TestGorilla: Will AI skills tests replace CVs and interviews?

As employers grapple to close the AI skills gap, HR leaders are set the task of rethinking how they evaluate technical talent. 

However, new research from talent discovery platform TestGorilla found that AI testing has risen globally by 166%, compared to 2024. 

This is according to data sourced from 3.9 million skills tests taken by candidates across the globe.

To discover more about what this means, UNLEASH spoke exclusively to Wouter Durville, CEO and founder at TestGorilla to find out more.

‘The old hiring playbook is officially obsolete’

As the workplace continues to evolve, businesses worldwide are assessing how they prioritize and assess employees’ skillsets.

AI was found to be the fastest rising skills test (166%), followed by coding debugging (+133%), computer literacy (+77%) and data structures – arrays (+73%). 

“This 166% surge in AI testing confirms a seismic shift: ‘AI-first’ talent is now a business imperative, and one that demands hiring tools far more predictive than a CV scan or a traditional interview,” Durville explains.

AI-fluency can’t be seen on a resume, and the staggering HBR stat – that 93% of candidates aren’t even asked about AI – proves unstructured interviews are failing to bridge that gap.

“As leaders race to build AI-first teams, the old hiring playbook is officially obsolete.” 

TestGorilla’s Head of People and Culture, Olive Turon, commented that a number of leadership teams focused on building an AI-first company with AI-first hiring. As a result, employers need to hire people who can excel in an AI-driven world. 

Skills tests are therefore becoming increasingly important, as they are “designed to objectively measure technical ability and critical thinking.” 

Turon proceeded to explain that skills tests with robust anti-cheating measures are especially important for recruiters. 

The Big 5 (OCEAN) personality test was found by TestGorilla to be the highest performing personality test, closely followed by attention to detail, critical thinking, communication and problem solving tests.

TestGorilla’s 2025 State of Skills-Based Hiring shared that 71% of employers believed that skills testing was a more accurate predictor of on-the-job success over resumes. 

Durville stated that this data highlights not only that the skills landscape is evolving fast, but that employers are turning away from transitional CVs and interviews, and towards tests that truly test candidates’ abilities to excel in a job.

What’s more, this reflects the growing focus employers have on analytical decision making and problem solving.

Sharing his concluding thoughts, Durville advises that instead of “flying blind”, HR leaders should focus on doing two key things to close the gap between their AI ambitions and their hiring practices.

“First, they’re targeting a new kind of ‘hybrid’ employee: one with the hard skills to work with AI and the human skills to leverage it effectively, including critical thinking and navigating questions of ethics and governance.

This is precisely why our data shows AI tests exploding in growth, while ‘critical thinking’ simultaneously remains one of the most popular tests globally.

“Second, they’re building a holistic, full-stack talent discovery process to find that hybrid talent.

“They know a 360-degree view is essential, which is why they’re combining objective, multi-measure skills testing with the next generation of AI-powered assessment tools – from resume scoring to video screening – to accurately measure a candidate’s true fluency in working with AI.”