Chipotle Uses AI Platform to Assist with Hiring and Recruitment

Chipotle recently introduced a new artificial intelligence platform that will make the hiring process simpler, faster, and more automated for its 3,500 restaurants across the North American and Europe.

The platform was created by Paradox and is called “Ava Cado.” The system chats with candidates to collect basic information, answer their questions, schedule interviews, and send offers in real time. The system is multilingual with the ability to converse with candidates in English, Spanish, French, and German.

The Ava Cado system will reduce the amount of time Chipotle’s general managers spend on administrative tasks and details related to the hiring process and allow them to focus on their day-to-day operations and providing hospitality for guests. The technology is expected to reduce the amount of time it takes to hire an employee for an in-restaurant position by as much as 75 percent.

Paradox was phased in across Chipotle’s locations earlier this year, with the plan for completion in October. The recruiting system aims to decrease the time to hire, reduce job advertising costs, increase hiring for hard-to-fill roles, and improve candidate experience.

“As we continue to move toward our long-term goal of operating 7,000 restaurants in North America, we are empowering our teams to recruit and hire talent that are excited by our vision to ‘Cultivate a Better World’ and want to grow with us,” Chipotle’s chief human resources officer Ilene Eskenazi said in a statement. “Paradox operates as if we’ve hired additional administrative support for all our restaurants, freeing up more time for managers to support team members and provide an exceptional guest experience. We’re excited about the early improvements we’re seeing.”

The fall is Chipotle’s second-largest hiring period behind “burrito season,” which runs from March to May. Its last hiring season was focused on Generation Z, which makes up 73 percent of Chipotle’s employees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the bar and restaurant bar field added 3,700 jobs in October at an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent. That represented a major decline from September when 39,000 jobs were added.

Several other major restaurant chains, retailers, and other companies have turned to Paradox's AI hiring tech, including Applebee's, McDonald's, Panera Bread, Taco Bell, and Wendy's.

The full article about how Chipotle is using AI for a more efficient hiring process can be found HERE.