How The Functionary used Right Hire to strengthen technical hiring without taking recruiters out of the process.
When our recruiting team filled 24 specialized technical roles in 72 hours using Right Hire, an AI structured interview platform, I saw it not only as a recruiting win but also as a clear example of how AI should work inside operations.
We had already been using the platform for the last year, and the measurable impact had been significant. After implementing Right Hire, The Functionary saw roughly 70% less time spent scheduling and conducting early-stage interviews. For technical roles, hiring cycle time dropped from 38 days to 13 days. We also needed about 40% fewer candidates to meet hiring targets, and accepted offers increased from 18% to 40%.
Decision to Build AI Structured Interviews into the Hiring Process
At The Functionary, hiring is not a back-office activity. It directly affects delivery. We build and operate embedded teams across customer support, technical support, software development, business operations, and AI-assisted operations. When we hire well, clients feel it in service quality, ramp speed, and performance. When we miss, the cost shows up quickly in training, management time, client confidence, and team stability.
We’ve seen the hiring environment change dramatically over the past two years. AI has taken resume inflation to the next level. Within hours, candidates can do extensive research online, memorize responses, and in some cases use AI to cheat during interviews. SHRM has called this Skillfishing, a term that captures the growing gap between presented skills and actual skills.
How We Got to AI Structured Interviews
Skillfishing was creating a lot of wasted time for our recruiting team and putting client deadlines at risk. When we started looking at AI candidate screening tools the goal was not to replace recruiters but help them create a stronger first-round process.
We evaluated several AI screening and interview tools, but most created new problems. Some focused too heavily on communication scoring, others could not properly screen technical knowledge, and many used evaluation models that were hard to explain. That is when the collaboration with the Function AI dev team began, and we started building Right Hire together. The goal was to create a tool built for recruiters filling technical and support roles across a global talent pool. After a few months of tuning the solution, we started seeing positive results. Instead of relying only on a resume and a scheduled first screen, candidates answered role-relevant questions and were evaluated against defined criteria before hiring managers invested their time.
That made the process easier to manage. Candidates could complete interviews on their own schedule, and recruiters had better information before deciding who should move forward. By the time hiring managers got involved, they had clearer context and a more consistent view of each candidate. The team could move faster without lowering the quality bar.
The biggest operational improvements were straightforward:
- Structured interviews available 24/7
- Automated scheduling and coordination
- Technical and role-specific validation earlier in the process
- Recorded interviews and scorecards for review
- More consistent evaluation across roles and regions
- Human recruiting and hiring teams still making the final decisions
Internal and Candidate Results
The results showed up quickly for the hiring team, hiring managers, and candidates. In one hiring group, conversion improved from 18% in December under the legacy process to 40% in March after full Right Hire adoption. For IT recruiting, conversion moved from 21% in January to 39% in March, while time to hire dropped from 38 days to 13 days. The numbers mattered, but the stronger proof came from the people using the process every day.
“We’ve seen a significant improvement in speed, both in time to recruit and time to hire. One of the biggest strengths of Right Hire is its ability to accurately assess technical capabilities early in the process.”
– Sakshi Sharma, Manager of IT Recruitment
“In terms of speed, the process was significantly faster compared to our previous approach. We were able to identify candidates with the right skill set and experience more efficiently. Candidates hired through Right Hire are showing above-average performance during training when compared to previous hires. They have demonstrated stronger readiness and adaptability from the start.”
– Carlos Menjivar, Hiring Manager for Technical Support Roles
Candidates responded to the same things our teams valued: speed, flexibility, and questions that felt connected to the role. That mattered because AI-assisted hiring cannot work if the candidate’s experience feels unclear or one-sided.
“I was surprised by the interview experience because of how structured and unbiased the process felt. It really felt like the focus was on listening to you. I felt less pressure with the questions asked as I could understand them clearly and could focus on my responses.”
– Jon Jon Serdevilla, Candidate
The 24 Hires in 72 Hours Project
When a client came to us with a critical hiring need, 24 specialized technical roles on a tight timeline, we knew effort alone would not be enough. The work had to move quickly, but it also had to hold up. Recruiting needed to find qualified candidates fast, service delivery had to stay close to the role requirements, sales had to keep the client experience steady, and leadership had to make sure speed did not turn into shortcuts.
Right Hire helped us take a lot of the manual work out of the front end of the process. The platform gave candidates structured, on-demand interviews, supported technical skills validation, and removed much of the scheduling back-and-forth that usually slows this kind of effort down. That gave our recruiters more time to focus on qualified candidates instead of getting buried in coordination and early screens.
The result was 24 technical hires delivered within the deadline and a satisfied client. That outcome came from strong execution across recruiting, service delivery, and sales. The technology helped, but the real advantage was having the right people, process, and tooling working together at the right point in the workflow.
What this says about AI adoption at The Functionary
At The Functionary, we do not look at AI as something separate from operations. AI creates value when it fits inside the way work gets done. If a tool adds complexity, creates more oversight, or forces teams into a process that does not match the business, it will not hold up in production.
Right Hire worked because it solved a real operating problem. It helped us validate candidates earlier, reduce scheduling drag, improve consistency, and give our teams better information before final decisions were made. That is the same principle we bring to client work. We help organizations adopt AI inside live operating environments without breaking service delivery. The goal is not to use AI everywhere. The goal is to use it where it improves performance, strengthens visibility, and helps teams execute better.
This project showed what that looks like in practice. Twenty-four technical hires in 72 hours required the right people, clear ownership, and proven processes. Right Hire gave our team leverage, but our people still drove the outcome. That is the model we believe in: practical AI, embedded into real operations, with people still accountable for the result.
If you’ve got a big staffing project coming up or just want to know more about leveraging AI structured interview processes as part of your recruiting efforts, let us know.