AI on the Job: What Chicago Booth’s Findings Mean for Hiring (Our Take)
Vishal ParekhChicago Booth highlights AI voice agents boosting +12% offers, +18% starters, and +16% 30-day retention. Here’s how this aligns with Evalora’s approach—and why voice cover letters are the next frontier.
Chicago Booth’s Center for Applied AI published early evidence that AI voice agents can outperform traditional interview workflows on key hiring outcomes—more offers, more starters, and better first‑month retention. Those are the outcomes that matter.
AI on the Job: How Agents are Changing the Way We Hire (Chicago Booth, Aug 18, 2025)
Why this matters
The study reports interviews with an AI agent (‘Anna’) led to ~12% more job offers, ~18% more job starters, and ~16% higher 30‑day retention versus traditional methods. In plain terms: better throughput and better match quality.
Our take at Evalora
We agree with the direction—and we’re focused on making the experience fair, fast, and explainable. Evalora pairs a free ATS with conversational voice interviews and transparent scoring. Recruiters keep control while AI handles repetitive screening at scale.
Voice cover letters: the missing signal
Static resumes miss context: intent, clarity, and relevant depth. Our job‑application ‘voice cover letters’ let candidates speak to role fit in their own words. That short voice interaction enriches the signal before the interview even starts—and can be assessed instantly with consistent criteria.
Guardrails that matter
- Disclosure and consent: candidates know they’re speaking with AI
- Bias‑aware prompts and structured scoring tied to role requirements
- Clear failures produce clear reports (no trivial ‘strengths’ like showing up)
- Human‑in‑the‑loop controls for final decisions
From pilots to production
Booth’s early findings match what we’re seeing: voice agents reduce friction and improve conversion when thoughtfully deployed. The next step is integrating across the funnel—ATS, interviews, and analytics—so teams get one coherent workflow instead of a tool patchwork.
If you're exploring AI for recruiting, start small: enable voice cover letters on your job application, review transparent scoring, and measure offer/start/retention outcomes. Then scale.