Opinion | Elan Pratzer on beta testing hiring software that will identify leadership readiness of executives to perform successfully at the highest levels
Summary
The biggest selling point of AI-based hiring software is its supposed elimination of human prejudices like racism, a preference to one set of qualifications over another, perhaps even lapses in attention by a tired HR manager reading yet another resume. Through his extensive work prototyping System-3, described as a predictive, unbiased software-as-a-service solution to identify the leadership potential of executives, Pratzer and his team are looking to avoid bias while also helping companies find a perfect (and perhaps unexpected) fit for their upper echelons. Through my experience in executive search as, probably, one of the oldest-standing guys in the industry at this point in my life, I’ve learned a lot about how selection is made and the mistakes that we make. If I’m an organization, I want to see who has leadership readiness — the special ingredient that makes them uniquely qualified to sit at the C-suite, executive suite or board. We did an academic review of materials and we spent a lot of time making sure we didn’t include competencies which had bias implications.