What is AI Discovery and Why Do You Need It?

The current talent market makes it increasingly difficult to find suitable candidates with speed and efficiency. Traditional sourcing methods often require recruiters to sift through hundreds of resumes, manually searching for the perfect fit.

Enter Phenom AI Discovery: an efficient approach to source, match, and engage talent inside your Talent CRM.

Continue reading to learn more about AI Discovery, how it works, the power of AI-driven matching, and how to add this to your hiring strategy toolbox.

What is AI Discovery?

AI Discovery is an intelligent talent sourcing solution designed to unlock the full potential of your existing HR systems — think ATS, HCM, andCRM. Rather than searching far and wide, AI Discovery enables you to tap into the talent already at your fingertips by sourcing and matching the best internal and external candidates for any open role.

Here’s how AI Discovery works:

AI Discovery analyzes potential candidates based on skills, experience, previous job titles, and location to identify the most relevant matches for your open positions
It sources candidates from various pools, including active leads, passive leads, internal employees, and more, ensuring a comprehensive search
It revisits “silver medalists” (strong past applicants who weren’t hired), previous applicants, and even alumni, giving you a second chance to engage valuable talent

To deliver a potential pool of qualified candidates, AI Discovery doesn’t just look for keywords. It intelligently matches candidates to roles by evaluating the context and relevance of their skills and experiences. This ensures that you’re not just filling positions, but finding individuals who are truly suited for the role and your organization’s needs.

AI Discovery also supports broader talent management goals such as upskilling, reskilling, and succession planning. By providing visibility into employee skills and capabilities, organizations can identify internal candidates who not only fit current roles but also have potential for future growth. This strategic insight helps organizations build agile workforces prepared to meet evolving business needs — saving time, reducing costs, and promoting employee engagement.

The Power of AI-Driven Matching

Using AI Discovery and Phenom Fit Score together helps you spend less time scanning hundreds profiles and more time connecting with the right candidates. Fit Score is an indicator used in Phenom Recruiter Experience and Employee Experience to give an indication of how well a candidate or employee profile matches the requirements for a job. Fit Score uses advanced algorithms and contextual data models to dynamically grade candidates, allowing recruiters to:

Instantly pinpoint the best candidates for every job
Reduce time-to-fill with intelligent, data-driven matching
Proactively surface candidates who are most likely to succeed in the role based on data

Fit Score continuously improves through machine learning and recruiter feedback, becoming more precise over time. It also offers transparency, allowing you to see why a candidate received a specific score and adjust criteria as needed.

Importantly, Fit Score focuses on experience and fit, not personal attributes — helping ensure fairness and objectivity in hiring decisions. Our recent 2025 Fit Score Report dives into Phenom customers’ fair hiring processes with respect to gender, race/ethnicity, and the intersection of the two.

How AI Discovery Fits into Intelligent Workflow Automation

AI Discovery is a critical component of a broader workflow automation strategy that streamlines and optimizes the entire talent acquisition process. AI workflow automation uses employer-defined logic to fast-track qualified candidates, reduce bottlenecks, and save recruiters significant time on routine tasks like screening and scheduling.

For example, one customer — a major food and beverage manufacturer — saved 78 hours per month per facility in hiring manager time by automating part-time and hourly recruitment workflows.

Phenom’s AI-powered platform also integrates generative AI capabilities, such as Phenom X+, which automates content creation and eliminates time-consuming tasks for recruiters, candidates, and hiring managers alike. This means AI Discovery doesn’t just find candidates — it helps engage them with personalized content and accelerates their journey through the hiring funnel.

Why Do You Need AI Discovery?

Phenom AI Discovery is more than just a sourcing tool — it’s a strategic advantage in the race for top talent. Why should you add it to your toolbox?

Saves time, automating the manual process of sourcing and candidate matching
Reduces costs, fill roles faster and more efficiently and minimizing the need for external sourcing
Promotes internal mobility by identifying and engaging internal talent — boosting employee retention and satisfaction
Builds strong talent pipelines by helping TA teams rediscover and re-engage previous applicants and passive candidates
Makes data-driven decisions that rely on objective, AI-powered insights to inform your hiring process

By combining intelligent sourcing, AI Discovery, and dynamic fit scoring with comprehensive AI workflow automation, organizations can transform their hiring processes to be faster, more efficient, and highly personalized. This integrated approach not only improves recruiter productivity but also delivers exceptional candidate experiences, helping you secure the best talent before your competition does.

Ready to find best-fit candidates faster? See how Phenom Talent CRM uses personalized search to connect you with the right talent.

Maggie Blehar

Maggie is a writer at Phenom, bringing you information on all things talent experience. In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling, painting, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.