AI in Assessment, Early Talent & Future Skills

Darren Lancaster:
Hello and welcome to the Talent Download podcast. My name’s Darren Lancaster, CEO of Amberjack. Thank you so much for either watching or listening today. I hope you’ve enjoyed our previous episodes.

Today, I’m delighted to welcome Rob Davies from Grant Thornton. If you’ve seen anything in the press recently, you’ll know Grant Thornton’s approach to early careers is really interesting. They’re growing headcount significantly and taking a forward-thinking approach to talent.

One of the things we wanted to discuss today is the AI Skills Assessment model that Grant Thornton has helped shape alongside Amberjack. We think it’s an important topic for anyone involved in hiring and assessment.

Before we get into that, Rob, it’d be great to hear a little about your background and how you ended up at Grant Thornton.

Rob Davies:
Great. Thank you, Darren. It’s a pleasure to be here.

I started in recruitment straight out of university on the agency side, as many people do. After a couple of years, I started my own recruitment agency when I was about 24. Looking back, it was probably a bit too soon, but I don’t regret it. You learn so much from doing something like that and it certainly felt brave at the time.

After that, I moved in-house and joined Grant Thornton. That was over ten years ago now.

Darren Lancaster:
Wow.

Rob Davies:
I know it probably looks unusual these days to spend so long at one organisation, but I’ve had four different roles during that time, which has kept things fresh. Today I’m Head of Recruitment, overseeing hiring from trainees right through to director level.

Darren Lancaster:
It’s interesting that staying somewhere for ten years can seem unusual now. When I entered the workplace, longevity was something people valued. But organisations evolve so quickly these days that you can have multiple careers within one company.

Rob Davies:
Absolutely. If you’re somewhere that aligns with your values and goals, and you’re curious and willing to learn, you can move into lots of different opportunities within the same business.

How AI is Changing Candidate Behaviour

Darren Lancaster:
We’re here to unpack what’s happening with AI. What changes have you seen in candidate behaviour as AI tools have become more mainstream?

Rob Davies:
The two biggest things we’ve seen are volume and application quality.

Candidates can now apply for roles much more easily, so we’ve seen a significant increase in application numbers. That puts pressure on recruitment operating models that were designed before AI became commonplace.

The other impact is further down the funnel. In experienced hire recruitment, candidates are using AI to tailor CVs very closely to job descriptions. On paper, applications look much stronger, which means our teams have to spend more time screening them.

In early careers, we’re seeing some amazing innovation. Candidates are using avatars, lip-syncing technology and synthetic content in applications. Some submissions are almost entirely AI-generated.

The creativity is impressive, but it also creates challenges that traditional recruitment processes weren’t designed to handle.

Darren Lancaster:
That’s something I hear a lot. Many organisations tell me that everyone starts to look the same on paper because applications are so polished.

What opportunities and risks does AI present within recruitment?

Rob Davies:
I’ll start with the risks.

The biggest risk is that you’re no longer getting a genuine representation of a candidate’s capability or working style. People can progress further through recruitment processes based on AI-generated outputs rather than their own skills.

Our focus is always finding the best person for the role. If AI masks someone’s actual capability, that creates risk for the business. At Grant Thornton, we’re a people business and we sell expertise and judgement. Hiring the wrong person has a direct impact.

At the same time, there are huge opportunities. AI is becoming an important workplace skill, which led us to rethink our approach entirely.

The Story Behind the AI Skills Assessment

Darren Lancaster:
Grant Thornton played a significant role in shaping the AI Skills Assessment. How did that journey begin?

Rob Davies:
I’d be remiss not to mention my colleague Louise, who was heavily involved.

Following the arrival of ChatGPT, we spent around a year focused on defending our processes against AI. We wanted to ensure we were still getting authentic candidates coming through.

One of the biggest wake-up moments came when we received a completely synthetic application. It was a digital interview submission featuring what appeared to be a real person speaking naturally. It scored in the 99th percentile.

That was the moment we realised just how quickly things were moving.

We actually wanted to speak to the candidate because the submission was so impressive. Unfortunately, the contact details were clearly fake.

At that point, we changed our thinking. Instead of simply defending against AI, we started asking ourselves whether AI capability was actually a skill we should be assessing.

We encourage AI use within our organisation. It didn’t make sense to say AI was important and then not assess it at all.

We already knew our case study exercise was one of our strongest predictors of performance. We wanted to create something that felt like a genuine workplace scenario where candidates would solve a real business challenge using the same tools they would have in the role.

One of those tools was a large language model.

When we explored the market, nobody was offering exactly what we wanted. That’s what led us to Amberjack.

What stood out was the willingness to build the solution from the ground up rather than bolt it onto an existing platform. Over the past year we’ve worked closely together to develop it, and we’re now close to having a market-ready product.

Why Assessment Needs to Evolve

Darren Lancaster:
It’s interesting because when we first started these conversations around a year ago, organisations were still largely focused on preventing AI use.

Now the conversation has completely shifted.

Rob Davies:
Exactly.

The reality is that people will use these tools. If you’re trying to stop it entirely, they’ll find other ways.

What we liked about the assessment approach was its simplicity. It’s essentially replicating what someone will actually do in their role.

We’ve also worked hard to create a controlled environment where everyone has access to the same tools, ensuring fairness and consistency.

Assessing AI Capability

Darren Lancaster:
What are you seeing in the wider market when it comes to assessing AI capability?

Rob Davies:
I think there’s a genuine desire among employers to assess AI skills.

The challenge is that AI is evolving so quickly that organisations have been waiting to understand what they should actually assess.

People are increasingly recognising that prompting is a skill. But even more importantly, it’s about critical evaluation. Can someone assess the output they’ve received? Can they refine it and apply judgement?

Those are the capabilities organisations increasingly want to identify.

At the same time, suitable technology hasn’t really existed until recently.

Human Skills Still Matter

Darren Lancaster:
What role do human skills play in this AI-enabled future?

Rob Davies:
A huge one.

Historically, we focused on the skills trainees needed on day one. Increasingly we’re hiring people who could become future leaders, so we’re looking for leadership potential much earlier.

Relationships are also incredibly important. We sell expertise and advice. People still need to connect with clients and build trust.

AI can help automate tasks, but relationship building remains fundamentally human.

Darren Lancaster:
I often talk about the five Cs: communication, curiosity, creativity and the broader human skills that organisations need.

Rob Davies:
Curiosity is one of our values at Grant Thornton.

Whenever new people join, senior leaders consistently tell them to stay curious and ask questions. Most jobs no longer come with a clear playbook. Curiosity helps people learn, adapt and grow.

It’s certainly a characteristic we see in many of our top performers.

Developing Future Talent

Darren Lancaster:
What skills should graduates and early-career professionals be focused on developing?

Rob Davies:
Communication remains hugely important.

There are plenty of stereotypes about younger generations, but we continue to see fantastic candidates coming through. The ability to communicate clearly, engage with people and contribute within a team environment remains essential.

Curiosity is important. Courage and confidence are becoming increasingly important too.

Grant Thornton has been through a significant transformation journey in recent years, including private equity investment. That required courage as an organisation, and those qualities matter in individuals as well.

Many of these attributes align closely with the human skills employers continue to value.

Looking Beyond Traditional Assessment

Darren Lancaster:
You’ve talked about placement years, internships and work experience programmes before. Are those becoming increasingly important?

Rob Davies:
Definitely.

One of the things that really interested me when I moved into early careers was our conversion programmes. We have placement years, internships and work experience pathways that allow us to get to know people over a longer period.

When I was 18 or 19, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Assessing someone in a short exercise can only tell you so much.

Longer-term programmes give candidates a chance to experience the organisation and allow us to see their growth and potential.

Our Ignite work experience programme is a great example. Students spend a week with us and you can genuinely see their confidence and capability develop over that time.

Sometimes you see extraordinary growth within just four days. It makes you wonder how much someone could develop over three or five years.

That’s why we increasingly focus on potential rather than just performance in a single assessment exercise.

The Future of Assessment

Darren Lancaster:
Looking ahead, where do you see assessment going in the next few years?

Rob Davies:
I’d love to see us reach a point where organisations can confidently manage large application volumes without worrying about the operational burden.

In volume hiring, more applications typically mean more recruitment costs. Ideally, we’d be able to process large numbers efficiently while maintaining confidence in our decisions.

As for the specific skills we’ll be assessing in a few years’ time, it’s difficult to predict. AI is moving so quickly that what looks years away often arrives much sooner than expected.

Quick Fire Questions

Darren Lancaster:
Coffee or tea?

Rob Davies:
Tea.

Darren Lancaster:
Morning or afternoon interviews?

Rob Davies:
Morning.

Darren Lancaster:
AI in assessment: allow it or ban it?

Rob Davies:
Allow it.

Darren Lancaster:
Skills or qualifications?

Rob Davies:
Skills.

Darren Lancaster:
Potential or experience?

Rob Davies:
Potential.

Darren Lancaster:
Video screening or in person?

Rob Davies:
In person.

Darren Lancaster:
Structured or unstructured interviews?

Rob Davies:
Unstructured.

Darren Lancaster:
Gut or data?

Rob Davies:
Gut. Although I do like data.

Darren Lancaster:
Employers should measure more…

Rob Davies:
Values.

Darren Lancaster:
One thing every assessment should test but usually doesn’t?

Rob Davies:
Courage.

Darren Lancaster:
The CV will be in five years…

Rob Davies:
Still here.

Closing Thoughts

Darren Lancaster:
Rob, thank you so much for joining me today.

We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve been doing with Grant Thornton on the AI Skills Assessment. It’s been shaped through a genuine partnership and a shared belief in the future of work.

If you’d like to learn more about the assessment, please visit our website and get in touch.

Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you on the next episode of the Talent Download podcast.