36% of Irish Job Seekers Have Faced an AI Interview. Most Haven’t Had a Good One Yet

A new report by Greenhouse, the leading hiring platform, reveals that AI interviews are becoming mainstream in Ireland, but the first wave has failed on transparency, trust, and candidate experience. A third (36%) of Irish job seekers have now been interviewed by an AI, according to the Greenhouse 2026 Candidate AI Interview Report, which surveyed 2,950 active job seekers. Yet 27% of Irish candidates have already walked away from a hiring process because it included an AI interview, and another 23% say they would.

AI is Everywhere. Transparency Isn’t

Candidates aren’t rejecting AI. They’re rejecting how it’s being used. Among those who have experienced an AI interview, 86% were never clearly told upfront that AI would be evaluating them, and one in five (21%) only found out once the process had already started. Just 1 in 10 Irish candidates say employers have clear AI policies, yet 60% believe disclosure should be a legal requirement.

The biggest triggers for Irish candidates walking away from the process include: companies failing to disclose how AI would be used (26%), pre-recorded video interviews scored by AI with no human present (18%), and AI monitoring during the process (15%). Among those who completed an AI interview, just 9% moved forward to the next round, while 30% were formally rejected, and 39% never heard back.

“Most AI in hiring today is making a bad system worse: more applications, less signal, and less transparency,” says Daniel Chait, CEO and Co-Founder of Greenhouse. “But the process AI is being built on top of was already broken. Nobody likes writing CVs and filling out clunky job applications. Candidates want a better way to get seen, and companies want a better way to find the right people. A 15-minute conversation with an AI where a candidate can show who they are is a better front door than a keyword-stuffed CV. That’s not going to come from layering AI on top of a broken process. It’s going to come from building a better one.”

“Candidates are telling us exactly what they want, and it isn’t complicated: tell them when AI is in the room and what it’s measuring. Right now, most employers are failing that test,” says Sharawn Tipton, Chief People Officer at Greenhouse. “And let’s not pretend. AI isn’t fixing bias, it’s scaling it. Candidates can feel that, and when they walk away, it’s not just a missed hire, it’s a reputation problem that compounds. Until we get honest about what these tools are actually measuring and own it when they get it wrong, we’re just repackaging the same problem.”

Irish Candidates Aren’t Anti-AI; They Want Better AI

Only 22% of Irish job seekers want less AI in hiring. The majority want the same or more, but with guardrails: the option to request a human interview instead (49%), knowing that a human reviews AI’s evaluation before any decision is made (37%), and being told upfront that AI is involved (33%). They also want proof that the system is accountable: 27% want a clear explanation of what the AI is measuring, and 23% want evidence that the tool has been audited for bias.

When AI interviews are done well, Irish candidates notice: 20% came away with a more positive view of the employer. On the flip side, 53% came away with a more negative perception of the company – the highest negative sentiment of any market surveyed. The gap isn’t about whether to use AI. It’s about whether employers are willing to build it on a foundation of transparency, fairness, and accountability, the same principles that define structured hiring.

To read the full report, click here.

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