287. What if A.I. is Fairer Than Humans? The Truth About Bias in Recruitment, with Kate Young, Head of People Science at Sapia.ai

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture. This week, we’re diving into the high-stakes world of recruitment. If you’ve ever hired someone who looked perfect on paper but failed on day one, this episode is for you. Most businesses are making hiring decisions based on fundamentally broken data: the CV. This week, we are joined by Kate Young, Head of People Science at Sapia.ai. As an occupational psychologist, Kate is on a mission to move recruitment away from "gut instinct" and toward a valid, fair, and defensible science. We dive into the "painful" reality of traditional job analysis—like Kate’s 6:00 AM flight to Munich to shuffle cards with 30 stakeholders for eight hours—and how AI has condensed that process into 90 minutes of high-precision data. In this episode, we explore: The Job Analysis Revolution: Why "measuring what matters" is the only way to avoid doubling down on hiring errors. The Death of the CV: Why Sapia.ai prefers "blind" chat interviews where every candidate gets an equal shot to tell their story. De-biasing the Process: How to strip "ableist" and majority-group language out of job descriptions to find the best talent. The "Human in the Loop": Why AI isn't replacing psychologists, but rather acting as an amplifier for better, fairer decisions. Candidate Experience: How an automated process can actually achieve a 9/10 satisfaction rate, even for neurodiverse candidates. Key Takeaways for Leaders: Job Analysis is Non-Negotiable: If you don't define what a person actually does all day (the tasks and behaviors), no hiring tool can save you. Standardization = Fairness: Unstructured interviews default to the "loudest voice in the room." Using the same questions for every candidate is the simplest way to reduce bias. No More Ghosting: Using AI at the top of the funnel allows you to provide feedback to every candidate, protecting your employer brand. Connect with Kate Young & Sapia.ai Website: https://www.sapia.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-young-1359483/ Connect with Al & Leanne LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne Email: [email protected] Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat Mental health support UK & ROI — Samaritans Call 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org UK — Mind Call 0300 123 3393 or visit https://www.mind.org.uk US — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org Australia — Lifeline Call 13 11 14 or visit https://www.lifeline.org.au Global helplines: https://findahelpline.com Truth, Lies & Work is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.