Safe AI for UK recruitment agencies: what to automate and what needs a person

Short answer: let AI do the prep and the checking (CV summaries, interview notes, outreach drafts, compliance document chasing, reconciliation) and keep a person making every decision about a candidate. The ICO has audited AI recruitment tools, and UK GDPR restricts solely automated decisions about people.

What the ICO has said

In November 2024 the ICO published the results of audits of AI-powered sourcing, screening and selection tools used in recruitment. It recognised the benefits but warned of risks to people's privacy and information rights (ICO, AI tools used in recruitment, 6 Nov 2024). In separate advice on using ChatGPT, the ICO pointed to the restrictions UK GDPR places on solely automated decision-making with legal or similarly significant effects (ICO advice, released document).

Recruitment tasks by maturity stage

We score each process separately on a five-stage maturity scale: Manual, Digitised, Automating, Agent-assisted and Agentic.

Task	Sensible target	Who decides
CV summaries and candidate profiles	Stage 4, Agent-assisted: AI drafts, recruiter checks	Recruiter
Video interview review	Stage 4: AI pulls out evidence, recruiter makes the call	Recruiter
Outreach and campaigns	Stage 4: AI drafts, a person approves every message	Consultant
Compliance and onboarding documents	Stage 3 to 4: rules chase and check, a person signs off exceptions	Compliance lead
Timesheet, invoice and remittance reconciliation	Stage 4: rules plus AI match, finance approves exceptions	Finance
Shortlisting or rejecting candidates	Keep a person deciding	Recruiter

The basics before AI touches candidate data

An AI policy saying which tools are approved and what must never be pasted in.
A DPIA where candidate data is involved, especially any special category information such as health data.
Business accounts with a data processing agreement, not free personal tools. See Is ChatGPT GDPR compliant?
Transparency: tell candidates in your privacy notice how AI is used.
A named reviewer for every output that affects a candidate.

Where our tools fit

RelayRec, an AI-first ATS and CRM: AI does the prep (CV-based profiles, video interview evidence, outreach drafts) and recruiters make the call and can override it. From £49 per seat a month billed annually, with a free 30-day pilot.
Axis reconciles shift ledgers against invoices and remittances. £500 a month or £5,000 a year.
AIOS sets up Gemini, Copilot or Claude safely in your own accounts.
Related: CV scoring and candidate summaries.

The proof

GK Healthcare, a UK recruitment company, had its Director of Finance spending about two days a week on reconciliation. It's now one 30-minute run each week, with the Director of Finance checking the output: stage 2 to stage 4. Read the case study.

The £450 Payback Check is a two-hour session that times and scores one of your processes, with a written report and a fixed quote, credited if you book a build within 30 days.

FAQ

Can recruitment agencies use AI to screen CVs?

AI can summarise and organise CVs, but a recruiter should make the decision. UK GDPR restricts solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects, and the ICO has audited AI recruitment tools.

What did the ICO say about AI in recruitment?

In its November 2024 report on AI tools used in recruitment, the ICO recognised the benefits but warned of risks to candidates’ privacy and information rights.

Which recruitment tasks are safest to automate first?

Back-office work where the result can be checked: reconciliation, compliance document chasing, interview notes and outreach drafts reviewed by a person.

Do we need a DPIA to use AI with candidate data?

Where candidate data includes personal or special category information, a DPIA is the sensible starting point before AI processes it.

Does RelayRec make hiring decisions?

No. AI does the prep and recruiters make the call and can override it.

Get your score

£450 Payback Check. Credited if you book a build within 30 days.