Recruitment Reimagined with AI: Highlights from the
Alumni EMBA UNIGE Career Event
AI won't hire the next leader, but it might help find one.
On 30 April, at the Alumni EMBA UNIGE Career Event held at the Hotel Warwick, four speakers presented four angles on the same uncomfortable question: if AI can screen 500 CVs in seconds, what exactly is the recruiter still doing in the room? Turns out - quite a lot.
Trust & judgment: what AI cannot replace
- Marine Moncozet, Senior Director at Michael Page Geneva
- Sima Kebbé, Associate at Michael Page Geneva, specialized in Banking and Financial Services recruitment across Romandie
Marine and Sima opened the discussion with a clear message that was both reassuring and challenging: AI does not replace the recruiter. In their current practice, application screening continues to be a fully human process, by deliberate choice. They emphasised that trust and human judgment are essential, particularly when evaluating soft skills, behavioural fit, and leadership potential. AI is primarily used to enhance efficiency across the recruitment cycle, supporting tasks such as client meeting preparation, communication, and data consolidation through smart agents. Their perspective highlights a deliberate balance: technology augments rather than substitutes human decision-making.
The human edge in executive search
- Mathieu Bischof, Senior Partner at Ganci Partners, Geneva office
Mathieu offered the perspective of an executive search and board advisory firm operating across fourteen European cities. With characteristic candour, he acknowledged that in the world of high-end executive search, the human factor remains the decisive differentiator. Where AI is earning its place is in pitch preparation, market mapping, and ecosystem analysis - sharpening the intelligence that underpins every search mandate, rather than the relationships that make it possible.
When the algorithm says no… and the recruiter says yes
- Daniel Vazquez, Regional Director of MSE Personnel Service SA - Geneva & Neuchâtel - Recruitment Agent specialised in the watchmaking industry
Daniel delivered a thought-provoking story structured around a striking real case: a candidate with no conventional credentials, rejected in seconds by an algorithm, who was hired based on a recruiter’s human judgment and is today performing strongly in the industry. His argument cut to the heart of a structural tension in the Geneva labour market - 420,000 jobs, 240,000 active residents, and 115,000 cross-border workers.
The challenge is not only the efficiency of screening, but the growing scarcity of skills: business needs are evolving faster than careers. In this context, selecting solely based on past experience becomes a strategic constraint. AI can optimise what already exists; the recruiter’s irreplaceable role is to anticipate candidates’ future potential.
Making leadership potential measurable
- Tania Lennon, Executive Director, Strategic Talent Lab, IMD
- Omar Carusso, Talent Assessment Lead, IMD
Tania and Omar presented a research-based perspective on talent identification in an AI-driven environment. Drawing on IMD's work, they highlighted that predicting performance across contexts, when a leader moves organisation, country, or role, drops from 40% accuracy to 25% or below, and falls further still when the role itself is fundamentally changing. IMD's response is a multi-dimensional, algorithm-assisted model combining personality traits, motivators, and derailers to move beyond static profiles toward a genuine picture of future leadership potential. The real competitive advantage, Tania concluded, is not just understanding talent, but developing leaders who can continuously adapt and create value.
The evening closed with an animated Q&A and networking over drinks, underscoring that while AI is reshaping recruitment tools and processes, the conversations that matter most remain stubbornly, productively human.
A warm thank you to all speakers and all participants on behalf of the Alumni EMBA UNIGE Association for having shared their knowledge with the alumni community.
Our next event is planed the 5 - November 2026
Warwick Hotel
Make sure to save the date in your calendars
