Paradox

Paradox is a conversational AI recruiting platform built around its AI assistant, Olivia, designed to automate high-friction steps in hiring and improve candidate experience through chat-, SMS-, and mobile-first interactions. The product is primarily aimed at Talent Acquisition teams and hiring managers supporting high-volume frontline hiring as well as higher-skilled professional hiring, where speed, consistency, and responsiveness materially impact candidate conversion. On the candidate side, Paradox enables "apply and screen through conversation," allowing candidates to complete applications and answer screening questions via text or chat, with support for messaging platforms and multilingual experiences (100+ languages). On the employer side, Olivia reduces recruiter and coordinator workload by automating key workflows such as screening for minimum qualifications, answering common candidate questions, and managing interview scheduling end-to-end (including instant scheduling, rescheduling, reminders, and support for panel/group interviews). Founded in 2016 in Scottsdale, Arizona by Aaron Matos and Olivia Matos, Paradox raised $253.3M in venture funding (including $200M Series C in December 2021 co-led by Sapphire Ventures, Stripes, and Thoma Bravo). The company achieved significant scale, handling approximately 1/10th of US interviews scheduled, before being acquired by Workday for $1 billion in October 2025. Paradox now operates as Workday's core conversational interface for its global talent acquisition suite while maintaining interoperability with other ATS platforms. Paradox also positions itself as an ecosystem layer that integrates with existing ATS/HCM systems and job boards, using direct integrations and APIs to keep systems of record in sync while providing a more modern conversational layer for candidates. The vendor highlights integrations with Workday Recruiting, SAP SuccessFactors, Greenhouse, Lever, Indeed, and broader integration coverage via its integrations directory and API documentation. For governance and enterprise readiness, Paradox publishes security and legal resources indicating third-party certifications such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II, participation in cross-border transfer frameworks (EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and UK extension), and statements about managing compliance obligations under major privacy laws (including GDPR and CCPA). Paradox serves major enterprise clients including McDonald's, Chipotle, and other Fortune 500 companies, with over 1,000 employees and a strong market position in high-volume hiring. Overall, Paradox is best suited for mid-market and enterprise organizations seeking to reduce time-to-hire and administrative burden by shifting candidate engagement, screening, and scheduling into automated conversational workflows.