Railsware braced for candidate backlash to AI interviews. 91% rated Voice AI excellent instead.

Key results

• 91% of candidates rated the interview experience excellent
• 88% interview completion rate, with 99 of 112 registered candidates finishing
• 80+ recruiter hours saved in four months, with review and scorecard time cut from an hour or more to just 7 to 10 minutes

About Railsware

Railsware is a Ukraine-born software development and product company that operates globally, building digital products for clients (like Calendly) and running its own portfolio of SaaS tools. Known for a rigorous, quality-first engineering culture, the company hires selectively and invests heavily in the depth of each hire.

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The challenge

Railsware’s talent team wanted to bring AI into their hiring process without putting their strong candidate experience at risk. Before rolling out Voice AI, three concerns stood out.

Fears that candidates would reject an AI interview. When the team researched AI interviewing tools, they polled peers across roles and heard that many people would not want to take an AI interview.

A perceived risk of losing candidate trust. Any screening step had to feel natural, transparent and respectful, not opaque and mechanical, or it would put their employer brand at stake.

Repetitive screening limited deeper conversations. Recruiters were spending an hour or more per candidate on first-round screening, preparation and note-taking. That left less time for the focused conversations where they could really assess fit.

In such a competitive tech talent market, we were worried that an AI interview would cause pushback and hurt the candidate experience we worked so hard to build.

^{– Olia Ududiak, Chief of Staff at Railsware}

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The solution

Greenhouse Voice AI ran first-round screening in a format candidates welcomed and recruiters trusted.

Meaningful conversations candidates enjoyed. One candidate mentioned how impressed they were that “it was able to ask meaningful follow-up questions, build on responses and explore topics in greater depth.”

The conversational, adaptive format felt natural and well-paced, not like ticking boxes with a chatbot.

^{– Railsware candidate 1}

A transparent experience that protected both trust and the brand. In a market with strict AI and data protection rules, Voice AI’s GDPR-compliant transparency showed candidates their information was handled responsibly rather than as an afterthought.

The setup was quick and clear, and the transparency note about recording and consent gave me confidence about how my data would be used. Overall it felt like talking to a thoughtful interviewer, not filling out a form.

‍^{– Railsware candidate 2}

Automated screening built for recruiter handoff. Each interview produced a transcript, a pre-filled scorecard and suggested follow-up questions, handing recruiters the repetitive first-round work already done and the context for what to explore next.

The results

Voice AI delivered on Railsware’s two priorities, candidate experience and recruiter workload, without lowering the bar for quality.

Candidates embraced the format. Of 112 registered candidates, 99 finished the interview, an 88% completion rate. Suspected fake applicants often dropped out at the AI stage, clearing noise from the pipeline.

The experience strengthened the brand. Candidates rated it excellent 91% of the time, averaging 4.6 out of 5, and strong performers in Voice AI interviews tended to hold up in later stages.

It was a fantastic experience! The interview felt surprisingly smooth and well-structured. I really enjoyed the interactive format.

^{– Railsware candidate 3}

Recruiters were freed for depth. Review and scorecard time fell to 7 to 10 minutes from an hour or more. Across 9 roles and roughly 100 interviews in four months, the platform tracked 80+ recruiter hours saved, so recruiters could focus their time where it mattered.