Sapia.ai (formerly PredictiveHire) is an Australian HR-tech company that automates the “top of funnel” recruitment process using a chat-based AI. Instead of screening resumes (which are prone to bias and often ignored), Sapia interviews every candidate via a text-based chat.
The platform is designed for high-volume hiring (e.g., retail, contact centers) where recruiters are overwhelmed by thousands of applications. By using an asynchronous chat interview, Sapia allows companies to screen candidates 24/7, reducing time-to-hire from weeks to hours while ensuring every applicant gets a fair chance and personalized feedback.
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Core Technology: The “Smart Interviewer”
Blind Chat Assessment: Candidates engage in a text conversation (via mobile or desktop) with the AI. It asks 5-7 open-ended behavioral questions (e.g., “Tell me about a time you solved a problem”).
NLP & Personality Profiling: The AI uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze the candidate’s written responses—looking at sentence structure, word choice, and complexity—to infer personality traits (based on the HEXACO model) and communication skills.
Zero-Bias Logic: The AI explicitly ignores demographic data (names, age, gender, university pedigree), evaluating only the candidate’s potential for the role.
Glass Box AI: Unlike “black box” algorithms, Sapia provides an explainable “Fairness Score” to prove that its recommendations are not adverse to minority groups.
Company Profile
Founder: Barb Hyman (CEO, former lawyer and HR executive).
Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia.
Funding: Raised approx. $24M AUD ($17M Series A in late 2022).
Key Investors: Macquarie Group, W23 (Woolworths Group’s VC arm).
Key Customers: Woolworths, Qantas, Starbucks, Holland & Barrett, Aesop.
Key Use Cases
- Use Case: Volume Hiring
Description: For retailers like Woolworths, Sapia screens thousands of applicants instantly. This allows them to hire staff in as little as 24 hours during peak seasons. - Use Case: Diversity & Inclusion
Description: A study with Monash University found that Sapia‘s blind screening increased the proportion of female candidates shortlisted in male-dominated roles by 30% compared to human resume review. - Use Case: Candidate Experience
Description: Most rejected candidates never hear back (“ghosting”). Sapia‘s AI automatically generates a personalized “My Insights” profile for every applicant, giving them coaching tips even if they don’t get the job.
Why It Matters
Traditional recruitment is broken: it is biased (humans judge names/schools), inefficient (resumes are manually read), and dehumanizing (candidates are ghosted). Sapia.ai solves the “Resume Black Hole” by interviewing everyone. It proves that “Blind Hiring” is not just fairer, but also faster—finding “hidden gems” who have the right soft skills but might have a messy resume.
