The emergence of artificial intelligence in applications, in the form of generated CVs, optimized cover letters, or agents designed to simulate interviews, feeds what some observers call an “era of the zero trust” in recruitment. Faced with this diagnosis, startups, like Dex in London, try to introduce an AI -based response.
An AI to reinject humans
Founded in 2024 by Paddy Lambros and Harry Uglow, former Atomico executives, Dex Recently raised $ 3.1 million from Andreessen Horowitz and Concept Ventures. The startup is developing a “vocal agent” based on generative AI and matching algorithms. The objective is to use AI to get a better understanding of motivations, the preferences of candidates.
Dex discusses directly with the candidates by the voice, reconstitutes a profile rich in intentions and ambitions, then offers opportunities. The AI then acts as a coach with the preparation for interviews, salary benchmarks, and negotiations. On the business side, the agent talks about recruiters to identify the explicit and implicit needs of the position, focusing on behavioral and cultural factors.
AI against AI
For Harry Uglow, CTO de Dex, “we accelerate towards an environment without confidence”, where companies face profiles on optimized or even Dolosifs, but also fictitious profiles for fraudulent purposes, when candidates face dehumanized processes. The challenge of DEX is not to reduce human interactions, but to allow them to be good from the start.
This vision opposes a current trend in the AEC market ACE Automation of CV scoring, often reinforced by tools such as Metaviewe (UK), Hirevue (US) or Gloat (Israel), which promote prize treatments. In this context, Dex defends a qualitative approach, supported by vocal analysis, behavioral history, and mutual adjustment of preferences. In this sense, it is more positioned as a digital agent than an HR management tool.
In France and Europe, weak signals emerge
If Dex today concentrates attention, other startups explore this same field. In France, Bruce offers an alternative to temporary agencies thanks to an algorithmic matching between qualified offers and profiles. Maki peoplefor its part, develops standardized recruitment tests backed by cognitive models, allowing to assess soft skills with more finesse.
All these initiatives, although different in their execution, share the same objective, namely to restore a framework of confidence and transparency in processes that have become opaque.
The voice, lever of emotion and sincerity?
Does the use of voice as an interaction channel allow better detection of compatibility? According to several studies carried out in the field of organizational psychology, the voice transmits crucial non -verbal signals such as hesitations, tone, rhythm. Elements that language treatment models are starting to decipher with precision.
For Dex, this layer is essential to the quality of the matching. “What we are trying to understand is not only what the person does, but how he projects himself, what he values, which makes him stay in an organization,” explains Paddy Lambros. Agent IA then becomes a translator of intentions, in a universe where signals are blurred by tactical optimizations on both sides.
A promise to validate over time
If Dex’s proposal seduces on paper, it will have to prove itself in an ecosystem still largely dominated by centralized platforms (Linkedin, Indeed) and classic ats. The startup remains in the closed beta phase and is aimed for a limited audience, especially in the technological and financial sectors.
