Fortune 500 companies missing AI opportunities to personalize the candidate experience, finds Phenom

Fortune 500 organizations are failing to use AI and automation to provide hyper-personalized experiences to job candidates, according to new research.

The latest iteration of Phenom’s State of Candidate Experience: 2025 Benchmark Report shows that 87% of these organizations are not yet using these tools to make the candidate experience more tailored and individual.

Furthermore, 88% of Fortune 500 companies did not suggest related job openings based on current job titles and skills.

Meanwhile, 83% didn’t have a chatbot function on careers sites for candidates to engage with for further job recommendations.

Speaking exclusively to UNLEASH about the report findings, John Deal, Sr Director, Product Marketing at Phenom highlighted the lack of intuitiveness in the current candidate experience that is going to become increasingly important going forward.

“This is a significant miss, particularly as 47% of Americans between the ages of 18-34, who will comprise 80% of the workforce in nine years, expect a career site to learn about their job interests in the same way their TikTok or other social media site does,” Deal explains.

Companies getting it right are already seeing results

The 2024 iteration of Phenom’s report highlighted “year-on-year progress” in the adoption of AI, automation and talent marketing strategies.

Deal explains that there have been improvements in this space among the software & technology, retail, and financial services markets, which are “leading the charge with advanced automation and dynamic engagement tools to hire faster.”

The lag in adoption is unique to each company, however, an overarching theme we’re seeing in adopting AI for HR practices is the misconception that personalization at scale is resource-intensive,” he adds.The lag in adoption is unique to each company, however, an overarching theme we’re seeing in adopting AI for HR practices is the misconception that personalization at scale is resource-intensive,” he adds.

"In actuality, small steps can translate into big impact in relation to delivering customized experiences.”

In addition to this, Deal says organizations that are already providing a customized and personalized experience for candidates are “already seeing results.”

“For example, Land O’Lakes has increased annual applications by 105% in the last five years. The results speak for themselves,” Deal says.