Alex: Your AI Recruiting Partner

Alex is an AI recruiting partner that automates busywork for recruiters, including phone screens, video interviews, note-taking, and more. The company recently raised a $17M Series A led by Peak XV Partners and already serves Fortune 100 companies, nationwide restaurant chains, and Big 4 accounting firms. In this interview with YC's Nicolas Dessaigne, co-founders Aaron Wang and John Rytel share their journey from building apps together in college to scaling one of the fastest-growing companies in recruiting. They talk about why it takes hundreds of applications to find that next job, what tools candidates are using to cheat in interviews, and how AI agents represent the future of how job seekers will find their next opportunities in days, not months. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 00:35 – What Alex Does for Recruiters 02:00 – From College Projects to Starting Alex 03:50 – Why Recruiting Is Broken Today 05:40 – Automating Busywork in Hiring 08:00 – Customers: Fortune 100s, Restaurants & Big 4 Firms 10:10 – Why It Takes Hundreds of Applications to Get Hired 12:40 – Candidates Cheating with AI Tools 15:00 – Scaling One of the Fastest Growing Recruiting Startups 17:30 – AI Agents and the Future of Job Hunting

Nicolas DessaignehostAaron WangguestJohn Rytelguest

Sep 29, 202521mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: September 29, 2025
Duration: 21m
Channel: YC Root Access
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Alex is an AI recruiting partner that automates busywork for recruiters, including phone screens, video interviews, note-taking, and more. The company recently raised a $17M Series A led by Peak XV Partners and already serves Fortune 100 companies, nationwide restaurant chains, and Big 4 accounting firms. In this interview with YC's Nicolas Dessaigne, co-founders Aaron Wang and John Rytel share their journey from building apps together in college to scaling one of the fastest-growing companies in recruiting. They talk about why it takes hundreds of applications to find that next job, what tools candidates are using to cheat in interviews, and how AI agents represent the future of how job seekers will find their next opportunities in days, not months. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 00:35 – What Alex Does for Recruiters 02:00 – From College Projects to Starting Alex 03:50 – Why Recruiting Is Broken Today 05:40 – Automating Busywork in Hiring 08:00 – Customers: Fortune 100s, Restaurants & Big 4 Firms 10:10 – Why It Takes Hundreds of Applications to Get Hired 12:40 – Candidates Cheating with AI Tools 15:00 – Scaling One of the Fastest Growing Recruiting Startups 17:30 – AI Agents and the Future of Job Hunting

SPEAKERS

Nicolas Dessaigne
host
Host on YC Root Access who interviews founders about their products and company-building.
Aaron Wang
guest
Co-founder of Alex, an AI recruiting partner automating early-stage hiring workflows like screening and scheduling.
John Rytel
guest
Co-founder of Alex focused on the technical execution of low-latency voice-agent interviewing and orchestration systems.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of YC Root Access, featuring Nicolas Dessaigne and Aaron Wang, Alex: Your AI Recruiting Partner explores alex automates recruiting interviews, scaling hiring while improving candidate experience Alex is an autonomous AI recruiting partner that runs phone/video screens, scheduling, sourcing, and ATS updates across recruiting tool stacks.

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