The new hiring map

The New Hiring Map: AI, Equity, and the Future of Compensation at Web Summit Lisbon 2025

At Web Summit Lisbon 2025, João Santos Costa of RTP introduced Maria Colacurcio, CEO of Syndio, to explore how artificial intelligence and data can foster equitable pay and fair hiring practices. The session highlighted the evolving landscape of talent acquisition and compensation, emphasizing the critical role of technology in shaping future workforce dynamics.

Maria Colacurcio emphasized that modern talent is characterized by curiosity, adaptability, and a desire for continuous learning. She asserted that the very first pay decision for a new hire is the most crucial, as it sends a powerful signal about an organization’s values and significantly influences its culture. This foundational decision sets the tone for employee perception and engagement.

The challenge lies in quantifying soft skills and translating them into compensation. Maria Colacurcio explained that every pay decision serves as a valuable data point. Consistently documenting these allows companies to assess if initial premiums (e.g., for specific prior experience) genuinely lead to desired long-term performance, helping refine what the organization truly values in its workforce.

While AI tools are abundant for candidate selection, their application to pay requires careful management. Maria Colacurcio warned that generic Large Language Models (LLMs) can perpetuate existing biases without human intervention and robust guardrails. This is particularly relevant with the EU Pay Transparency Directive mandating explainability in pay decisions, compelling companies to justify their compensation structures.

Organizations often face pressure for cost efficiency through AI, but its true power lies in deriving insights from compensation data. A common corporate misconception is that attrition is unrelated to pay. Inconsistent pay for new hires can create “compression,” alienating existing top performers. AI helps identify and mitigate this, ensuring fairness and retaining valuable talent within the organization.

AI should function as a recommendation engine, supporting human judgment rather than replacing it. It analyzes vast datasets—including market rates, pay equity, and internal employee data—to provide managers with instant, context-rich pay recommendations and talking points. This empowers managers to navigate sensitive conversations about promotions or counteroffers with data-backed explanations, fostering trust.

Trust in AI tools for sensitive areas like compensation is paramount and built through transparency, showing the logic behind recommendations. Syndio plans to introduce “comp expert agents” for tasks like job leveling, aiming to standardize and optimize job classifications. Maria Colacurcio’s final advice: the decision of how to pay talent is critical, and investing in technology for fair, equitable pay is vital for a performance-driven culture.