bestjobs, a Romanian recruitment platform, has scaled its artificial intelligence-powered assistant to unprecedented levels, with the tool conducting more than 300,000 conversations with job candidates during September 2026 alone.
The chatbot, named “Bestie,” represents an attempt to address one of recruitment’s most persistent frustrations: the silence candidates experience after submitting applications. By automating initial candidate interactions, the platform aims to ensure every applicant receives a timely response, a practice that remains inconsistent across the hiring industry despite growing calls for transparency.
Automation meets transparency
The assistant handles multiple functions within the recruitment workflow. Beyond acknowledging applications, Bestie provides candidates with salary information, schedules interviews, and answers frequently asked questions about open positions. The volume of interactions—over 300,000 in a single month—indicates substantial adoption among both recruiters and job seekers on the platform.
The approach reflects broader shifts within European hiring practices, where candidate experience increasingly influences employer reputation. Rather than viewing automation as impersonal, bestjobs positions its AI tool as a mechanism for improving human interaction by eliminating bureaucratic delays that frustrate applicants.
“The fear is that AI will make recruitment colder. We see the opposite,” said Călin Fusu, CEO and Co-founder of bestjobs. “The coldest experience for a candidate is silence, and Bestie eliminates it. Every person who applies receives a response, and recruiters finally have time for what matters: face-to-face conversation with the right candidate. The employer brand starts with the first message, not the first interview.”
Shifting recruitment priorities
The deployment reflects changing expectations among European job seekers. Candidates increasingly value rapid feedback, salary clarity, and scheduling flexibility—factors that traditional recruitment processes often fail to deliver at scale. By delegating these routine communications to an AI system, recruiters can theoretically concentrate on evaluating candidates and conducting substantive interviews rather than managing application backlogs.
The initiative also underscores the role of salary transparency in modern recruitment. Bestie’s ability to immediately answer compensation questions addresses another common source of frustration for applicants, who frequently lack visibility into what positions offer before investing time in the process.
Broader European context
Romania has emerged as a notable hub for recruitment technology innovation within Central and Eastern Europe. The success of bestjobs’ AI integration reflects growing confidence in AI-driven solutions within the region’s talent acquisition sector. As European startups increasingly compete for technical talent in a constrained labor market, tools that improve candidate experience have become competitive necessities rather than optional enhancements.
The platform’s scale—handling hundreds of thousands of interactions monthly—suggests that AI-assisted recruitment is moving beyond experimentation into operational necessity for companies managing high application volumes. Whether similar tools can maintain effectiveness while preserving meaningful human judgment in hiring decisions remains an open question as adoption spreads across the continent.