The AI sourcing advantage.
Agency fees and slow time-to-fill are two of the most recoverable costs in talent. AI sourcing closes both — by finding qualified candidates directly and compressing the time it takes to fill a role. This is the working kit: the business case, the data, the hiring-ops habits, and how to roll it out. Free to read. Yours to share.
You're paying a premium for candidates you could find yourself.
Agency fees and slow pipelines are already on your P&L. AI sourcing is how you take them back — and move faster at the same time.
Start with actual agency invoices, the roles involved and your hiring plan. A move to direct sourcing may reduce part of that bill, but it also needs recruiter capacity, advertising and a workable process.
Treat a faster hiring cycle as a separate operational opportunity. Salary is not automatically lost output. Only value vacancy days when you can explain the business impact for the roles involved.
The evidence starts with your hiring records.
Use these sources to replace illustrative inputs. No industry benchmark is treated as an October customer result.
Record actual fees, rebates and the salary basis for each placement.
Use approved annual hiring volume and distinguish agency placements from direct hires.
Choose which roles you realistically expect to source directly; specialist searches may still need agencies.
Include incremental recruiter time, advertising, referral rewards and candidate database costs.
Define when time-to-fill starts and ends, then compare like-for-like roles.
Document the basis for any vacancy-day valuation. Leave it at zero where the impact cannot be supported.
Size the savings.
Model a realistic shift to direct sourcing. Separate potential cash savings from vacancy-related value, using your own hiring costs.
All amounts use USD. Changing currency does not convert the numbers. The starting figures are illustrative; replace them with your hiring records.
Optional: vacancy-related value
Leave these at zero unless you can substantiate the expected improvement and value of each vacancy day.
Before October fees · vacancy value shown separately
Potential agency fees avoided
USD 108,000Only the selected share of agency hires shifts to direct sourcing.
Additional sourcing costs
USD 0Deducted above. Include recruiter, advertising and referral costs; exclude October fees.
Potential vacancy-related value
USD 0Separate from cash savings. Requires your own defensible value-per-day estimate.
Compare assumed sourcing scenarios
Half, all, or 1.5× your selected in-house share (capped at 100%). Costs stay fixed. These are sensitivities, not predicted outcomes; vacancy value is excluded.
Assumptions and workings
Model updated 10 September 2026. Defaults are illustrative assumptions, not research findings. Replace them with your invoices and hiring plan.
Agency savings = annual hires × agency share × average annual salary × fee rate × share brought in-house. Net sourcing savings subtract additional annual sourcing costs.
Vacancy value = annual hires × expected days saved × your validated value per day. Days saved cannot exceed current days to fill. The default value and reduction are zero; salary is not used as a proxy for output.
Run-rate savings assume the proposed hiring mix is achieved. The People business case adds implementation timing, adoption, subscription and project costs. Do not deduct sourcing costs twice.
Illustrative planning inputs, not benchmarks or customer outcomes. Annual run rate before October subscription and implementation costs. Currency selection changes units; it does not convert amounts.
Use these inputs in my People business case No email required. Inputs carry within this browser tab.Four habits that make sourcing compound.
AI sourcing is only as good as the process around it. These are the operational habits that turn a tool into a repeatable hiring machine.
01Define the scorecard first
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Before you open a role, align on what 'great' looks like — the three to five things that separate a hire you'll be proud of from one you'll be managing out. AI sourcing surfaces volume; the scorecard keeps quality.
- Three to five must-have criteria, not a wish list
- Separate 'can do the job' from 'will thrive here'
- Share it with every interviewer before the first screen
02Source direct, skip the markup
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Use AI sourcing to identify and engage candidates yourself. The same passive-talent databases agencies use are accessible directly — without the fee, the exclusivity clause, or the six-week wait for a shortlist.
- Build your own talent pipeline per function
- Personalise outreach at scale — generic InMails get ignored
- Re-engage silver-medallists before opening to agencies
03Compress the loop
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Most time-to-fill drag lives inside the process, not in the sourcing. Audit where candidates wait — between application and screen, screen and panel, panel and offer — and cut the gaps in half.
- Set an SLA for each stage handoff
- Pre-book panel slots before the role opens
- Same-day feedback after final interviews
04Sell the role, not just the spec
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Candidates evaluate you as much as you evaluate them. Outreach that leads with the problem the role solves and what makes your team worth joining converts far better than a job description copy-paste.
- Lead with the mission, not the requirements
- Name who they'd work with and what they'd own
- Share what the first 90 days actually looks like
From the first direct hire to a full in-house sourcing function.
Shifting off agencies isn't a flip — it's a ramp. Five steps to move from dependency to capability without dropping hiring quality.
Audit your agency spend
Pull last year's placements, fees and time-to-fill by role type. That's your baseline and your priority list — start with the roles where the fee is highest and the spec is clearest.
Stand up AI sourcing on one role
Pick a repeatable role — same scorecard every time — and run direct sourcing alongside your existing process. Compare shortlist quality and time-to-fill before you cut the agency relationship.
Build the talent pool
Every sourcing run adds to a pipeline of warm contacts for next time. The compounding value of direct sourcing is the database you own — candidates who already know your brand.
Train the hiring managers
Direct sourcing shifts more of the qualifying to earlier in the process. Equip managers with the scorecard habit and the skills to give fast, calibrated feedback.
Measure cost-per-hire and quality
Track cost-per-hire, time-to-fill and 90-day retention by source. When direct sourcing matches or beats agency quality, reduce the agency roster systematically.
Messages candidates actually reply to.
Copy-paste starting points for direct sourcing. Specific, human, role-first — edit the brackets and send.
Hi [name] — I came across your background and think you'd be a strong fit for a [role] we're hiring for at [company]. We're looking for someone who [specific thing from their profile]. No pressure at all — happy to share more if the timing is interesting.
Hi [name] — we spoke a while back about [role/team] at [company]. A lot has changed since then — [brief update on team or product]. Worth a 15-minute catch-up to see if it's worth exploring again?
Hey [name] — we're hiring a [role] at [company] and you're exactly the kind of person whose network I trust. Know anyone who'd be great? I'd owe you one — and we do have a referral bonus.
Hi [name] — just wanted to follow up after your conversation with the team. We're moving quickly on this one and I didn't want you to be waiting in silence. [Update on timeline / next step]. Let me know if you have any questions before then.
Run it on October People
October People's AI sourcing finds and engages qualified candidates directly — no agency markup — and optimizes the process end-to-end so roles fill faster and your team spends time on the conversations that matter. From sourcing to offer, every stage tracked in one place.
The AI Sourcing Advantage.
Download the report with your modelled opportunity, evidence and implementation sequence.