78% of candidates preferred the AI interviewer. Even knowing it was an AI.
The reason makes sense — AI does not get impatient, does not judge on accent or appearance, and responds within seconds, any time of day. But this is not just a convenience feature. In industries with 70–150% annual turnover, hiring speed is a survival issue.
The 2.7 Billion HR Software Ignored
80% of the global workforce — roughly 2.7 billion people — are frontline workers. They keep retail, food service, logistics, and healthcare running every day. But enterprise HR technology was never built for them.
Standard applicant tracking systems (ATS) assume workers have corporate emails and sit in front of laptops. Most frontline workers have neither, and will not download another app — their daily tool is WhatsApp and their phone.
McKinsey puts replacement cost at one-third to one-half of annual salary. In a 200-person business with 70% turnover, hiring costs alone can wipe out hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And until now, there was no tool built to fix it.
Why Adecco Handed 1.2M Interviews to AI
Madrid-based startup Orbio approached this problem differently from day one. No new app. No email account. Just the channels workers already use — WhatsApp and voice calls.
Orbio has three AI agents. Maria handles recruiting. Daniel runs onboarding. Claire manages engagement and retention. When a candidate applies via WhatsApp, Maria responds within seconds and conducts an AI-led interview immediately. If they pass, Daniel guides them through onboarding and paperwork. During employment, Claire runs regular check-ins to catch attrition signals early.
Why WhatsApp?
Frontline workers have smartphones but will not install new apps or check work email. WhatsApp is already how they communicate every day, so candidates engage naturally without any learning curve.
| Metric | Result | Customer |
|---|---|---|
| Interview booking rate | 65% → 85% | The Stepping Stones Group |
| Candidates reaching hire stage | +20% improvement | The Stepping Stones Group |
| Candidate satisfaction | 98%+ | The Stepping Stones Group |
| Time-to-hire | 50% faster | Adecco (10 countries) |
| AI-powered interactions | 1.2M+ | Adecco (Latin America operations) |
| Preferred AI over human interviewer | 78% | Candidate survey |
US behavioral health provider The Stepping Stones Group expanded the pilot eightfold across all US operations. Adecco converted its entire Latin American operation to Orbio. YUM! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) and Inditex (Zara parent) are also customers.
The most surprising stat? 78% of candidates preferred the AI voice interview — they found it fairer. Perceived gender bias dropped by ~50% compared to human-led interviews, and cancellation rates were cut in half.
Is AI Hiring Right for Your Business?
Orbio went from founding (June 2025) to 100+ clients, 15 markets, and 2M+ AI interviews in under a year. The global HR tech market is $47.5B in 2026 and projected to hit $77.7B by 2031.
| Traditional ATS | AI Agent Approach | |
|---|---|---|
| Candidate channel | Email + app login | WhatsApp + SMS + voice |
| Response speed | 24–72 hours (or none) | Within seconds, automated |
| Interview scheduling | Depends on recruiter availability | 24/7, instant |
| Onboarding | Manual coordinator | Daniel handles it automatically |
| Early attrition detection | Only after resignation | Claire catches signals early |
| Language support | Limited | Multilingual, automatic |
- Calculate your turnover cost first
Your turnover rate × headcount × $4,700 gives you the annual cost. That is your ROI baseline. - Audit your candidate channels
Find out what channels applicants actually use. The higher your WhatsApp/SMS ratio, the more ROI you will get from AI agents. - Structure your job descriptions
AI interview quality depends on how clearly you define the role. Write down 3–5 specific behaviors that define success in this position before you start. - Start with a scoped pilot
One role, one location first. The Stepping Stones Group validated before going 8x — that is the playbook. - Check compliance requirements
Review EU AI Act, GDPR, or local data privacy laws before launching. Orbio carries ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, and declares EU AI Act compliance.
Competitors are already moving
Paradox and WorkJam are both pivoting toward frontline workers. If hiring is core to your business, now is the time to run a pilot and build your own baseline data.
Go deeper
Orbio raises $21 million to automate hiring and onboarding for frontline workers Original TechCrunch article with founder interview and key metrics techcrunch.com
Orbio AI Lands $21M Series A for Frontline Hiring Agents Deep breakdown of platform architecture and customer performance data reworked.co
Orbio raises $21M Series A for AI workforce management The Stepping Stones Group 8x expansion case study in detail tech.eu
State of the Frontline Worker Report 2026 Annual report based on 52,971 frontline worker responses gohappyhub.com
How retailers can attract and retain frontline talent McKinsey analysis on frontline attrition causes and replacement cost estimates mckinsey.com
The founders who sold Cobee and Nucoro raised $21M to automate frontline hiring Founder backgrounds and Dawn Capital investment context techfundingnews.com
