Every recruiter I know has been pitched an "AI sourcing" tool this year. Some are genuinely useful. Most are boolean strings with a wrapper.
What AI does well
The most helpful thing AI does in sourcing right now is remove the drudgery — building boolean strings, drafting first-touch outreach, summarizing a profile against a role. That saves real hours per week.
Where it still falls flat
AI can't tell you whether the engineer you're about to email is quietly the best person on their team, or the loudest. It can't read a Slack thread. And it will confidently invent employment history if you let it.
How we use it
- Draft outreach — always edit.
- Build boolean strings — always sanity-check the first page.
- Summarize resumes — never as a yes/no.
AI is a first-pass tool for HR, not a decision-maker.