Opinion: Ignacio Palomera, co-founder and CEO of Bondex
The global employment environment is changing rapidly. Job seekers today are increasingly turning to generative AI to simulate drafting cover letters, tailors' resumes and even interview preparation.
Agent AI is auto-applied, generative AI is drafting personalized applications at scale, and the AI auto-applied tool allows candidates to apply to thousands of roles in minutes. Employers are flooded with applications that appear sophisticated, persuasive and customized, but often lack the real signal of effort, ability, or reliability.
When anyone can crank out sophisticated, high quality applications with just a few AI prompts, traditional cover letters become products, once considered a prominent opportunity to show their true intentions. Stop the effort and enthusiasm of the signal and start to look like a standardized output.
Hiring managers are now staring at their inbox filled with smooth, personalized applications that they find all strangely similar. And that's where the real problem begins: if everyone sounds like they're qualified on paper, do you know how to tell who has the skills and how to play the prompts? It's not about who writes best, but about who can prove that they can provide in the real world.
A vulnerable trust system is exacerbated with AI
Traditional employment has long relied on trust-based signals such as resumes, references, and degrees, but these have always been weak proxies. The title bulges, education can be exaggerated and past work can be exaggerated. AI makes things even more vague and obscures claims that cannot be verified with artificial eloquence.
For fast-paced, remote native industries such as encryption and decentralized, autonomous organizational ecosystems, deep due diligence times are rare, leading to even higher interests. Trust is quickly and often informally extended – dangerous in a pseudonym global environment. More HR tools or AI detection will not resolve this. What you need is a strong foundation for trust itself.
It's time for verifiable reputation and on-chain employment
Consider hiring managers who are trying to validate their work history, social handles, or on-chain contributions.
Today, a distributed identity (DED) system can help you prove that you are a real person. It's convenient, but it's just the beginning.
What they aren't working on is a deeper layer: what have you actually done? New frontiers are emerging – something that can verify your professional history, qualifications and contributions and make them portable. It's not just about checking the box to prove you exist. It's about codifying your experience. That way, your reputation will be built on what you have done, not just what you said.
Related: Blockchain requires regulations and scalability to close the AI adoption gap
In this model, resumes become programmable assets. It's not a static PDF, it's something that can be evolved, asked questions, and sometimes personally validated without revealing all the details. That's where tools like zero knowledge proof come in, allowing users to control how much they reveal and who they expose.
Some might argue that this all feels a bit invasive. In reality, however, most serious contributors are already working through pseudonym identities built on provable actions, not job titles. Dids made us become “real people.” Verifiable reputation leads us to “real contributors.” And it's a fundamental change worth paying attention to.
From HR filters to smart contract gates
Once reputations become programmable, the entire industry will reshape. Grants, recruitment rounds, and even token sales could potentially use provable credentials as filters. No more guessing who is qualified or compliant. You cannot integrate pull requests into the core repository or pretend you have completed a course linked to an impossible token (NFT) issued by a smart contract.
This makes it reliable. By default, it can be embedded in protocols and platforms. What you can prove today includes contributions, learning history, and verifiable credentials. Soon, the entire history of work could be on-chain.
Trust Upgrade for AI-ERA Employment
AI-generated recruitment applications are merely a symptom of a greater disruption of trust. We have long accepted unverified self-report as the default for adoption, but now we are faced with consequences. Blockchain-based identity and credential systems allow individuals to prove their job and employment decisions, and can be based on verifiable data rather than guesses.
You need to stop pretending that sophisticated language is equal to proof of skill. If employment, and the broader reputation system, is to survive the upcoming wave of AI, then the foundations of trust need to be re-established. Onchain credentials are a fascinating place to start.
Opinion: Ignacio Palomera, co-founder and CEO of Bondex.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not intended to be considered legal or investment advice, and should not be done. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or express Cointregraph's views and opinions.
