Land a job interview with Chipotle and you may meet a team member named Ava Cado, who can answer your questions about the company or onboarding. She might email you if your interview goes well.
Ava isn’t a real person. “Ava Cado” is the name of Chipotle’s artificial intelligence hiring platform, built by a recruiting software firm called Paradox. Since its implementation last year, Chipotle has reduced its hiring time by 75%, CEO Scott Boatwright told Fortune on Monday.
“This not only helps us keep our restaurant staffed, but ensures we have the best talent that’s available in the industry,” Boatwright said. The hiring speed could help Chipotle open more than 300 locations this year, a new one “almost every 24 hours,” he added.
Specifically, the AI hiring platform is built for “chatting with candidates, answering their questions about Chipotle, collecting basic information, scheduling interviews for hiring managers, and sending offers to candidates who are selected by managers,” according to a Chipotle press release published on October 22.
Boatwright took the helm of Chipotle in November, after previously serving as its COO. His company isn’t alone: 25% of U.S. organizations use artificial intelligence tools for HR-related purposes, according to a 2024 survey from the Society of Human Resource Management.
