: AI, ATS and the Hiring System: Was It Ever Built for Us? | Lizz Mhangami
She sent 172 job applications. Got 3 responses. Not because she was underqualified — but because AI screened her out before a human ever read her CV. In Part 1, Batje Chibafa sits down in studio with Elizabeth Mhangami, nonprofit leader and Principal Consultant at NDISU, to talk about what is really happening in hiring. The ATS problem. The AI arms race. And whether the tools shaping the job market were ever designed for candidates from the Global South. Topics covered: — Why personalising AI tools takes credit away from your own work — The 172-application job search that predicted everything happening in hiring today — We used AI to beat the ATS. Now we need AI to beat AI. — Why grant funding and hiring share the same broken trust problem — Data centres, Zimbabwe’s lithium, and the ethics of technology — Hazel’s question from South Africa: does any of this AI work for the Global South?
She sent 172 job applications. Got 3 responses. Not because she wasn't qualified — but because the AI screening systems never read her CV.
In this episode, Elizabeth Mhangami (Principal Consultant, NDISU) joins Batje Chibafa in studio to talk about what is really happening in hiring — the ATS arms race, who AI was designed for, and whether the tools shaping the job market were ever built for the Global South.
What we cover in Part 1:
- Why personalising AI tools quietly takes credit away from your own work
- The 172-application job search story that predicted today's hiring landscape
- ATS, AI, and the arms race: first we used AI to beat ATS — now we need AI to beat AI
- Why grant funding and hiring share the same broken trust problem
- How Elizabeth uses ChatGPT as a strategy consultant, not a shortcut
- Data centres, Zimbabwe's lithium, and the real ethics of technology
- Hazel's question from South Africa: does any of this AI actually work for the Global South?
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