Indeed prepares for 2025 rollout of its new AI tool, Pathfinder, which aims to help job seekers

• Indeed is launching an AI-powered tool called Pathfinder to help job seekers discover career paths.
• Jessica Jensen, Indeed's chief marketing officer, said the focus will be on positioning Indeed as a "livelong talent agent."

Indeed is gearing up for an early 2025 launch of an artificial intelligence tool called Pathfinder. The company said Pathfinder will help people connect with career and job opportunities that fit their skills, even when their résumé or educational background doesn't line up.

The new product comes as job seekers report profound frustration with the hiring process, citing indignities like "ghost jobs" and overwhelming competition.

"There is confusion and a fair degree of despair in certain sectors of the labor market, and that is real," Jessica Jensen, Indeed's chief marketing officer, told Business Insider.

Announcing Pathfinder at the company's FutureWorks event in September, Indeed's CEO, Chris Hyams, shared the story of his daughter's job search struggles. He quoted her as saying, "Feel free to tell everyone that it sucks the absolute most."

One major data point catalyzed the development of Pathfinder: The most common search on Indeed's site is location name and "blank" — nothing in the "what" box where one would typically put a job title or keyword.

"We call this the blank query," Hyames said. "The blank query essentially says 'show me what you've got.'"

Hymes told BI that generative AI can, like a human recruiter, help explain why a job might be a good fit for someone like his daughter — even if the role deviates from her career path or experience."What we can do is go to generative AI and say, 'Here's a person. Here's a job. Tell me why this is a good fit.' And then it can explain to her that this is going to leverage your organizational skills," he said.

"This is our very simple vision for the future," Hyams told the FutureWorks audience."Through Indeed, every worker in the world will have their own personal talent agent. With the power of AI, it's now possible."

Messaging Pathfinder's benefits to job seekers and to employers

Pathfinder will be launched only on iOS in early 2025. Jensen said a priority for the marketing team is "to help people understand that Indeed is not just for job search, it is for job and career discovery and exploration."

The company's internal marketing team is executing the product launch, and channels will include email, events, and job seeker content. Right now, the product is in beta testing and pre-launch.

Pathfinder's target users are job hunters, but Indeed's messaging to employers is an ongoing priority, Jensen told BI. Companies report they can't find good candidates, but they may not always be doing proactive outreach or including critical information in their job postings.

"So we educate employers," Jensen said. "You need to include your salary in your job listing. You need to include specifics about the location, the work hours — all of the things people care about."

Jensen said Indeed tells companies that it's important to reach out to candidates and invite them to apply. "Outreach on the part of employers is so valuable and drives better results for job seekers and employers."

Indeed is focusing on the pain of the job seeker and how Pathfinder might identify ways to pivot or reinforce an existing career path.

"It will be a broadening of our message to be a lifelong talent agent," Jensen said. "To help people know that we are in their corner when they're in a seeking mode for a job, or just trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up."