Good hiring can be a competitive advantage, especially if I can hire someone who punches well above what their resume (and price tag) shows.

As an example, someone with a master’s in economics who taught themselves to code and has an interesting GitHub, but no developer job experience. What automated system would put them on top of the pile? Another example is a former Olympic athlete who then joined the military reserves. Would any AI detect the extreme potential there? I suspect an automated system would produce a bunch of ex-FAANG applications where I’d pay top dollar for average results, no competitive advantage there.

> When you get 200+ applicants in a SWE role, what do you actually do to narrow it down?

Search for people that could replace your team - not that it would be the goal. Don't treat it as an annoyance, treat it as this is your opportunity to make the team really great. So don't use tools, wade in and screen, filter if the experience does not match.

But most of all you'll want someone that isn't too cocky, but has a track record of accomplishing.

IMHO that means your job advertisement was broad. If you are more specific it would not have been that bad.

Assuming you had no say in that...

pretty much everyone will say AI - though your ad may have told - Don't use AI.

Lawsuit heaven for apprehended bias in hiring. Blinded candidates for gender and race, or you're going to be in court for AI mediated bad outcomes.