83% Plan AI Hiring Tools. Almost None Know If They Work.

Most companies planning to use AI for resume screening have never seen peer-reviewed evidence that their tools actually work — or that they aren't quietly discriminating. In this episode, we break down three converging forces that should be on every HR leader's radar right now. First: New York's Local Law 144 enforcement is effectively broken. A December 2025 audit found the city's enforcement agency flagged just one company as non-compliant out of 32 — while independent auditors found seventeen. And 75% of calls to the enforcement hotline were improperly routed. The law exists. The enforcement doesn't. Second: Mobley v. Workday is proceeding as a class action. The lawsuit alleges Workday's AI platform systematically filtered out candidates based on age, race, and disability — and in February 2026, the court authorised class notice. No liability yet, but this is a signal every HR tech buyer should read. Third: Brookings research shows most AI hiring vendors have never published peer-reviewed validity evidence. Not academic journals. Just vendor white papers. That's not validation — it's marketing. We close with three questions every HR leader should ask their AI vendor before rolling out any screening tool, and what trustworthy AI hiring actually looks like in practice: auditability, transparency, and demonstrated validity — not perfection.