Companies looking to deal with the surge in AI-assisted job applications now have an AI-powered solution.
Scottish recruitment technology company Willo has launched a tool designed to help employers identify the best candidates early in the recruitment process.
Glasgow-based Willo’s 2026 Employment Report found that nearly eight in 10 (77%) employers are now encountering applications generated or assisted by AI.
Its Willo Insights system aims to be a more contextual way to evaluate candidates, unlike processes that typically rely on CV keyword matching or common scoring models.
The company spent 18 months developing the solution, focusing on what it describes as “recruitment intelligence.”
Willo has worked with over 5,000 employers around the world including EasyJet, HelloFresh, EDF Energy, Bolt and Toyota.
Industry participants say the rapid adoption of generative AI in recruiting is forcing companies to rethink how they evaluate candidates, especially in the early stages of selection.
“AI has fundamentally changed the economics of applying for a job,” said Cree Govander, SMB leader and technology and recruitment expert at Microsoft Canada. “What used to take candidates hours now takes minutes, and it’s changing what every recruiter receives in their inbox. There are more applications, they’re more sophisticated, and there’s far less to differentiate one application from another.”
“For employers, the bottleneck has changed. It’s no longer about throughput, it’s about reading the signal through the noise. The companies that get this right will be the ones that use technology that truly understands the role, what success means, what the team needs, and what the business is trying to build, rather than tools that simply rank words on a page.”
Willo chief executive Ewan Cameron, who co-founded the business in 2020 with chief product officer Hamish Livingstone, said the company had deliberately avoided rushing its AI scoring product to market.
“Employers are handling far more applications than they did a year ago, many of which include AI-generated content, making it difficult to differentiate between candidates in a meaningful way,” he said.
“We thought hiring was too subjective and too risky to automate at a cursory level. Instead, we focused on building something that understood what success looked like in a specific role and used that as the basis for evaluation.
Initial testing of the platform included organizations recruiting at both expert and high-volume levels. In a retrospective analysis, British energy network operator Northern Powergrid found that six of the eight candidates it interviewed as part of a months-long process ranked in the top six recommendations generated by Insights.
Paul Hamlin, head of talent acquisition at Northern Powergrid, said the technology could address some of the structural challenges facing large employers.
He added: “Across the energy sector, there is a huge hiring spree for high-skilled roles that poses real challenges. There is a skills shortage in the market, an aging workforce, and a much larger volume of applications to manage. This creates a constant tension between moving quickly and making the right decisions while ensuring consistency and equity.”
“What recruiting teams are looking for from technology now is better evidence, not automation per se. We want tools that reduce administrative burden, support decision-making, and bring consistency to how candidates are evaluated, especially when multiple raters are involved.”
Over the past year, Willo doubled its annual recurring revenue (ARR) and expanded its team and operations with the aim of positioning itself within a more data-driven approach to recruiting. Mimecast founder Peter Bauer has already invested more than $6 million into the platform.
The company plans to invest heavily in its North American operations, which currently account for more than 60% of Willo’s revenue, with accelerated plans to expand its team and U.S. headquarters later this year.
PR agency partnered with AI
PR and marketing agency Tigerbond has announced a partnership with Owendale Advisory, an AI transformation consultancy that helps organizations turn artificial intelligence into meaningful commercial growth.
The accelerating rise of AI continues to redefine the workforce, with 97% of executives expressing urgency to implement AI into their operations.
The partnership will also focus on addressing the rise of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), helping brands improve how they are displayed, understood and cited across AI-powered search and discovery platforms.
“Organizations across all sectors are experimenting with AI, but many struggle to translate those capabilities into real brand impact. This partnership with Owendale aims to bridge that gap,” said Tigerbond CEO Raulna Woods.
