Workforce tech expert explains AI’s role in improving the hiring process

When Joshua Secrest led global talent acquisition and talent strategy at McDonald’s, he faced the same challenges restaurant operators manage every day: too few candidates, too much turnover, and hiring processes that moved too slowly. The traditional approach was no longer enough. Working with workforce technology company Paradox, McDonald’s helped build the world’s first conversational AI applicant tracking system to improve hiring across thousands of restaurants. Secrest, now head of marketing for Workday’s Paradox business, shared how technology can help restaurants hire faster, retain better, and protect the guest experience.

Make the business case for adopting technology when hiring and staffing.
Technology gives managers time back. In restaurants, managers—not recruiters—often handle job postings, applicant review, interview scheduling, offers, and onboarding. That work can take seven to 10 hours per week. Modern automation can reduce it to one or two hours, freeing leaders to coach employees, support guests, improve operations, and make better hiring decisions.

Faster hiring also protects revenue. The National Restaurant Association’s Hiring & Staffing report found that understaffing can reduce daily revenue by 7% to 8% through slower ticket times, reduced throughput, and weaker guest experiences.

Speed can improve quality, too. A great hire is not just someone who accepts an offer, but someone who stays long enough to become productive and create value.

Candidates now apply to more than 15 jobs per week, so restaurants must move quickly. AI can screen qualified applicants, verify eligibility, and schedule interviews in minutes. That helps reduce drop-off and ghosting while giving managers a stronger pool of candidates before competitors reach them.

How can technology make the process more efficient for HR leaders?
Manual hiring pulls managers into the back office instead of keeping them on the floor with guests and teams. Across hundreds or thousands of restaurants, that lost productivity becomes significant.

AI does not replace the hiring decision or the manager interview. It automates the administrative work around them. Candidates can be screened instantly, hear back within minutes, schedule or reschedule interviews without phone calls or emails, and complete offers and onboarding digitally.

How is technology changing the approach to workforce management?
Hiring technology can deliver clear, measurable ROI because staffing directly affects revenue and guest experience. Once operators see results from AI-enabled hiring, they often look to apply similar tools to other workforce workflows.

Employees benefit as well. They can ask questions around the clock in their preferred language, swap shifts by text, get answers about benefits or policies, complete onboarding, and access training when needed. Used well, technology creates more time for hospitality instead of replacing it.

How does technology help restaurants retain top employees?
Retention still starts with people. Great managers keep employees by coaching, developing, recognizing, and supporting them. The problem is that administrative work often leaves managers without enough time to do those things well.

By removing hours of administrative work, AI gives managers more opportunities to coach new employees, develop skills, and step in during difficult moments. The shift can return 5–10 hours per week to restaurant leaders.

Technology can also improve the employee experience directly. Workers can change shifts, pick up hours, ask HR questions, understand benefits, explore internal opportunities, or access earned wages through simple 24/7 conversations.

Who has successfully used technology to improve workforce management?
Chipotle is one example. After turnover climbed to nearly 200% in 2021, the company partnered with Paradox to launch Ava Cado, an AI agent that engages candidates 24/7, answers questions in seconds, and schedules interviews by mobile. Since then, Chipotle’s time-to-hire has dropped 75%, helping restaurants maintain applicant flow and staffing.

Captain D’s paired AI-automated hiring with personality assessments, post-placement training, and succession planning. Over two years, staffing rose from 88% to 97%, time to fill a general manager role fell by more than half, and turnover dropped 60%.

The common lesson: AI is not replacing managers. It’s removing repetitive work so they can focus on people, guests, and operations.

Is there operator resistance to adopting technology, particularly AI?
Restaurants are built on hospitality, relationships, and warmth, so operators often worry that AI will make the employee or guest experience feel robotic, but I believe the opposite is true when AI is implemented well.

Price is rarely the biggest barrier because many operators already pay for legacy systems that still require manual work. When newer technology shows measurable ROI through faster hiring, reduced understaffing, and manager time savings, the business case becomes straightforward.