How to Enrich Your ATS Candidate Records with AI

Nowadays, recruiting this way would be completely impossible. Managing hundreds—if not thousands—of candidates without good recruitment software simply isn’t feasible.

To hire effectively today, you need as much information as possible about every applicant—which is why data-rich candidate profiles are the backbone of any hiring process.

But while we all recognize the importance of maintaining accurate candidate records, there’s one major problem: nobody likes keeping them up to date.

Managing candidate data in an ATS is a time-consuming administrative task that often gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list—until it’s too late.

The result? Missing information, errors, and inconsistencies across profiles—all of which lead to lost placements, and make talent acquisition more difficult than it needs to be.

For recruitment agencies, this challenge is even more critical. When a recruiter leaves, they take with them all the candidate information that wasn’t documented in the ATS.

So, how do we solve this?

Main steps for enriching candidate profiles with AI

AI can enhance candidate records in several ways without adding extra work for recruiters. Broadly speaking, it helps by:

• Automatically capturing candidate information – AI extracts key details from text, video, and audio interactions with candidates, and stores this information into its perfect memory. Unlike human recruiters, AI doesn’t get overwhelmed by the amount information, and doesn’t have preference towards one way of communication.
• Turning unstructured data into structured information – The information captured by AI during candidate interactions is generally unstructured, as most conversations are unstructured. Unlike traditional recruitment software, AI-based tools can take this unstructured data and turn it into structured data. We’ll dive deeper in a bit.  
• Seamlessly syncing with the ATS – Structured data can be formatted to fit specific templates or fields ready to be sent to the ATS. This means that instead of manually turning interview insights and meeting notes into ATS-ready data, recruiters can let AI do the data enrichment for all this candidate information.
• Building a more comprehensive candidate profile – Because AI aggregates multiple data points to create a fuller, more reliable picture of each candidate, the end result is an ATS candidate record that’s complete. And all of this is done with no additional effort or time investment on the recruiter side.

Let’s explore each of these in more detail.

Automatically capturing candidate information

As said, the first way AI software helps in enriching candidate records is capturing the information from all data sources. This means that all data sources that would normally be used by recruiters when building the candidate records or profiles will be used by the AI tool.

How is this done in practice?

AI recruitment tools like Carv join interviews - face-to-face, video, or by phone - to gather information without you or the candidate having to do anything. This means that the AI tool behaves as a note-taker, capturing everything, and storing it into its virtually endless memory.

With Carv, for example, all you need to do is connect your calendar and invite Carv to the virtual meeting, or call the candidate through a VOIP system connected to the platform. For in person meetings, it’s as simple as clicking the “Recording” button in your Carv app when the interview starts.

In this stage of the process, the note-taking one, the AI isn’t “worried” about formatting yet. So it it just capturing information.

While it may sound like very basic functionality, it brings incredible benefits to both recruiters and candidates: The TA professional can focus fully on the candidate and be present, as they no longer have to take notes and type data into the ATS while talking. And the candidate can receive the full attention, and have a positive interviewing experience.

For the overall candidate experience, this is extremely valuable, as the things job seekers complain mostly about are the poor interview quality, the ghosting that happens after, and the lack of personalization.

AI note taking tools solve all these issues by simply being present in the meetings and registering everything, and then making that data ready for the next step.

Turning unstructured data into structured information

Most conversations between recruiters and candidates are unstructured—natural, free-flowing discussions rather than neatly organized data points. Traditional recruitment software struggles with this, requiring recruiters to manually extract and input key details into ATS fields.

AI changes the game by processing unstructured data—whether from interview transcripts, recruiter notes, or other interactions—and transforming it into structured, searchable, and standardized candidate records.

The format of the data can be both field-based like in an ATS, of free-format, like a meeting transcript, summary, or a candidate profile. The AI can be trained to always convert the captured unstructured data into a specific template or format.

For example, with Carv, the AI note taker returns a summary, notes, and transcript after every meeting, regardless of the meeting type. However, when it detects as meeting as “Interview”, the output documents will be specific to an interview: a candidate profile, and a candidate write-up, along with ATS-ready candidate record data.

As you can imagine, this data is much richer and deeper than what a resume and some recruiter notes can capture. So this second step of converting unstructured into structured data is essential for automatically filling your candidate records with the help of AI.

With the right ATS integration, this structured information is automatically added to the candidate record, making it easily accessible and shareable. Moreover, outdated information can be overwritten, resulting in an always up-to-date candidate view and ATS record.

Automated data syncs through ATS integrations

With all data captured, stored, and formatted correctly, the final step is pushing it to the ATS. Tools like Carv integrate with ATS platforms in different ways, as detailed in our guide on AI-ATS integrations.

Without going too deep here, you can use Carv with your ATS as follows:

1. Standalone AI tool with ATS sync – Carv operates independently and syncs with your ATS via API. In this setup, you conduct interviews in Carv, customize output document templates, and then manually or automatically send candidate data and additional documents (such as candidate profiles or write-ups) to the ATS.
2. Embedded into your ATS – Carv functions directly within your ATS, so you don’t need to switch between platforms. You can call candidates from within the ATS, and once the meeting ends, all data is immediately available for use.

This seamless automation requires zero effort from recruiters—hence why we call it Carv’s "Zero-Admin" functionality. It ensures recruiters always have comprehensive candidate records and a clean, up-to-date ATS with no manual admin work.

Building a more comprehensive candidate profile

What’s really impressive about using AI to update candidate data is its ability to enrich profiles with contextual insights—not just what’s captured in a meeting transcript.

For example, AI can assess a candidate’s interview performance, interpret behavioral cues, and generate role-fit scores or recommendations. It can also consolidate feedback from multiple interviewers into a unified summary, creating a more well-rounded profile.

If you're using an assessment platform, AI can incorporate those results into the candidate profile. And if a hiring manager needs to update a resume or add additional notes later, the AI will adjust and refine the profile accordingly. This dynamic updating ensures a more accurate and comprehensive view of the candidate, as it pulls from multiple sources rather than relying on a single input.

Best of all, these updates don’t require manual follow-ups. Carv’s Conversational AI can independently reach out to candidates, request updates, and automatically fill in the ATS.

Beyond turning your ATS into a hiring engine, this also keeps candidates in your talent pool engaged—without recruiters having to chase them for information.

Why AI-enhanced candidate records are the way forward

Hopefully by this stage you’ve already gathered that there are a lot of benefits to using AI to level-up your candidate profiles, but here’s a quick overview of some of the most important points to remember:

• Saves time for recruiters — These tools automate note-taking, profile writing, and data syncing. These are all time-consuming tasks that by automating, gives recruiters space to focus on tasks that actually require human input, like engaging with candidates and making hiring decisions.
• Improves consistency and accuracy — Having standardized profiles for all candidates ensures fair evaluations and prevents any manual errors. Standardized profiles also support GDPR compliance, as you can train the AI to omit any personal information from the CRM that could be considered a breach of privacy and focus on the data that’s relevant to hiring.
• Improves searchability of your ATS — When your ATS is full of enriched data and up-to-date candidate profiles, this makes it a real sourcing goldmine. Any good ATS should have the functionality to search and match candidates fast, and the more accurate your candidate database is, the more effective this feature will be.
• Enhances collaboration — Multiple stakeholders (anyone on your hiring team and external hiring managers) can view these rich, AI-generated profiles directly in the ATS. With profiles that are easily shareable, this makes collaborative decision-making easier and speeds up time-to-hire too.
• Supports data-driven decisions — By having rich candidate profiles that are full of unbiased AI insights, this make it easier to compare candidates against each other and make informed hiring choices.

So now you know all the benefits and how the technology works, how do you actually go about bringing in an AI tool to automate and improve your candidate profile management in the ATS?

How to implement AI for candidate enrichment

There are four key stages to getting started with AI-enriched candidate records.

Step one: Integrate the AI tool into your process

The first step is choosing an AI tool that does more than just take notes—it should also integrate with your ATS for automated syncing.

Carv seamlessly connects with any virtual meeting tool (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc.) and all major ATS platforms. Integrating the tool ensures full automation and smooth data flow between systems.

Step two: Customize your AI workflows

With Carv, you can tailor templates and map ATS data to fit your needs. You can configure AI to prioritize capturing specific details during interviews and calls based on role requirements and your unique recruitment process.

If there’s specific data you want to track—like willingness to relocate (yes/no) or work preference (remote/office/hybrid)—you can create custom fields and train the AI to populate them automatically.

Carv also allows you to generate branded resumes and candidate profiles directly within the system, eliminating the need for manual copy-pasting into designed templates.

Step three: Train your team

Even though AI automates candidate profile updates, training your team is still essential. Recruiters need to understand how to work with the system to get the best results.

Many are already familiar with AI meeting assistants that take notes, but not all tools can generate recruitment-specific output. Teaching your team how to leverage AI effectively ensures it supports them rather than competing with them.

AI isn’t meant to replace recruiters—it’s there to enhance decision-making and streamline processes. Demonstrating real-world use cases can help your team maximize the tool’s potential.

Step four: Monitor and refine

As with any new technology, ongoing evaluation is key. AI learns over time, and the more you fine-tune it to your workflow, the smarter it becomes.

Regularly review AI-generated profiles, assess quality, and make adjustments as needed. Continuously refining settings and workflows ensures the tool stays aligned with your recruitment goals.

Over to you

AI transforms ATS candidate records from static, incomplete entries into dynamic, data-rich profiles that capture the full depth of your hiring process. With automated note-taking, structured data conversion, and seamless ATS integration, AI eliminates tedious administrative work while ensuring candidate information is more accurate, consistent, and actionable.

By leveraging AI recruitment tools like Carv, recruiters can spend less time on data entry and more time on what truly matters—building relationships, engaging top talent, and making the right hires faster.

Ready to transform how you manage candidate records? Try Carv for free or book a demo today to see it in action.