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Imagine a world where a recruiter can surface the best candidates with one simple prompt. Imagine a world where all employees at a company have access to a great career coach. 

This is no fantasy. In fact, LinkedIn is launching a groundbreaking set of generative AI–powered tools that will help employers hire qualified candidates and develop workers’ skills faster and more effectively than ever before. 

Those were some of the important takeaways from the keynote address delivered this morning by Jennifer Shappley, LinkedIn’s vice president of talent, and Hari Srinivasan, vice president of product management for LinkedIn Talent Solutions, at Talent Connect 2023 in New York City. The two executives announced major advancements to LinkedIn Recruiter and LinkedIn Learning, as well as a reconfiguration of LinkedIn’s talent team that reflects the company’s new approach to hiring and talent development.  

“We can no longer hire and develop our people using the strategies and tools of the past,” Jennifer told the Talent Connect crowd. Later, she noted, “When I think about it holistically, it’s still about getting the right person in the right seat at the right time. I just realize we need a different process.” 

Employers’ approach to talent is changing and so is LinkedIn’s 

LinkedIn is making big changes, Jennifer and Hari said, to meet employers’ shifting priorities. Organizations need to fill jobs quickly. They’re increasingly looking for candidates with the right skills, not just those who come from brand-name companies or top-tier universities or who have certain titles. They want a more diverse and inclusive workforce. And they’re more focused on employee retention and internal mobility. 

To better position its own organization, LinkedIn has merged its talent acquisition and talent development functions into one unit, which is being led by Jennifer. 

LinkedIn recognizes that the key to cultivating a great workforce today is not simply making good hires and moving on to the next req, but instead lies in developing employees for long-term success. Doing so, Jennifer said, thoughtfully requires one talent group with a unified strategy that focuses on the entire candidate and employee life cycle.

LinkedIn Recruiter to deliver smarter, faster searches

But that’s just the start. LinkedIn is harnessing generative AI to enhance LinkedIn Recruiter, marking the biggest update of the hiring tool in LinkedIn history.  

Among the new tools unveiled during the keynote address is an AI-assisted recruiting experience launching now to a select set of customers and then being rolled out completely in 2024. Soon recruiters will be able to simply state their hiring goals in their own words and LinkedIn Recruiter will infer the type of candidate they’re seeking. 

This will save a significant amount of time — no need to filter searches by checking off multiple boxes — and deliver higher quality candidates from wider and more diverse talent pools. 

Currently, conducting a search on Recruiter requires learning a unique search language, Hari explained. Often great candidates from diverse backgrounds are bypassed simply because of the limited search terms a recruiter uses. But thanks to generative AI, LinkedIn Recruiter will be able to search across all of LinkedIn’s data and find candidates with the relevant skills for the job.   

“Not only is this process more intuitive and faster,” Hari said, “it directly delivers on our goal to ensure we connect every member of the global workforce to opportunity. This is because with generative AI we can search across all our data and make connections to find the right candidate based on everything we know about the relevant skills and the person’s fit with your company. Your recruiters will no longer solely be relying on titles and years of experience.”

The updated version of Recruiter will also nudge recruiters to adjust their searches and job requirements when it makes sense. For instance, the platform might recommend searching in new locations or suggest that a role should be hybrid to provide better access to candidates who are right for the job.  

LinkedIn Learning to make career coaching more readily available 

LinkedIn is bringing this same level of innovation to LinkedIn Learning. Starting this week, LinkedIn Learning users can engage with an AI-powered chatbot. The virtual coach offers real-time career advice as well as content recommendations aimed at helping employees develop their skills. Initially, the tool will focus on leadership and management.

Rather than providing one-size-fits-all answers, the chatbot asks questions to better “understand” a learner’s specific situation or goal. The chatbot then gives personalized answers, drawing on LinkedIn Learning’s vast library of information.  

The chatbot even helps employees navigate tricky work situations. Hari cited an example from his personal experience. He was recently asked by his manager’s boss, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, to provide feedback on his manager.  

“I went to LinkedIn Learning,” Hari said, “and I just typed in, ‘My CEO asked me for feedback. How should I respond?’”

The chatbot, in turn, asked Hari questions, much like a live coach. After some back and forth, the chatbot advised Hari on how to answer Ryan and named the sources of the advice provided. The whole process took two minutes. 

“This product,” Hari said, “is a game changer for new employees and those entering the workforce, for those who want to learn and don’t have access to mentors or coaches. It is going to democratize access to learning and eventually to coaching.”

A larger goal: ‘Transform the way the world works’ 

At the end of their talk, Jennifer and Hari noted that these new tools can help talent professionals lead significant change at their organizations.  

“You are going to help your organizations figure out where the barriers are, how to train the talent to prepare for the future, and how to create the organizations that thrive in this moment,” Hari said. 

Jennifer recalled attending her first Talent Connect conference in 2012 when she was a LinkedIn customer, not yet an employee.  

“Back then, I loved using LinkedIn,” she said, “I saw how much it was influencing the world of work. And now, as a talent leader at LinkedIn, I have even stronger conviction about our ability to not only influence but to transform the way the world works.”

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