Recruitment teams face an impossible equation: increasing demand for quality hires while dealing with AI-generated resumes that flood applicant pools with noise. Traditional job advertising models charge for clicks or duration, not results—leaving talent acquisition leaders paying for visibility with no guarantee of qualified candidates. As employers attempt to screen candidates more rigorously, this often extends and complicates the candidate experience, which increases drop-off among legitimate candidates—thereby compounding the original problem.
I recently met with Tycho van Paassen, founder of VONQ, who has spent 19 years building what started as a recruitment marketing agency into a sophisticated AI-powered talent intelligence platform. The Rotterdam-based company serves over 350 global enterprises and staffing agencies, including household names like Adecco, Software One, and Randstad. VONQ delivers over 2 million job postings monthly across 5,000+ media channels while processing candidates through AI agents that conduct real-time interviews and skills assessments.
The timing of our conversation was particularly relevant—VONQ had just announced CPA+, the world’s first agentic AI cost-per-application hiring solution, representing a fundamental shift from traditional advertising models to performance-based recruitment.
Why Every Click Costs Money But Doesn’t Guarantee Results
The recruitment marketing landscape faces significant challenges, with TA practitioners consistently citing lack of budget and resources as their biggest obstacle. The industry has evolved through distinct phases—from newspaper classifieds to job boards to programmatic advertising—but most solutions still focus on reach rather than results.
The recruitment marketing technology landscape includes several established players, each with distinct approaches and limitations:
- Appcast: Operates programmatic job advertising across extensive publisher networks. Pricing is based on cost-per-applicant, and the solution tends to be a better fit for large, enterprise-sized employers
- Phenom People: Provides enterprise-focused candidate experience platforms with AI personalization, but primarily serves large organizations with substantial technology budgets
- Symphony Talent: Combines recruitment CRM, career sites, and advertising capabilities, though integration between modules can be complex for mid-market clients
- TalentLyft: Targets smaller organizations with affordable pricing and career site tools, though lacks the enterprise-level integrations and global reach required by larger clients
- Radancy: Positions itself as a comprehensive talent acquisition cloud with data analytics, but pricing and complexity often make it inaccessible to organizations with moderate hiring volumes
While these platforms excel at distribution and engagement, most still operate under traditional cost models that charge for exposure rather than qualified applicants.
Three Ways VONQ Breaks the Recruitment Advertising Playbook
VONQ’s approach centers on three core innovations that distinguish it from conventional recruitment marketing platforms:
Agentic AI with Real-Time Candidate Engagement: Unlike static screening questionnaires, VONQ’s AI agents conduct dynamic conversations with candidates. During our demo, I witnessed a six-minute voice interview where the AI:
- Adapted questions based on candidate responses
- Asked follow-ups for clarification
- Handled unexpected scenarios—like when van Paassen mentioned he didn’t speak Dutch for a Dutch role, and the agent smoothly pivoted without disqualifying him
NOTE: If AI-powered candidate screening is something you’re exploring, make sure to look at Braintrust AIR, too.
Skills-Based Scoring Across 15 Dimensions: Rather than black-box matching algorithms, VONQ evaluates candidates across transparent skill vectors, providing recruiters with:
- Detailed dossiers that include interview transcripts
- Structured profiles with explainable scoring logic
- Actionable intelligence for decision-making that addresses bias concerns
Performance-Based Pricing Integration: The CPA+ model allows employers to pay only for pre-screened candidates who complete applications, marking a significant shift from:
- Traditional click-based advertising costs
- Duration-based advertising fees
- Misaligned spending that doesn’t guarantee hiring outcomes
Who Actually Needs AI Agents to Screen Their Candidates
VONQ’s technology architecture serves several distinct organizational types, each with specific hiring challenges.
High-Volume Staffing Agencies: Companies like Adecco and Randstad benefit from the AI agents’ ability to:
- Process thousands of applications 24/7
- Screen for specific certifications or geographic proximity
- Reduce screening time from weeks to hours while maintaining quality standards
Healthcare Systems and Airlines: These sectors face unique scheduling challenges where candidates often can’t engage with a human recruiter during traditional business hours. AI agents:
- Accommodate shift workers and international applicants
- Conduct interviews outside standard recruiting hours
- Collect critical information (certifications, availability, location constraints)
Enterprise Organizations with Global Footprints: Companies like Shell and Deutsche Post leverage VONQ’s 50+ ATS integrations to:
- Maintain consistent hiring standards across multiple regions
- Adapt to local market conditions and compliance requirements
- Avoid managing multiple recruitment tools as needs evolve
Growth-Stage Technology Companies: Organizations experiencing rapid scaling benefit from VONQ’s ability to:
- Simultaneously manage niche specialist recruitment and high-volume hiring
- Use the same platform for different hiring needs
- Scale without adding multiple recruitment tools
Organizations in Regulated Industries: Financial services, healthcare, and other regulated sectors appreciate:
- Transparent scoring methodology and audit trails
- Support for compliance with evolving hiring regulations
- EU AI Act requirements that VONQ already implements
Scaling Sustainably
VONQ occupies a unique position in the recruitment marketing ecosystem. While competitors focus on either broad distribution (Appcast) or candidate experience (Phenom), VONQ has built a comprehensive infrastructure that spans from job distribution through candidate delivery. Their HAPI (Hiring API)—a technology platform that integrates recruitment advertising directly into existing HR systems—connects to over 50 applicant tracking systems. This means recruiters can access VONQ’s job advertising and AI screening tools without leaving the software they use daily, rather than juggling multiple separate platforms.
The company’s evolution from agency to technology platform provides operational insights that pure-play technology vendors often lack. This shows in their pricing model innovation—rather than simply automating existing processes, they’ve reimagined the fundamental value exchange between employers and recruitment platforms.
The broader market trend toward performance-based recruitment advertising creates significant opportunity for VONQ’s modelThis shift mirrors what happened in digital marketing over the past decade, where performance-based models largely displaced traditional advertising approaches.
Looking ahead, VONQ’s model could reshape recruitment marketing economics. If successful, it may force the entire industry toward results-based pricing, similar to how programmatic advertising transformed digital marketing.
For talent acquisition leaders evaluating AI-powered recruitment solutions, VONQ represents a compelling option for organizations ready to move beyond traditional advertising models toward true performance-based hiring technology. The key question isn’t whether AI will transform recruitment—it’s which platforms will deliver measurable results while maintaining the human judgment that remains essential for successful hiring decisions.
