Applicant Tracking Systems are playing an increasingly important role in recruitment.
They help organizations centralize applications, structure information, search for relevant skills and process volumes of candidates that would be difficult for HR teams to review manually within reasonable timelines.
But this efficiency raises an important question:
How far should recruitment be automated without losing the value of human judgment?
In an interview with Les Inspirations ÉCO, Dr. Khansâa MAKAYSSI, Founder and Managing Director of MAK Associates & Co, discusses the limitations of ATS platforms and the importance of maintaining human involvement in candidate assessment.
The issue is therefore not about choosing between technology and human recruitment.
It is about using technology to improve efficiency without delegating the final decision to it.
An ATS can support screening, but it cannot measure a candidate’s full value
An ATS can identify keywords, analyze CV structure and help prioritize applications.
However, its assessment remains limited to the information the system is able to interpret.
Non-linear careers, professional transitions, international experience and transferable skills may be more difficult for automated systems to recognize.
An ATS score should therefore never be treated as a definitive assessment of a candidate’s value.
In her LesEco interview, Khansâa Makayssi emphasizes the importance of conducting a second human review of a sample of automatically rejected applications, particularly those close to the selection threshold.
This additional review can reduce the risk of overlooking a relevant candidate simply because their profile does not perfectly match the system’s ranking logic.
ATS parameters need to evolve with the role
The quality of an automated selection system depends heavily on the criteria it has been given.
An ATS configured with overly restrictive keywords or outdated requirements may strongly influence which candidates recruiters see first.
MAK Associates recommends regularly reviewing keywords and screening criteria together with operational managers.
This collaboration matters.
Recruiters understand the talent market.
Operational managers understand the reality of the position.
Technology should support that shared understanding.
Automating a poor criterion does not make it better. It simply allows it to be applied faster.
Non-traditional profiles deserve particular attention
Organizations increasingly need professionals capable of operating in complex and changing environments.
Yet some of the most valuable profiles do not follow perfectly linear careers.
Career changes, international mobility, entrepreneurial experience, cross-sector transitions and spontaneous applications may be difficult to capture through traditional automated screening.
Khansâa Makayssi specifically highlights the importance of paying particular attention to these profiles and using additional manual review when appropriate.
The question for employers should therefore not only be:
“Does this CV perfectly match our criteria?”
It should also be:
“Does this person have the capabilities, potential and experience required to succeed in the role?”
A CV should be optimized without being manipulated
The widespread use of ATS platforms has also changed how candidates prepare their CVs.
Tailoring a CV to a position is legitimate when it means presenting genuine experience more clearly.
Using terminology found in the job description, highlighting relevant skills that the candidate genuinely possesses and creating a machine-readable structure can help both the ATS and the recruiter understand the profile.
However, inventing skills, artificially changing job titles or inserting keywords purely to manipulate the system creates inconsistencies that are likely to become visible during the interview process.
Khansâa Makayssi therefore recommends maintaining a CV that is clear, coherent and faithful to the candidate’s actual experience.
At MAK Associates, this principle also supports the firm’s Executive Search approach, which focuses on identifying strategic and executive profiles based on actual expertise and alignment with the requirements of the role.
Audit recruitment outcomes, not only the technology
An ATS should not be evaluated solely on how much time it saves.
Organizations should also examine the quality of its outcomes.
Which profiles are consistently shortlisted?
Which types of candidates are being rejected?
Are the candidates eventually hired aligned with the actual requirements of the role?
Have successful profiles previously been ranked poorly by the system?
The LesEco interview highlights the value of periodically auditing recruitment outcomes and adjusting screening criteria when necessary.
Recruitment technology should evolve alongside the organization and its needs.
AI and ATS platforms are allies — not decision-makers
Artificial intelligence can accelerate parts of the recruitment process.
It can structure information, improve candidate search, support sourcing and help HR teams manage large applicant volumes.
The objective should therefore not be to return to entirely manual recruitment.
The real challenge is deciding which activities can be supported by technology and which decisions should remain human.
A system can identify similarities between a CV and a list of requirements.
It cannot fully replace the conversation required to understand motivation, career coherence, the depth of expertise or the potential behind a non-traditional career.
This is why the principle advocated by MAK Associates remains straightforward:
technology can improve recruitment, but it should never become the final decision-maker.
Recruit better, not simply faster
A strong recruitment process should not be measured only by how quickly CVs can be screened.
Its primary purpose is to identify the right person for a specific organization, team and business challenge.
Technology can provide speed.
Data can provide structure.
Artificial intelligence can provide new analytical capabilities.
But recruitment remains a human decision that affects both an organization and a candidate.
Automating screening can improve efficiency.
Preserving human judgment protects the quality of the decision.
MAK Associates supports organizations in identifying and integrating strategic and executive profiles and in structuring their Human Capital practices.
Source: Les Inspirations ÉCO — “Recrutement : Khansâa Makayssi alerte sur les limites des ATS,” published September 22, 2026.