While Chipotle Rolls Burritos, Ava Cado Is Taking Interviews

Why is Chipotle, known for generously packing its burritos, now turning to AI? Chipotle Mexican Grill has rolled out an AI-powered assistant named “Ava Cado” to accelerate how it recruits, screens, and schedules job candidates. The chatbot, developed by HR tech firm Paradox, is already handling multilingual conversations, fielding applicant questions, and booking interviews across Chipotle’s fast-expanding restaurant network and the company says it's seeing results. Application volume has increased “dramatically,” according to chief human resources officer Ilene Eskenazi. Ava Cado helps job seekers complete their applications faster by auto-filling information they provide during the chat. The result: an 85% application completion rate and an average of eight minutes per ap