How VONQ Uses AI Agents To Fix Candidate Volume

This series was recorded live at HR Tech 2025 inside the HR Executive studios on the expo floor in partnership with the WRKdefined Podcast Network. Make sure you’re subscribed to the full series and visit HRExecutive.com for the news, analysis, and insights shaping the future of work.

We sit down with VONQ CEO Ritu Mohanka at HR Tech to unpack what really changed at the top of the funnel. Recruiters are drowning in volume and starving for relevance, so VONQ is leaning into programmatic job distribution, embedded marketplaces, and AI screening agents that send 20 signal-rich candidates instead of 200 random applies.

We walk through their global channel model, new fraud and AI-usage detection, and why building in public on LinkedIn is part of their transparency and trust story.

In this episode we talk about AI agents, recruitment advertising, fraud detection, candidate volume, and LinkedIn as the new front door for talent tech. Ritu traces the journey from Kenexa and Glint to leading VONQ, then breaks down how a platform that touches 5,000 channels can quietly sit inside your ATS and still change the shape of your funnel.

Key Takeaways

Recruiters don’t want 200 applicants anymore. They want 20 high intent candidates who already passed knockout questions and early screening. VONQ evolved from an ad agency into a global recruitment platform that distributes jobs across thousands of channels with programmatic controls focused on outcomes like cost per hire, speed, and quality.

In North America VONQ acts as infrastructure. Everything runs through ATS and HCM marketplaces so recruiters never leave the system where they create jobs. Embedded multi posting, LinkedIn CPA Plus, and AI screening agents deliver shortlists instead of noise, and all the agents are already built and deployed before launch.

VONQ now surfaces “signals” of AI or fraud inside the candidate dossier so recruiters know when automation helped versus when it crossed a line. Building in public on LinkedIn is part of the trust play in a noisy AI market.

The real bet is recruiter enablement. Less admin, cleaner workflows, faster paths to shortlists. The industry is shifting from volume to relevance, and VONQ’s platform and agent strategy is aligned to that pivot.


Chapters

0:00 Cold open – “The newest pain point is volume. We don’t want that much volume.”

1:00 Welcome back to WorkTech at HR Tech and live-audience setup

1:40 Ritu’s background – Connexa, Glint, LinkedIn, and finding “home” again in HR tech

3:04 What’s different on the floor – AI agents everywhere, screening at the top of the funnel, and the rise of fraud detection

4:04 Old-school assessments vs AI-driven screening and ranking

5:42 VONQ’s evolution – from recruitment ad agency to global recruitment advertising platform

6:39 Platform over point solutions – 5,000 channels and programmatic distribution

7:52 Global go-to-market – direct in Europe, channel and marketplace model in North America

8:51 Embedded in ATS and HCM – why recruiters should never have to leave where they create jobs

10:15 CPA Plus with LinkedIn – cost-per-application-plus, not just eyeballs and clicks

10:54 From 200 applies to 20 shortlists – high intent, knockout questions, and six-minute voice interviews

12:20 Detecting AI usage and fraud – “signals not flags” for cover letters, chats, and voice screenings

13:58 The ecosystem view – platforms selling AI while also protecting against AI abuse

14:47 Finding VONQ on LinkedIn and why building in public matters

Guest Info

Ritu Mohanka, CEO at VONQ

Website: https://www.vonq.com

Host

George LaRocque, Host, WorkTech Podcast and WorkTech