Glasgow-based recruitment technology company Willo has launched a new AI-powered platform designed to help employers identify the most suitable candidates earlier in the hiring process, as businesses face growing challenges from rising application volumes and the widespread use of generative AI.
The new tool, Willo Insights, has been developed to help recruiters distinguish genuine candidate suitability in an increasingly crowded hiring landscape. According to Willo’s 2026 hiring report, almost eight in ten employers (77%) are now encountering AI-generated or AI-assisted job applications.
Rather than relying on traditional CV keyword matching or generic scoring systems, Willo Insights creates a role-specific blueprint using a combination of job descriptions, internal frameworks, company culture materials and conversations with hiring managers. Candidates are then assessed against this tailored benchmark, providing employers with a more contextual and evidence-based view of suitability.
The launch follows approximately 18 months of development and more than $1 million in investment, marking Willo’s expansion beyond video interviewing and into what it describes as “hiring intelligence”.
The challenge facing employers has intensified as AI tools make it possible for candidates to create and submit applications in minutes. While this has improved the overall quality of applications, it has also made it increasingly difficult for recruiters to identify authentic indicators of candidate fit.
Euan Cameron, co-founder and CEO of Willo, said the company had taken a deliberate approach to developing the platform.
“Employers are dealing with far more applications than they were even a year ago, and many now contain AI-generated content. That makes it harder to distinguish between candidates in a meaningful way.
“We took the view that hiring is too subjective and too high stakes to automate crudely. The focus instead was on building something that understands what success looks like in a specific role and uses that as the basis for assessment.
“The aim isn’t to automate hiring decisions, but to bring more structure and consistency to the part of the process where those things are often lacking.”
Early testing has delivered encouraging results. In a retrospective analysis, energy network operator Northern Powergrid found that six of the eight candidates it progressed to interview had been ranked within the top six recommendations generated by the platform.
Founded in Glasgow in 2020 by Euan Cameron and Hamish Livingston, Willo now works with more than 5,000 employers worldwide, including EasyJet, HelloFresh, EDF Energy, Bolt and Toyota. The company has experienced significant growth in recent years, doubling annual recurring revenue last year and attracting more than $6 million in investment from Mimecast founder Peter Bauer.
Looking ahead, Willo plans to continue investing in its North American operations, which now account for more than 60% of company revenue, while expanding its team and accelerating growth in the US market.
The launch highlights how Glasgow’s technology sector continues to develop innovative solutions to emerging global challenges, positioning the city at the forefront of the rapidly evolving future of work and AI-enabled recruitment.