As artificial intelligence (AI) makes resumes increasingly polished and tailored for automated hiring systems, recruiters are rethinking how much a traditional curriculum vitae (CV) really reveals about a candidate. Hiring teams are now leaning more on assessments, video introductions and digital footprints to judge skills, communication and workplace fit, reflecting a wider shift in hiring.
The discussion is being shaped by a simple concern: If AI tools can make every resume look polished and application tracking system (ATS) friendly, do they still tell recruiters anything meaningful about the candidate? For many hiring teams, the answer is now no.
“AI is making CVs look almost identical, which puts more pressure on hiring managers and reduces the value of the resume as a standalone hiring tool,” said Kamal Karanth, cofounder of specialist staffing firm Xpheno. In his view, the ATS process has turned into a kind of “CV dump,” where applications are collected and filtered, but not always understood in a useful way. That is why assessments are becoming more important, especially when companies want to judge real ability, instead of just reading claims in a document.
This change is especially visible in technology hiring and senior-level recruitment. Companies are leaning more on assessment tools that test practical skills, problem-solving ability, and job fit before a candidate even reaches the interview stage. For senior roles, where experience alone does not tell the full story, assessments help employers see how a person thinks, leads, and responds under pressure.
Why look beyond a CV
Karanth said the old model of reading a CV and making a judgment from that alone is no longer enough for the kind of hiring companies now want to do. The shift is also being driven by the need to assess soft skills, especially in sectors such as banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), where communication, judgment and behavioural fit matter as much as technical competence. In these roles, recruiters want to know how a candidate interacts, handles conflict and works with customers or teams—factors a CV can't list. That gap is one reason why assessments are gaining ground across industries.
“Global capability centers (GCCs) in the tech world are among the biggest users of these tools, with nearly 80% of companies are paying for technical assessment,” Karanth said.
That spending reflects a broader shift in recruitment strategy. Employers are no longer relying only on resumes to filter talent, especially when the volume of applications is high and the quality varies widely. Instead, they are trying to use technology to save time, reduce guesswork, and improve the chances of the right hires.
It's not that the CV has completely gone out of fashion. Recruiters say it is now a supporting document rather than the main proof of ability. It still helps establish a candidate’s background, career path, and basic qualifications. The CV now works best as a part of a wider hiring process that includes assessments, interviews, and digital signals from other platforms.
Hiring gets innovative
One of those newer signals is the video CV, which is starting to gain attention in fields like marketing. “Marketing firms are turning to video CVs because marketing today is fundamentally about communication and storytelling. A written CV can’t tell you whether someone can hold attention, structure their thoughts clearly, or present ideas with energy and conviction. Video formats reveal that instantly,” said Viraj Sheth, cofounder of influencer marketing agency Monk Entertainment, which used video CVs in the recruitment of their latest hires.
These video CVs aren't just about candidates reciting their experience and background, but an opportunity for them to convince the recruiter why they are the best fit for the role in the most creative ways by making content, similar to social media.
Sheth said startups, sales, consulting, founder’s office roles, PR, hospitality, and creator economy companies are also using video CVs to hire. “Over the next two-three years, I think hiring will become far more proof-of-work driven. We’ll likely see a mix of video introductions, AI-assisted screening, portfolios, and public online presence becoming more important than traditional resumes alone,” he said.
Data from Xpheno, a specialist staffing solutions firm, shows marketing firms accounted for 5% active white-collar openings in India in May 2026. IT firms led with 36% openings.
Sonal Agrawal, managing partner at retained executive search firm Accord India said that a resume can be optimized for systems, but optimization does not equal insight. “CVs still represent the candidate, but assessments remain the key part of the process," she said.
Apart from evidence of skills and fit, recruiters are also increasing focus on scanning social media profiles of candidates alongside CVs, Agrawal said, adding that they want to minimize the possibility of red flags through their social and online interactions.
AI, the hiring manager
AI is changing the front-end of recruitment in more useful ways than simply screening resumes. At firms such as Piramal Finance, which reportedly hired 262 entry-level sales employees using AI, the technology does not just screen and shortlist CVs, but also sets up interviews and carries out assessments.
However, industry experts are sceptical of hiring without human intervention. AI can help both the candidate and the recruiter: by creating sharper CVs that express and quantify their skills better for the former and by personalizing the interview questions to make that stage more relevant for the latter, said Kapil Joshi, deputy chief executive officer at human resources management firm Quess Search and Recruitment. "However, it is hard to believe that it can replace human intervention in the hiring process,” he added.
Even amid the technology push, Joshi said that in the post-pandemic scenario, recruiters are going in for more face-to-face interviews before hiring to ensure the right fit. “During covid, the hiring process had completely shifted online. However, since then, companies are conducting face-to-face interviews and assessments,” he said.