Key terms

• Applicant tracking system (ATS): Software employers use to manage job postings, applications and hiring workflows in one place.
• AI ATS: An ATS with AI-powered features that can support tasks such as organizing information, surfacing relevant applications or automating parts of recruiting.
• Indeed Apply: An Indeed feature that lets job seekers apply directly on Indeed and, when supported by an ATS integration, send their application information to an employer’s hiring system.
• Disposition Sync: A way for an ATS to send candidate status updates, such as reviewed, interviewed or hired, back to Indeed.
• Smart Sourcing: Indeed’s candidate sourcing tool that helps employers find and engage quality candidates.   

What is an ATS?

ATS stands for applicant tracking system or applicant tracking software. It acts as a central hub for recruiting and hiring and can help you manage tasks such as posting jobs, reviewing applications, storing candidate information, communicating with candidates and scheduling interviews.

If you use Indeed, integrating your ATS with Indeed can help applicant information and hiring updates move between the two systems, depending on the integration and features available. For example, Indeed Apply can send applications from Indeed to a compatible ATS, while Disposition Sync can send hiring status updates back to Indeed.

What is an AI ATS?

An AI ATS is an applicant tracking system with AI-powered features that support parts of the hiring workflow. Depending on the product, those features may help you draft job descriptions, surface relevant applications, organize candidate information, suggest follow-up actions or automate interview scheduling.

AI can help reduce repetitive administrative work and make some hiring workflows more consistent. But AI should support your team’s process, not replace human review or decision-making.

7 benefits of an AI ATS

When you’re evaluating hiring software, consider how its features fit the work your team already does. An AI-enabled ATS may help with the following:

1. Serves as a central command for recruiting

An AI ATS can keep job postings, applications, candidate notes, interview steps and communications connected within your recruiting workflow. That shared view can help recruiters, hiring managers and human resources personnel stay aligned and reduce duplicate work.

A centralized workflow makes it easier to track where candidates are in the hiring process, identify delays and keep handoffs clear.

2. Adds AI-powered features

A traditional ATS helps you stay organized. An AI-enabled ATS may add features that help you draft content, surface relevant applications or simplify scheduling and follow-up tasks.

For example, AI-powered tools can help write or refine job descriptions, giving your team a starting point that people can review and adjust before publishing.

3. Automates repetitive functions

AI-powered automation can help with several steps, including sending confirmations, scheduling interviews, responding to common candidate questions and moving applicants through standard workflows.

That can help shorten delays in the process, which matters when strong candidates are considering multiple opportunities. Automation can help your team respond more consistently while leaving conversations and decisions that require context to people.

4. Saves your team time

Recruiters and hiring managers often balance hiring with other responsibilities. Automating routine tasks can free up time for work that benefits from human judgment, such as structured interviews, calibration discussions and candidate conversations.

The goal isn’t to remove people from the process. It’s to reduce administrative work, so your team can spend more time on the parts of hiring that require human insight and decision-making.

5. Can improve hiring consistency

AI-powered features could help your team keep candidates informed throughout the hiring process. Automated confirmations, reminders and status updates may help reduce delays and make it easier to communicate consistently with candidates.

Clear, timely communication can help candidates understand what to expect at each stage of the process while allowing your hiring team to focus on conversations and decisions that require human judgment.

6. Offers useful analytics

Many ATS platforms include reporting on recruiting metrics such as time to hire, source performance and candidate progression through the funnel. Those insights can help you identify which parts of your process are working and where adjustments may improve hiring efficiency.

You can also use it to evaluate how your process performs over time and decide where changes may have the greatest practical impact.

7. Supports sourcing alongside application management

An ATS can help you manage candidates once they enter your hiring workflow. Sourcing tools can help you identify people who may be relevant for an open role before they apply.

Indeed Smart Sourcing is aimed at helping employers discover and engage relevant candidates, while Sourcing Assistant helps automate candidate discovery and initial outreach within Smart Sourcing. Employers may find that proactive candidate sourcing fits into the broader hiring process.

Drawbacks of an AI ATS

AI-enabled hiring software may come with tradeoffs. Here are a few to consider:

• Less direct human interaction in early steps: Automation can make hiring more efficient, but it may also make the process feel less personal if communication is too generic or infrequent.
• Adoption and training: New tools often require process updates and team training before people can use them confidently.
• Cost: AI-enabled ATS platforms may cost more than basic systems, especially when setup, integrations and training are added.
• Incomplete context: AI can help organize and surface information, but it may miss context that matters for a particular role or team.
• Compliance considerations: Rules around AI in hiring can vary by location and may continue to change, so it’s useful to review your policies and legal guidance before rolling out new tools.

How to use an AI ATS in your hiring process

If you want to start using AI in your hiring process, consider beginning with the workflow you already have. If you use an ATS today, check whether it already includes AI-powered features you’re not using yet.

Identify the parts of your process that take the most time or involve repetitive administrative work. Then identify AI-powered features that can support those tasks without removing the human review and decision-making they require.

If you’re evaluating a new platform, seek out tools that help with the parts of hiring you most want to streamline, such as job posting, screening, scheduling or reporting. For employers hiring through Indeed, it may help to identify workflows that connect smoothly with Indeed Apply and your ATS so candidate information moves where your team needs it.

Consider rolling out AI in stages so your team can test where it adds value and where human oversight matters most.