How Can AI Speed Up Hiring by 30%?

Job search engine and hiring platform Indeed introduced its Sourcing Assistant, an AI feature that accelerates candidate discovery and outreach to deliver high-quality applicants faster, on June 15, 2026.

The launch was supported by an Indeed and Harris Poll survey revealing that 71% of hiring managers struggle with high application volumes. These review bottlenecks reportedly caused 93% to lose top talent to slow timelines and 72% to fear missing ideal candidates, though 81% noted better retention with proactively sourced talent.

Indeed said the Sourcing Assistant is integrated within the Smart Sourcing product and automates candidate identification and outreach. The company said the tool delivers pre-matched, active talent directly to pipelines,eliminating hours of manual screening each week.

"Today's recruiters aren't short on candidates. They are often short on time, which means great talent can slip through the cracks," said Thomas Bergman, Indeed Vice President of Product. Bergman said the tool automates administrative recruiting tasks, allowing recruiters to spend more time engaging with candidates and making hiring decisions.

"When the candidates the Sourcing Assistant brings forward keep landing the role, you know it's working," Bergman added.

Indeed said Sourcing Assistant allows recruiters to search for candidates using natural language prompts rather than Boolean search strings. The company said the tool searches its database of 370 million Sourceable Profiles, drafts outreach messages, and integrates with applicant tracking systems.

According to the company, the Sourcing Assistant significantly improves hiring efficiency, making sourced applicants 2.9 times more likely to be hired and filling roles 30% faster by saving an average of 6 days.

Indeed reports that the Sourcing Assistant transformed hiring for the non-profit Bethany of the Northwest, enabling their one-person recruiting team to efficiently source specialized healthcare roles and manage up to 250 hires per year.

"Before, there were mountains of resumes to work through that just didn't fit the bill," said Anne Greatrex, Recruiter and HR Associate at Bethany of the Northwest. "But now, instead of spending an afternoon plowing through lots of resumes, I can go straight to the Sourcing Assistant for tough roles and let it do the heavy lifting."

Indeed said Sourcing Assistant is available to U.S. employers through Smart Sourcing Professional and Enterprise subscriptions.

The launch follows Indeed's global "Jobs Need People" brand campaign, introduced on June 3. The company said both initiatives reflect its focus on using AI to automate parts of the recruiting process while maintaining human involvement in hiring decisions.