2025 has been a milestone year for SmartRecruiters, an SAP company, marked by rapid growth, global recognition, groundbreaking innovation, and strong customer engagement. From launching its AI Agent, Winston, to being named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Talent Acquisition Suites, SmartRecruiters continues to be an industry leader and redefine what’s possible in enterprise hiring.
Innovation that Drives Impact
This year, the SmartRecruiters team unveiled Winston, its live AI Agent that set a new industry benchmark in how organisations approach, improve and streamline hiring. More than a feature, Winston is an operational foundation designed to enhance human decision-making, not replace it. Its four powerful functions work together to transform the hiring journey: Winston Match identifies top candidates and offers proactive suggestions, Winston Screen replaces manual resume reviews with intelligent shortlisting, Winston Chat personalises job recommendations and guides candidates, and Winston Companion automates repetitive tasks like screening and scheduling – delivering measurable efficiency and quality-of-hire improvements.
SmartRecruiters also released the 2025 Global Benchmarking Report, analysing more than 89 million applications and 1.5 million jobs across 95 countries. The report set a new data-driven standard by leveraging business intelligence, illustrating how hiring teams can speed up time-to-hire and improve performance, efficiency, and the candidate experience at scale. Together, these innovations reflect SmartRecruiters’ vision to make every hiring decision smarter, faster, and more human.
Global Growth Through Acquisition
In September, SmartRecruiters’ acquisition by SAP was confirmed, a major milestone that enables further innovation at scale and delivery of products to customers worldwide.
“By joining SAP, we will accelerate our pace of innovation while giving customers the confidence they need and the flexibility they demand,” said Rebecca Carr, CEO of SmartRecruiters.
The SmartRecruiters team also celebrated key executive hires this year, including Steve Hardy, appointed Chief Marketing Officer, and Thomas DiDesidero, appointed Chief Financial Officer – strengthening the company’s leadership team for its next phase of exponential growth.
Customer Growth and Retention
SmartRecruiters’ focus on customer engagement has driven outstanding results in 2025. The company achieved a year-to-date net retention rate of 102%, with a forecast of 105% for FY26. SmartRecruiters also continued to expand its global footprint, onboarding nearly 100 new enterprise customers so far this year – a reflection of the growing demand for AI-powered hiring solutions.
Trusted and Recognised by the Industry
In April, SmartRecruiters was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Talent Acquisition Suites, recognised for both its ability to execute and completeness of vision. This achievement reinforces the company’s commitment to helping the world’s leading enterprises attract, engage, and hire top talent through intelligent, flexible, and enterprise-ready recruiting solutions.
Global Engagement and Connection
In 2025, SmartRecruiters continued to deepen its global presence through participation in the industry’s most influential events across the globe, sharing insights, innovations, and customer success stories that shape the future of hiring. Its presence was felt at:
- HR Tech Europe
- OMR
- Zukunft Personal Europe
- HR Tech, Las Vegas
- SAP Connect
- RecFest US
- Unleash World
- Gartner US
These are just a handful of events attended this year, with the team on the road showcasing its latest innovations – like it’s live, agentic AI companion, Winston – and celebrating what makes SmartRecruiters the Recruiting AI Company.
Looking Ahead
With continued innovation, global expansion, and refined integration within the SAP ecosystem, SmartRecruiters is now poised for an even stronger close to the year. The company will unveil new AI capabilities, partnerships, and customer success initiatives that further its mission to make hiring easier, faster, and more human.
As the company enters its next chapter, SmartRecruiters remains committed to leading the future of enterprise hiring.
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