Boston Scientific designs medical devices used around the world in life- saving procedures. With competition for top talent in the life sciences fiercer than ever, outdated recruiting tools could have put Boston Scientific’s talent acquisition teams at a disadvantage. Their HR teams needed a strategic solution that simplified hiring, enhanced candidate experience, and improved internal mobility. Enter AI-powered talent intelligence.

The challenge

As a global manufacturer of medical equipment, Boston Scientific creates devices that treat several issues, including pain management, neurological diseases, and cancer. But the company isn’t only treating chronic conditions and alleviating disease — its mission is to ultimately make the world a better place by building healthier communities.

This mission requires the absolute best talent in life sciences, and competition for these top-notch professionals is tough. Boston Scientific’s HR teams needed a faster and more scalable way to source and hire candidates and improve internal mobility for existing employees.

Boston Scientific’s traditional recruiting strategies needed to be modernized as competition for talent has become more challenging. The company relied on manual and siloed processes in recruiting, which slowed down hiring, increasing the risk of losing top talent to the competition. Before using Eightfold, the company’s recruiters each kept spreadsheets and records of candidates they’d interviewed. There was no candidate relationship management tool that recruiters could easily access.

“It was very hard for us to keep track of talent and candidates without recruiters keeping spreadsheets,” said Jennifer McAndrew, Boston Scientific’s Head of Global TA Technology. “We didn’t have a candidate relationship management tool. Our ATS had some ways of keeping track of talent, but not in the way we needed, and AI-driven tools were something that had been on our radar.”

“Recruiters would post a role and start from scratch,” she continued. “They’d have to go to their spreadsheets of candidates they talked to, or they’d go to LinkedIn and start sourcing there. The time it takes for recruiters to do that takes away from engaging and spending time with the candidates.”

“It’s a race for talent,” McAndrew said. “So any time a recruiter is more efficient and productive, then talent is going to be in front of the hiring leaders that much faster.”

The solution

In early 2023, McAndrew moved into the role of Senior Manager of Global Talent Acquisition Technology. Her job was to implement and drive adoption of the Eightfold Talent Intelligence Platform for the company’s recruiters to use in hiring processes, then roll it out for the entire workforce of 48,000 employees.

Boston Scientific chose Eightfold for its AI-driven role calibration, a feature that other HR tech software providers lacked. This capability enabled recruiters and hiring managers to build profiles of ideal candidates.

AI then took over the manual work by searching the company’s internal database and other sources for leads that matched those definitions — and it did so in a fraction of the time of their traditional process.

The Eightfold team also provided an edge over other providers. McAndrew was enthusiastic about the support Boston Scientific received from their Eightfold Customer Success Manager.

“Our Customer Success Manager is working to dig behind the scenes to understand: ‘What are you trying to accomplish? Let’s maybe think about it this way.’ And that has been huge for us,” McAndrew said. “She helped us set our goals and figure out what we needed to do to get there.”

Taking a phased approach, Boston Scientific rolled out the Eightfold Talent Intelligence Platform in 2023. U.S.-based recruiters piloted it, and a month later, it was introduced to Boston Scientific recruiters around the world.

A few months later, Boston Scientific launched an internal job hub for all employees and encouraged them to build profiles and see the opportunities available for internal movement. The global design and rollout of the Talent Intelligence Platform across the entire company was completed within six months.

The results

1. Faster hiring and smarter outreach.
2. A better candidate experience.
3. Soaring employee adoption — and opportunity.