ForSight: “Our goal is to find individuals who are not just fluent in AI, but are building the future of AI”

“Instead of thinking about AI as a replacement for people, we treat it as a force multiplier that allows us to do more with the same number of employees,” explained Ilanit Edri, VP of People at ForSight Robotics.

CTech’s "HR in the AI Era" series explores how the AI revolution is impacting the workforce across Israeli high-tech companies. In this series, we uncover the effects (both personal and professional) that this technology shift has had on Startup Nation.

Ilanit Edri

“Several roles in our company have evolved into ‘AI-augmented’ versions of their previous selves,” she continued. “In our HR department, we have adopted a number of AI-powered platforms that improve our internal processes – from recruiting to onboarding to employee management.”

You can read the entire interview below.

Company name: ForSight Robotics
Your name and title: Ilanit Edri, VP of People
Names of founders and upper management: Dr. Joseph Nathan (Co-founder, President and Chief Medical Officer), Dr. Daniel Glozman (Co-founder and CEO), and Prof. Moshe Shoham (Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer)
Year of founding: 2020
Investment stage: Series A
Total investment to date: US$67 million
Field of activity: Healthcare, Medical technologies
Number of employees: 105
Office location: Yokneam, Israel
Number of open positions: Around 10 at any given point

On a scale of 1-10, how much does the AI revolution disrupt your company operation in general, and the HR department specifically?

7

The growth and increased implementation of AI has significantly boosted our productivity across departments. We are continuously exploring and implementing new AI tools to streamline workflows and operate more efficiently, and have witnessed higher productivity with the use of AI tools.

In our HR department, we have adopted a number of AI-powered platforms that improve our internal processes – from recruiting to onboarding to employee management. I remember when I would have to flip through binders with hundreds of pages or use long excel sheets to check on a candidate’s resume or find a job description. Today, I can easily find all needed information and have it analyzed within moments. This allows the HR team to turn our attention to what truly matters in building up our company and supporting our teams.

Our R&D teams are also actively integrating AI tools into their daily work to accelerate development and innovation. Our AI-based robotic surgery platform for eye diseases, the ORYOM Platform, which we have designed from the ground up, utilizes various technologies, among them AI-based algorithms that improve the patient and surgeon experience. As we have worked on developing this highly-precise technology for the past five years, the AI field has significantly advanced. This has allowed us to expand the features and capabilities of our technology, and has allowed the team behind the tech to utilize new methodologies in reaching the best results.

What interesting AI tools do you and your staff use in employee management/recruitment?

In the last year, we have looked into a number of different platforms and AI tools for our HR processes, and have found that two AI-driven platforms best fit our needs.

Comeet is a collaborative hiring platform that combines an applicant tracking system with candidate sourcing and recruiting support. This system answers our needs throughout the whole hiring process. The AI Assistant enhances our recruitment process by integrating AI functionalities into its applicant tracking system, crafting and optimizing job descriptions, generating pre-screening questionnaires to identify top candidates early, and composing interview questions. By automating these tasks, the system’s AI Assistant streamlines hiring workflows and allows us to focus more on finding the best talent.

For internal company processes and employee management, we have recently implemented HiBob as our HRMS system. Its AI-driven functions similarly allow us to be more productive by saving time, and providing key insights that give us better access to understanding our organization. Our HR processes have become more data-driven and are backed by insights, which the AI-driven platform analyzes to allow us to reach more informed decisions. Further, by automating repetitive tasks like onboarding activities, schedules and feedback, analyzing performance reviews, and payroll processing, this system allows us to shift our focus to strategic initiatives – ultimately improving employee engagement and organizational productivity.

Both of these platforms are actively expanding their AI capabilities, as per organizations’ feedback, and we are excited how this will make our HR processes even more “intelligent” and impactful.

In which roles or tasks within your company has AI already begun to replace human labor (if at all)?

Different AI-driven tools have enabled our teams to operate with greater efficiency, without replacing our employees. Since AI-driven platforms have matured, we have found them to be a powerful tool across our people and talent strategy. The use of AI by our HR and recruiting teams has reduced time-to-hire and allowed us to focus more on candidate experience and team fit. We have also noticed a shift in the talent pool, as more candidates arrive with familiarity in using AI tools (among them GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT) as part of their day-to-day work. This creates a more self-sufficient and adaptable workforce, which is critical for a high-velocity environment that we are operating in.

What are the two major challenges you are coping with these days?

The influence of AI extends beyond workflows and efficiency – it impacts the strategic growth of our product and teams. Our ORYOM Platform, the first robotic surgery platform of its kind for cataract and widespread eye diseases, is designed with AI-based algorithms, computer vision, and advanced micromechanics. We have established a dedicated AI team focused on developing intelligent features for our technology, led by exceptional talent with backgrounds in leading AI companies, including Google DeepMind.

As we expand our AI-based R&D and technological capabilities, we are actively looking for individuals with broad and deep expertise in AI, including areas like machine learning, data engineering, and computer vision. Although the field is quickly growing, the talent pool of top-tier AI experts is still limited. Our goal is to find individuals who are not just fluent in AI, but are building the future of AI.

Have you experienced workforce-related challenges due to the war, and are you still feeling the impact of the security situation on your human resources?

About 15% of our team was called up for reserve duty during the war – some for a few days, others for many months. This included employees from every department, along with senior management. It has been our priority to support both our reservists and their families, as we have stood firmly behind them as a company during the last year and a half and provided tailored assistance during this time.

In order to ensure that the reservists’ absence had a minimal impact on the company’s workflow and product development timelines, we structured plans for each role, including defined objectives, responsibilities, and continuity programs to support our teams. Whether it was augmenting other employees’ responsibilities, restructuring smaller teams, or bringing on contractors for additional support, we quickly adapted as needed. Our goal throughout the ongoing security situation has been to maintain normalcy within the company, support our teams, and adjust when necessary.

When our employees returned from their reserves service, we placed a lot of emphasis on their reintegration back into the company, both on a personal and professional level. They received an onboarding program, accompanied by both HR and their teams, to ensure that they would transition back into their roles smoothly. We continue to support our reservists and their families as they get called up to protect our nation, while adjusting internally to ensure the ongoing situation does not disrupt our development and roadmap.

Have you made changes to your workforce following the increased use of AI tools, both in terms of headcount and internal shifts between departments?

We have not reduced headcount due to AI, but we have reshaped how our teams operate and how we define roles. Instead of thinking about AI as a replacement for people, we treat it as a force multiplier that allows us to do more with the same number of employees.

Several roles in our company have evolved into “AI-augmented” versions of their previous selves. For example, our R&D teams use different AI tools as a core tool to deliver faster, better results. Likewise, our HR and recruiting teams use AI to automate certain processes and support more efficient hiring and people management processes.

We have also launched informal AI “upskilling sessions” and peer-led knowledge shares to ensure that everyone, not just technical employees, understands how to use tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and other relevant AI platforms to enhance their productivity and support their work. We have also established clear guidelines on the safe use of AI to ensure data privacy and safeguard proprietary information.

For us, AI hasn’t replaced people – it has enhanced our teams and what being an effective team member looks like. As AI-driven tools and platforms expand their abilities, we are learning to adapt and incorporate the most effective tools into our company workflows.

How does the global market uncertainty affect your workforce, in terms of employee numbers or departmental reallocations? Are you scaling your workforce up or down in different regions around the world?

Our company has grown significantly in the last year, as we have doubled and expanded our Israel-based team to over 100 employees. The Israeli tech ecosystem is thriving, and the talent pool is growing as individuals seek to apply their skills in an impactful environment.

To support our growth and scaling up, we are thrilled to be moving our headquarters to a new world-class facility in Caesarea, Israel. This new location will allow us to attract talent from broader parts of the Israeli tech ecosystem and provide our employees with an exceptional work environment in one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in the country.

Do you estimate that in 2025–2026 you will increase or decrease the number of personnel? Explain why.

According to our company roadmap and talent strategy, we anticipate increasing the number of employees during this period as we continue scaling and growing. While we remain agile in adopting new AI tools and technologies as they are introduced and mature, our people are the core of our success. We will continue to invest in top talent to strengthen our team and drive long-term impact.