Tech Fest NZ

The HR + L&D Innovation & Tech Fest NZ will give attendees a first-hand look at Winston in action on 25–26 June in Auckland.

As a Trailblazer sponsor of the HR + L&D Innovation & Tech Fest NZ, the APAC SmartRecruiters team values this event as a critical space to explore the future of work and contribute to conversations on redefining workforce strategies. We'll see you there!